The analysis of 6-component measurements of a random electromagnetic wave field in a magnetoplasma - I. The direct problem

Abstract

This is the first of a series of papers, the general subject of which is how to interpret a set of simultaneous measurements of the three electric and three magnetic components of a random electromagnetic wave field in a magnetoplasma. The point at which the measurements are made is assumed to be stationary with respect to the plasma. In this first paper, the following problems are treated: how to define, within the framework of classical electrodynamics, a distribution function that characterizes the statistics of a linear random electromagnetic wave field in a lossless magnetoplasma; the direct problem of predicting the statistical properties of measurements of the six components of a field of this type, when the distribution function is known.