Additional ECR heating of a radially inhomogeneous plasma via the absorption of satellite harmonics of the surface flute modes in a rippled magnetic field

A theoretical study is made of the possibility of additional heating of a radially inhomogeneous plasma in confinement systems with a rippled magnetic field via the absorption of satellite harmonics of the surface flute modes with frequencies below the electron gyrofrequency in the local resonance region, e1 (r 1) = [2πc/(ωL)]2, where e1 is the diagonal element of the plasma dielectric tensor in the hydrodynamic approximation, L is the period of a constant external rippled magnetic field, and the radical coordinate r 1 determines the position of the local resonance. It is found that the high-frequency power absorbed near the local resonance is proportional to the square of the ripple amplitude of the external magnetic field. The mechanism proposed is shown to ensure the absorption of the energy of surface flute modes and, thereby, the heating of a radially inhomogeneous plasma.