Ray-tracing simulations of electromagnetic waves in magnetospheric plasmas

This work deals with simulations of wave propagation in magnetospheric plasmas, particularly with numerical ray tracing. It mentions some of the earlier ray tracing implementations that were used in studies of wave propagation in Earth's magnetosphere. The most important parts of linear plasma wave theory are outlined. Some of the existing numerical methods for solving the hot plasma dispersion relation are described. A new ray tracing program, NPR, is presented. It is capable of ray-tracing simulations in cold plasmas and also in non-relativistic hot plasmas via the WHAMP procedure