Ionospheric Wave Theory Using Coupled Vacuum Modes

TL;DRAbstract

In coupled‐mode theory the wave field in a stratified anisotropic medium appears decomposed into modes, which are coupled in accordance with a set of coupled wave equations. The modes can be defined in various ways. In the conventional formulation they correspond to waves in a homogeneous magnetoionic medium; the present theory uses modes of vacuum propagation characteristics. The coupled wave equations for these vacuum modes have a fairly simple form. The effect of the medium appears in the coupling matrix, whose elements contain a number of terms depending on the various parameters of the medium. The coupled wave equations, originally obtained from a study of partial reflection at differential slabs of the medium, are now derived in two different ways, both rather direct. In one derivation the vector potential is split into ascending and descending parts. The other derivation adheres to the matrix formalism of the conventional coupling theory as far as possible, thus indicating the e

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