An integral equation for the transient response of a stratified magnetoplasma

The problem of finding the transient response of a cold plasma half space to an impulsive plane wave at vertical incidence is considered. The electron density of the plasma is allowed to vary arbitrarily with the vertical coordinate; and the effects of a vertical magnetic field and losses are included in the analysis. The impulse response is formulated in terms of a time-dependent integral equation by extending previous results obtained via a multiple-scattering technique. As an example of this method numerical results are presented for the special case of reflection from a linear plasma half space.