Comments on ‘the equation of polarization transfer in an inhomogeneous magnetized plasma. I. Formalism’ by F.T. Cheng and P.C.W. Fung

Abstract

In their discussion of the transfer of polarized radiation in a weakly anisotropic, weakly inhomogeneous plasma, Cheng and Fung (1977) have included terms which describe the effects of ‘mode coupling’ and of the ‘variation of the characteristic polarizations’. The latter effect is nonphysical, and only the mode-coupling term should be retained. As the problem was formulated by Cheng and Fung, the two terms would cancel exactly; consequently, when corrected, the work of Cheng and Fung leads to a simple and useful method of including the effects of mode coupling in the weak anisotropy limit.