Nonlinear effects in the ionosphere (cross modulation of radio waves) have been known since the 1930s. Only recently, however, has the rapid increase in the power and directivity of the radio transmitters made it possible to alter the properties of the ionosphere strongly and to modify it artificially by applying radio waves. This has revealed a variety of new physical phenomena. Their study is not only of scien­ tific interest but also undisputedly of practical interest, and is presently progressing very rapidly. This monograph is devoted to an exposition of the present status of theoretical research on this problem. Particular attention is paid, naturally, to problems in the development of which the author himself took part. It is my pleasant duty to thank V. L. Ginzburg, L. P. Pitaevskii, V. V. Vas'kov, E. E. Tsedilina, A. B. Shvartsburg, and Va. S. Dimant for useful discussions and for valuable remarks during various stages of the work on the problem considered in this book. Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .