  This paper addresses the linear and nonlinear three-dimensional propagation
of an electron wave in a collisionless plasma that may be inhomogeneous,
nonstationary, anisotropic and even weakly magnetized. The wave amplitude,
together with any hydrodynamic quantity characterizing the plasma (density,
temperature,...) are supposed to vary very little within one wavelength or one
wave period. Hence, the geometrical optics limit is assumed, and the wave
propagation is described by a first order differential equation. This equation
explicitly accounts for three-dimensional effects, plasma inhomogeneity, Landau
damping, and the collisionless dissipation and electron acceleration due to
trapping. It is derived by mixing results obtained from a direct resolution of
the Vlasov-Poisson system and from a variational formalism involving a nonlocal
Lagrangian density. In a one-dimensional situation, abrupt transitions are
predicted in the coefficients of the wave equation. They occur when the state
of the electron plasma wave changes, from a linear wave to a wave with trapped
electrons. In a three dimensional geometry, the transitions are smoother,
especially as regards the nonlinear Landau damping rate, for which a very
simple effective and accurate analytic expression is provided.
