A discharge heated inductively by resonant absorption of electron cyclotron waves discharge is modeled in a planar geometry. The simulation algorithm is based on a kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC/MC) simulation of the plasma properties; the electromagnetic field is calculated macroscopically using the Appleton–Hartree theory for the dielectric tensor. The results are checked against a simplified analytical theory and experimental data by B. Pfeiffer [J. Appl. Phys.37, 1624,1628 (1966)] for a 15 mTorr argon discharge. As a result, we show that an inhomogeneous density profile in the discharge strongly affects the electromagnetic fields in the plasma. Power deposition is calculated both in and outside of the resonance. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.