The characteristics of hydromagnetic surface waves propagating along the interface of a compressible cylindrical plasma column surrounded by neutral gas embedded in a steady magnetic field along the axis of the cylinder are studied by varying the ratio of the magnetic field and the relative density of the two media. Symmetric and asymmetric modes are found to exist. When Alfven speed 'nu (A)' is less than the sound speed 's' in the neutral gas the symmetric mode suffers lower cut-off in k for propagation. The cut-off window is narrowed when the magnetic field in the neutral gas is increased. For nu (A) > s, the density of the neutral gas is found to suppress, restrict to a certain window, and allow the free propagation of both modes. There exists a critical magnetic field ratio for certain environments, in which both slow and fast surface waves are present simultaneously in symmetric and asymmetric modes. The findings for a special case are found to be in agreement with those obtained for an isolated magnetic Aux tube studied earlier. [References: 16]
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