Introduction to Plasmas and Plasma Dynamics

Chapter 6

Particle Orbit Theory

Abstract

This chapter considers the physical behavior and analytic expressions for charged particle motion in electric and magnetic fields. Uniform fields, effects of spatial variation in fields, curvature effects, and time variation effects are considered. Drift motions and cross-field effects are examined. Particle trapping in magnetic mirrors is described. Adiabatic invariant properties are introduced.

Keywords

Adiabatic invariants; Motion in field gradients; Particle trapping; Particles in E and B fields

Introduction

One of the more important regimes of plasma behavior is that which is termed collisionless; more specifically, it is defined as a region where mean free path, λ≫L. There are some occurrences of low-density ...