Pitch angle scattering of fast particles by low frequency magnetic fluctuations

Abstract

The adiabatic invariance of the magnetic moment during particle motion is of fundamental importance to the dynamics of magnetized plasma. The related rate of pitch angle scattering is investigated here for fast particles that thermally stream through static magnetic perturbations. For a uniform magnetic field with a localized perturbation, it is found that the curvature parameter κ2=min(Rc/ρL) does not predict the level of pitch angle scattering. Instead, based on numerical integration of particle orbits in prescribed magnetic fields, we derive predictions for the particle scattering rates, which can be characterized by the relative perturbation amplitude A≃δB/B, and the particle Larmor radius normalized by the field-aligned wavelength of the perturbations, ρL/λ||. Particles with ρL/λ||≃1 are subject to strong pitch angle scattering, while the level of scattering vanishes for both the limits of ρL/λ||≪1 and ρL/λ||≫1. The results are summarized in terms of a scattering operator, suitable for including the described scattering in basic kinetic models.