Trajectory of Charged Particles in Weakly Inhomogeneous Magnetic Fields

Abstract

The detailed time dependence of the trajectory, and particularly of the acceleration, of a charged particle moving nonrelativistically in a weakly inhomogeneous, slowly varying electromagnetic field is calculated by a method that involves superimposing a conventional perturbation expansion in the weak field on the expansion of Berkowitz and Gardner and of Kruskal, the latter expansion being asymptotically valid in the limit of small Larmor radius and slowly varying fields. Fourier transforms are introduced to facilitate isolation of rapidly varying terms from the most general solutions for the coefficients in the expansion. The calculations are carried to first order in the weak inhomogeneity and (at least formally) to all orders in Larmor radius. The resulting velocity reproduces the familiar transverse drift velocities of first-order orbit theory, emphasizes that in the presence of fields varying slowly in time the polarization and curvature drifts are to be calculated from the time derivative of the fields as seen from a frame of reference fixed with respect to the guiding center of the particle's orbit, and permits calculation of higher-order contributions to the drift velocities, contributions of second order in Larmor radius being explicitly evaluated; the resulting acceleration prepares the way for a study of the effect of weak inhomogeneities on the radiative output of single particles.