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Astro 429

Assignment 3 – 2017

1. Consider a particle of charge q and mass m moving in static homogeneous electric and
magnetic fields defined by E=E0j and B=B0k. Show that the equation of motion for the x-
component of velocity of the particle is given by,

d 2 vx 2
" E0 %
+ ! c $ v x ! '=0
dt 2 # B0 &
E0
If the particle is at rest at position x=0 at t=0, verify that v x =
[1" cos# c t ] is a solution
B0
of the equation and sketch (or graph) the motion of the particle in the x-y-z coordinate
system.
! inhomogeneous magnetic field defined
2. A magnetic bottle or trap can be created by an
[ 2
]
by B(z) = B0 1+ ( z /a0 ) where the mid-point is at z=0. The magnetic field has this form
for both positive and negative values of z. Consider a charged particle of mass m and
magnetic moment µ that is mirroring between mirror points at z = "zm and z = +zm ,
respectively.
!
(a) In terms of variables defining B(z) and the mirror point zm , write down an
! ! !
expression for the magnetic field Bm at the mirror point
(b) Show that W|| = W " ( Bm /B #1) , where W is the energy of the particle.
(c) Use conservation of energy and conservation of ! µ to show that the parallel
velocity at any position !
z is given by,
2 2
! 2µB0 " zm % " z %
v|| (z) = $ ' ($ '
m !# a0 & # a0 &
(d) Using your expression in part (c) calculate the bounce period for a particle
bouncing between mirror points. Show that it has the form:
!
2 " a0
!b = 2W /m sin #
(e) Evaluate the bounce time for H+ ions of energy 1keV near the loss cone, for a
device that has a=5m, and B0=1.3T. Assume the maximum field strength is at z=a.

3. In the night-side equatorial plane of the magnetosphere, energetic particle drifts are
affected by a dawn-to-dusk directed electric field E0, and by gradient-B drift. Assume that
the magnetic field of Earth is well approximated by a dipole field, with a vertical
component of the field in the equatorial plane defined by:
3
!R $
B(L) = BE # E &
" r %
Here, is the radial distance in the equatorial plane.

(a) Consider an ion at dawn in the equatorial plane that has a ninety-degree pitch
angle. Mark the position of this particle on a sketch that shows the view looking
down onto the equatorial plane from the direction of the geographic North Pole.
Indicate the directions of the ExB drift and gradient-B drift at the position of the
particle.

(b) If your diagram in part (b) is correct, you will note that for an ion at dawn, the
electric field drift and magnetic gradient drift have opposite sign. Using this fact,
determine the radius in the equatorial plane at dawn where the drifts are equal and
opposite. Show that this occurs at a value of L defined by,

where is the perpendicular kinetic energy of the particle. Calculate this value of
L for ions of energy 5 keV and E0 corresponding to 0.2 mV/m.

4. Consider a Van Allen belt electron moving at one tenth the speed of light at L=3.
Assuming it has an 80-degree pitch-angle at the equator, determine the time it would take
to make a complete orbit around the Earth, and the approximate number of bounces it
makes between mirror points near the N and S poles.

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