Single particle motion

Plasma is a collection of a very large number of charged particles moving and

giving rise to EM fields. Before going to the statistical descriptions, let us learn
about the motion of individual particles in given EM-fields:

• Guiding centre approximation

• Adiabatic invariants
• Motion in dipole field
• Motion in the field of a current sheet

UCLA undergraduate Lab

Plasma is a collection of charged particles
Why to study single particle motion?

• A large part of phenomena can be understood (even quantitatively) by the single

particle motion

• Single particle description valid under some conditions:

- e.g. high energy particles in low density plasma where collisions are infrequent
The task is to solve the eq. of motion of a charged particle:

non-electromagnetic forces
acting on the particle (usually
Lorentz Force
gravitation)

macroscopic field:
sum of the externally applied field
and the fields generated by the
plasma particles collectively
1) E = const and B = 0

Eq. of motion

i.e. linear acceleration in the direction of E

2) E = 0 and B = const

Eq. of motion:

kinetic energy and the speed remain

constant

cyclotron frequency
4.2 0 c t gyro frequency
Larmor frequency
helical motion

In a homogeneous magnetic field the particle motion divided in two

components:

1) linear motion along the field lines at constant speed (v|| = vz = constant)

2) circular motion in the plane (xy plane) perpendicular to B

The radius of the circle: ;

(Larmor radius)
 1 the larger the magnetic field, the more tightly
rL ~ B
particles are ‘bound’ to the magnetic field

rL ~ m rLe rLi For a given value of B, electrons are

bound more tightly than ions

The gyro period (cyclotron period, Larmor time) is:

The pitch angle ( ) of the helical path: angle between the
velocity vector of the particle and the magnetic field

90 v v
0 v v ||

• uniform magnetic field: constant

• non-uniform magnetic field: changes as the ratio between v and v|| changes

• frequently used concept e.g., when studying the magnetosphere

• The frame of reference where v|| = 0 : Guiding centre system (GCS)

• The centre of the gyro motion is called guiding centre (GS)

• Division of the motion to the guiding centre and

to the gyro motion is called the guiding centre approximation

Hannes Alfven: also valid in temporally and spatially

varying fields, when variations small when compared to
the gyromotion.
• In GCS charge gives rise to a microscopic current: I = q / L.

with associated magnetic moment:

in vector form

rL

~W

Magnetic moment vector always opposite to the ambient field (rL ~ sign of q)

charged particles weaken the external magnetic

plasma can be considered a diamagnetic medium

 3) E = const and B = const

Eq. of motion is now: dp

q (E v B)
dt
The electric field can be resolved into components:
A) in the direction of B: EII
B) perpendicular to B: E

A) constant acceleration of positive ions parallel to B and electrons

in the opposite direction
charge separation field that rapidly cancels out large-scale E||
in plasma

dv||
m qE|| 0
dt

B) GC drifts perpendicular to both magnetic and electric field with velocity:

E B drift 4.2
 +q slows when moving opposite to E
(v increases rL deccreases)

+q accelerates when moving along E

(v increases rL increases)

+ ion - independent of both m and q, W

electron
- drift to the same direction ( E and B)
no electric current!

rL ~ m
1
rL ~ W c ~m
 Co-rotational electric field
E vE B ( r) B
: Earth’s angular velocity

Inside ~4 Earth radii forces

plasmasphere plasma to rotate with the planet
(called plasmasphere)

ROSETTA Measurements of the plasma flow velocities

2014: 67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenkoa
in space and laboratory plasma

Electric field can be measured using a

conducting, so called Langmuir probe

E ( 2 1 )/L
4) A force capable of accelerating/decelerating particles gyrating about B
drifts to both B and the force

perpendicular eq. of motion:

Assume that F gives rise to a drift vD and transform

In GCS the last two terms must sum to 0

Note: F charge independent drift opposite direction for electrons and ions
separates charges currents B

F B
Inserting F = qE into v D ExB-drift
qB 2
F = mg gives the gravitational drift

charge separation gravitational drift is horizontal not vertical!

caused by the
gravitational drift
However, downward acceleration occurs due
to the E B-drift:

Charge separation caused by the gravitational drift

causes E B-drift in the direction of the gravitational
force

ExB drift
 5) Slow time variations in E
Exercise!

polarization drift

The corresponding current is called the polarization current:

Carried primarily by the more massive ions!

Dipoles in a plasma are ions and electrons separated by a distance r.

- steady E no polarization field P (charges can move around to maintain quasi-

neutrality)
- E oscillates polarization current results from the lag of ion inertia.
6) non-uniform magnetic field

When B has a transverse gradient or is curved, the GC tends to move perpendicular

to B because of variations in the instantaneous radius of curvature

mv 1
recall: rL ~
|q|B B

Particle orbit is
nearly a circle,
but it no longer B
closes on itself
r
A.) static but inhomogeneous magnetic field.

- field is only weakly inhomogenous, changes are small during one Larmor gyration

|B|

small rL

large rL

Expand the field as a Taylor series about the GC: B ( r ) B 0 r B 0

0: quantity evaluated at the GC position r=ro(t)

A straightforward (but tedious) calculation shows that the inhomogeneous
magnetic field causes a force

(averaged over a gyro period)

magnetic moment

Force component parallel to the magnetic field causes an acceleration:

The component perpendicular to the magnetic field F B

causes a drift at speed:

F B W
vG B B B B gradient drift
qB 2 qB 2 qB 3
vG ~ q-1 gradient drift associated with a current

ion

electron

Energetic particles drift faster (larger

vG ~ W gyroradius experience more of the
inhomogenity of the field)
 B). Curved magnetic field lines

- assume a constant radius of curvature RC (positive inwards).

- GC drift arises from the centrifugal force felt by the particles as they move along
the field lines:

w|| = velocity of the

GC along B
Applying this force as before we get the curvature drift

exercise
 E B drift Combined gradient and
curvature drifts: 4.3
W
vGC 1 cos 2 n t
qBRC

• Independent of Ekin • Proportional to Ekin

controls “cold” (low energy) particles controls ‘hot’ (high energy) particles

• independent of the sign of the charge • depends on the sign of the charge
no current give rise to a current

• along countours of constant electro-

static potential • not necessarily along countours
no change in Ekin of constant electrostatic potential
particles can gain or lose energy
In a dipole field vG and vC
are in the same direction. Ions drift west
and electrons east producing westward
current called a ring current
 vG and vC are in the same direction. Electrons
and ions drift to opposite directions and finally hit
the upper and lower walls of the machine

polarization charge electric field causing ExB

drift. Particles get lost when they hit the walls of
the machine.

Solution: toroidal magnetic field given a twist (e.g.

by applying axial current through the plasma)
Tokamak

same direction! polarization charge

E
B, R
 Summary of guiding center drifts
E B
• ExB-drift vE
B2
+ ion
mg B electron
vg
• gravitation drift qB 2

B
1 dE
• polarization drift vp
c B dt

W
vG B B
• gradient drift qB 3

mv||2
• curvature drift vC B B B
qB 4
periodic motion conserved quantity

Hamiltonian formulation:
Let q & p be canonical variables, H T U qi pi L
generalized momentum and coordinate i

1 2
L T U mv qA v q
2
H H
pi qi
qi pi

Assume that the motion almost periodical

is constant, called adiabatic invariant

 2 m magnetic moment is adiabatic invariant
4.4 I p drL
|q|
1 2 1 qB 1 q2
magnetic moment in terms of magnetic flux: C |q|rL | q | rL2 B
2 2 m 2 m

B constant, irrespective whether the change is due to time variation or the motion
in an inhomogeneous magnetic field.

• In plasma physics is called the first adiabatic invariant.

• conservation can be shown by direct calculation in the case of static B and E=0

4.5
What if the magnetic field varies slowly in time?
(slowly compared with the cyclotron period)

W E
4.6 … must again remain constant
B

B
E
t
also the flux enclosed by the gyro orbit
is constant
Electric field
induced by
slowly varying B
charges gain
Energy when
moving along E
 Recall:

W m v 2 s in 2
B 2B
90 v v
both W and conserved 0 v v ||
B
when B changes, only can change.
v

and B related through:

particle moves into regions of stronger B

increases
W increases and W|| decreases
 mirror point: °, W|| 0
mirror point

magnetic mirror

B0, 0 Bm, =90°

particle is pushed back by the parallel

component of the gradient force, called
mirror-force:

The strength of mirror field Bm depends on particle’s in some reference field B0.

What happens to particles with smaller/larger at the reference field?

 magnetic bottle

= 90°
v

trapped
particles
two magnetic mirrors facing each other loss cone
v|| = 0°

A charged particle is trapped in the bottle if:

Otherwise it is said to be in the loss-cone

and escapes at the end of the bottle
The dipole field of the Earth is a large magnetic bottle
Mirror effect: consequence of the conservation of when particle moves along
magnetic field lines.

What happens if a particle drifts across the field lines from a region with a magnetic
field strength B1 into a region of increasing field strength B2?

Conservation of

since B2 > B1 adiabatic heating

Perpendicular energy gain

 GC drifts across field lines motion is not exactly periodic

BUT

If field does not change much in one bounce period, the motion is
nearly periodic

ds = element of path length

Constant of motion: J mv|| ds along the field line
bounce motion in a
magnetic bottle

b
J p || d s second adabatic invariant
a

bounce period 4.7 require b >> L=2 / c

sm' sm'
ds 2 ds
b 2 1/ 2 (weaker invariant than )
sm v|| ( s ) v sm 1 B( s) / Bm
 What happens if magnetic bottle shrinks?

second adiabatic invariant J p|| ds 2ml v||

l = total length of the field line between the mirror point

<v||> = average parallel velocity along the field line

Conservation of J averaged parallel energy <W||>

changes according to

W|| 1 l12
W|| 2 l22

mirror points move toward each other W|| increases

Fermi acceleration

proposed by Enrico Fermi to
explain acceleration of galactic
cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays striking the Earth’s
atmosphere and causing a high
energy particle shower
 • associated with azimuthal drift motion
• exists only for fields with a well defined axial symmetry

A trapped particle performs a drift motion in

axially symmetric magnetic field

If the perpendicular drift of the GC is nearly periodic

(e.g. in a dipole field), the magnetic flux through the GC orbit

is conserved third adiabatic invariant.

Now d >> b >> L

 Summary of adiabatic invariants

There is a specific energization mechanism for each invariant

: W changed by changing the Larmor radius (i.e., |B|)

J: W|| changed by stretching or shortening the magnetic bottle

: W changed by compressing or expanding the drift surface

 Motion in a dipole filed
It is of great importance to understand the trajectories in the magnetosphere to
explain various phenomena, such as radiation belts and auroras.

Giant magnet: William Gilbert, English

physician: De Magnete 1600
 Carl Stormer and his
assistant photographing
auroras in northern Norway
in 1910s. Stromer
calculated the motion of
charged particles in a
dipole magnetic field
supporting the work of K.
Birkeland’s

Kristian Birkeland in his laboratory with

his terella in 1909

Occurrence of aurora confined within the auroral

oval puzzled Birkeland and Stromer. Details
Terella (“little Earth”): invented by William discussed in application of plasma physics!
Gilbert. Further developed by Kristian
Birkeland while studying particle motion in
the magnetosphere
The dipole field familiar from basic electrodynamics.
We use the notations of geomagnetism:

- the latitude : zero at equator, increases towards north

- the longitude increases towards east M
- instead of dipole moment ME, we use k0 = 0ME/4

Earth’s dipole
moment points
southward (–z)!

Dipole approximation: field generating currents compressed to a singular point;

elsewhere field is curl-free, it can be obtained as , where

components of B: magnitude of B:

(azimuthal symmetry)
 line elements dr dreˆ r rd eˆ r sin d eˆ

Eq for magnetic field lines in spherical coord.

dr rd r sin d
Br B B

r r0 cos 2

The length of line element is now

important geometrical factor

Every field line is determined by two parameters:

-(constant) longitude 0
- distance r0 where the line crosses the equator

r0 L-parameter
L
RE

RE : radius of Earth
Field lines of different L-values

For given L, at what latitude the field line crosses the surface?

r r0 cos 2 Insert: r RE , E , r0 LRE

1
E arccos
L
 Lat. where field line crosses the
Earth surface: e=arccosL-1/2

m > e :particle hits the Earth’s surface before mirroring

leaks out of the bottle

What is the minimum pitch angle that a particle can have at the equator (at given L
value) and still be trapped?

4.8

loss cone
Insert now m= e

The particle leaks out if its (loss cone)

 Up to what energies J stays still invariant?

We need to determine bounce period in the dipole field

4.9

cos3 m
0 arcsin 1/ 4
1 3sin 2 m

For pitch-angles

In the Earth’s dipole field

1 keV electrons bounce in seconds,
1 keV protons in minutes.

Magnetosphere can change considerably in minutes Invariance of J

questionable for > keV protons
Particles circle the Earth due to gradient and curvature drifts

W
vGC ( ) 1 cos 2 ( ) (now B = 0)
qB ( ) RC ( )

2
k0 1 3sin 2
B ( ) RC ( )
3r0 cos5 2 cos 2

The angular drift speed around the Earth is:

vGC vGC
r cos r0 cos 3
rcos
What we are interested is the average over the bouncing period <vgc>

b /4 m
4 4 ds d
dt Recall:
b 0
v b 0
d cos
4r0
b f( 0 )
v

2 1/ 2
1 m
vGC ( ) 1 3sin
2
d
r0 f ( 0 ) 0
cos cos ( )

Insert formula for vGC here...

 3 2
mv r0
2 g( )
0
qk0

1 m
cos3 (1 sin 2 )(1 cos 2 )
where g( 0 ) 2 3/ 2
d
f ( 0) 0
(1 3sin ) cos

For

For particles staying on equator ( 0 = /2)

g( 0)=f( 0)=1

For relativistic particles this is

Finally the average
drift time is given by

In case of the Earth: positive ions drift to the west, electrons to the east
westward net current (ring current)

At the ring current region (L ~ 2-7) drift times:

- 1 keV particles hundreds of hours
- 1 MeV few tens of minutes

Recall:
mp = 938 MeV/c2
me = 511 keV/c2

ions are nonrelativistic, the most energetic electrons are relativistic

 Van Allen belts (or radiation belts)

- Inner belt protons: 0.1 MeV – 100 MeV

beta decay of neutrons which are emitted from the Earth's atmosphere as
it is bombarded by cosmic rays

- Outer belt electrons: keV – MeV

injection from the outer magnetosphere
Example of adiabatic heating of magnetospheric particles
B0
• at equatorial plane, =0: B( 0)
L3
3
W 2 L1 i.e. if L2 < L1 particle
Insert this to: gains energy
W 1 L2

E.g. 1 keV particle, starts at L1 = 8 with pitch angle 90° (W=W ) doubles its
energy drifting inward less than 3 RE and inside L=3 reaches energy of 10 keV

inward drift

L decreases
Adiabatic heating creates the 10-100 keV ring current ions from the 1-10 keV
plasma sheet ions
 Current sheets are important in plasma physics
- separate different plasma domains
- sites of the most important energy release process, magnetic reconnection

z
E.g. magnetotail
x
y

Bx(z) goes from negative value

(south lobe) to a positive value
(north lobe)

B 1 Bx
J eˆ y
0 0 z

Current flowing along positive y-axis in the region where Bx changes sign
The Harris current sheet: (e.g. Earth’s magnetotail)

; Bn and B0 are constant and Bn << B0

L gives the thickness of the current sheet

The current is according to Ampère’s law

Jy

1-D Bn =0 2-D
 Motion in the current sheet

• far from the CS: ions gyrate in the uniform B

• B becomes sufficient: ions move right at vG drift speed

• ions that cross the neutral sheet

- particles moving back and forth along y
- Speiser motion: particles in a monotonic motion along y axis
(positive left, negative right) Current!