Notes on the relativistic movement of runaway electrons in parallel electric and magnetic fields

作者：Delong Vojtech Adalbert; Beno Radek; Bren David; Kulhanek Petr^*

来源：Physics of Plasmas, 2016, 23(9): 094504.

DOI：10.1063/1.4962687

Runaway electrons are a potential threat in many plasma devices. At high velocities, the plasma acceleration is not further offset by collisions in the plasma, as in the ohmic regime. The particles obtain relativistic velocity and considerable energy. A typical configuration includes parallel electric and magnetic fields, in which there are no drifts, and the movement of the charged particles is a combination of gyration motion with the acceleration in an electric field. It follows from the Lorentz equation of motion that the transverse velocity component (perpendicular to the fields) will be interconnected with the longitudinal component via the Lorentz factor. The increasing longitudinal velocity will therefore ultimately reduce the magnitude of the transverse velocity component, thereby decreasing the gyrofrequency. The corresponding change in Larmor radius will be offset by the increase in the particle mass and the Larmor radius of gyration therefore remains unchanged. We derive analytical relations for the temporal and spatial dependences of frequency, and longitudinal and transverse components of the velocity. Published by AIP Publishing.

• 出版日期2016-9