Charged Particle Motion in a Time?Dependent Axially Symmetric Magnetic Field

Abstract

Following a short review of the drift theory of plasma radial compression, an exact solution for the motion of a charged particle in an axially symmetric time-dependent magnetic field is· obtained. The method gives forms for the cylindrical coordinates rand B of the charged particle that have a simple interpretation, the z-motion being of constant velocity. As examples, the exact results are discussed for a simple power law and an exponential time dependence of the magnetic field and, using the latter results, the drift theory of plasma radial compression is qualitatively verified.