On the Motion of a Charged Particle in an Axially Symmetric Magnetic Field
The object of this note is to study the motion of a charged particle entering the magnetic field due to a steady current inside a plasma column. Even if the particles of the plasmas stream mutually interact, their distribution across the stream can be such that the interaction forces are balanced by the transverse pressure gradient in the plasma 1. It is shown here that the test charge entering the plasma stream remains bounded to the stream between two coaxial cylindrical surfaces and further that under suitable conditions it may remain trapped inside a cylindrical box. FISSER and KIPPENHAHN 2 have discussed the general problem of the motion of a charged particle in an axially symmetric magnetic field in configuration space. The following is a particular case of that problem. HERTWECK 3 has investigated the motion of a test charge in the magnetic field due to a line current. His results are applicable here if the test charge remains outside the plasma stream