PITCH ANGLE DIFFUSION IN A MAGNETIC MIRROR GEOMETRY
Abstract
The diffusion in pitch angle produced by Coulomb collisions of charged particles in a magnetic mirror was discussed using a variety of distribution functions and corresponding diffusion equations. A new derivation of an appropriate diffusion equation is presented by considering the random motion of particles on a sphere in momentum space. The effect of scattering at diffenent points of the periodic particle orbit must be considered and leads to corrections on this problem. One result is that with a reflecting barrier instead of a loss-cone, the equilibrium flux tends toward an isotropic pitch angle distribution. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0263807
Entities
People
- R.c. Wentworth
- W.m. Macdonald
Organizations
- University of Maryland