Diffusion and guiding center approximation for particle transport in strong magnetic fields

Abstract

The diffusion limit of the linear Boltzmann equation with a strong magnetic field is performed. The giration period of particles around the magnetic field is assumed to be much smaller than the collision relaxation time which is supposed to be much smaller than the macroscopic time. The limiting equation is shown to be a diffusion equation in the parallel direction while in the orthogonal direction, the guiding center motion is obtained. The diffusion constant in the parallel direction is obtained through the study of a new collision operator obtained by averaging the original one. Moreover, a correction to the guiding center motion is derived.