Stopping of Charged Particles in a Magnetized Classical Plasma

Abstract

The analytical and numerical investigations of the energy loss rate of the test particle in a magnetized electron plasma are developed on the basis of the Vlasov-Poisson equations, and the main results are presented. The Larmor rotation of a test particle in a magnetic field is taken into account. The analysis is based on the assumption that the energy variation of the test particle is much less than its kinetic energy. The obtained general expression for stopping power is analyzed for three cases: (i) the particle moves through a collisionless plasma in a strong homogeneous magnetic field; (ii) the fast particle moves through a magnetized collisionless plasma along the magnetic field; and (iii) the particle moves through a magnetized collisional plasma across a magnetic field. Calculations are carried out for the arbitrary test particle velocities in the first case, and for fast particles in the second and third cases. It is shown that the rate at which a fast test particle loses energy while moving across a magnetic field may be much higher than the loss in the case of motion through plasma without magnetic field.