Mathematical description: charged particle orbit in a magnetic field; magnetic rigidity

Posted June 13, 2009 - 12:28pm by Ludwig Klein



Some examples of cyclotron radii at the Sun, near Earth and at the surface of the Earth (RE: radius of the Earth; energy and speed are quoted for a proton of the given rigidity):

Magnetic Kinetic Speed Cyclotron radius
rigidity energy [% of c] Corona (10 mT) Interplanetary 1 AU (5 nT) Earth (surface; 30 μT)
1 GV 0.43 GeV 73% 330 m 6.6x108 m ≈ 100 RE 1.1x105 m ≈ 0.017 RE
5 GV 4.1 GeV 98% 1.65 km 3.3x109 m ≈ 520 RE 5.5x105 m ≈ 0.086 RE
20 GV 19.1 GeV 99.8% 6.60 km 1.3x1010 m ≈ 2100 RE 2.2x106 m ≈ 0.34 RE
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