Open AccessStrongly nonlinear magnetosonic waves and ion acceleration
Author(s) -
B. Rau,
T. Tajima
Publication year - 1997
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/585018
Subject(s) - physics , electric field , magnetic field , acceleration , electron , ion , nonlinear system , perpendicular , field (mathematics) , phase velocity , atomic physics , phase (matter) , quantum electrodynamics , condensed matter physics , computational physics , classical mechanics , optics , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , geometry , mathematics , pure mathematics
The electromagnetic fields associated with a nonlinear compressional Alfven wave propagating perpendicular to an external magnetic field of arbitrary strength are derived. For the strongly magnetized and high phase velocity case relevant for ion acceleration to high energies, we show that the electric field increases proportionally only to the external magnetic field O (B{sub ext}[in T] MV/cm) and the electrostatic potential increases with the square root of the ion-to-electron mass ratio {radical}M{sub i}/m{sub e}