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Strong magnetic field helical Čerenkov effect with some astrophysica implications
Author(s) -
Šoln J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
astronomische nachrichten
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-3994
pISSN - 0004-6337
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3994(199907)320:3<141::aid-asna141>3.0.co;2-j
Subject(s) - physics , magnetic field , pulsar , electron , neutron star , plasma , ionization , astrophysics , quantum electrodynamics , nuclear physics , ion , quantum mechanics
It is at very strong magnetic fields that the helical Čerenkov effect, originating from the electron guiding center for an electron in helical motion in a magnetic field which is superimposed on a dielectric medium, resembles most closely the ordinary Čerenkov effect. In the absence of extremely strong magnetic fields in the laboratory, we turn our attention to the neutron stars (pulsar) and supernovae which can have magnetic fields whose values can easily be in the range of 10 5 — 10 9 T. The medium in which these magnetic fields reside is likely to be an ionized medium; that is, a plasma, which, as usual, may be assumed to be dominated by electrons. Here we wish to argue that in such a strong magnetic field dominated medium, at least on a classical level, radiation process associated with the helical Čerenkov radiation could be rather important.