The evolution of a test particle distribution in a strongly magnetized plasma

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Fokker-Planck coefficients are calculated to describe the interaction of a test particle distribution with an electron gas in a magnetic field of around 1012 G. For massive, classical test particles the Fokker-Planck equation is then solved numerically. Results are presented for the stopping length, the creation of an inverted distribution, and the final relaxation rate for a range of density and temperature values characteristic of the surface of an accreting neutron star. Differences of up to two orders of magnitude are found in comparison with other results in the literature. These arise because the gyro radius of the test particle is smaller than the Debye screening length of the electron gas.