Particle Diffusion in the Radiation Belts

·
· Physics and Chemistry in Space Book 7 · Springer Science & Business Media
Ebook
218
Pages
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn More

About this ebook

The advent of artificial earth satellites in 1957-58 opened a new dimension in the field of geophysical exploration. Discovery of the earth's radiation belts, consisting of energetic electrons and ions (chiefly protons) trapped by the geomagnetic field, followed almost immediately [1,2]' This largely unexpected development spurred a continuing interest in magnetospheric exploration, which so far has led to the launching of several hundred carefully instrumented spacecraft. Since their discovery, the radiation belts have been a subject of intensive theoretical analysis also. Over the years, a semiquantitative understanding of the governing dynamical processes has gradually evol ved. The underlying kinematical framework of radiation-belt theory is given by the adiabatic theory of charged-particle motion [3J, and the interesting dynamical phenomena are associated with the violation of one or more of the kinematical invariants of adiabatic motion. Among the most important of the operative dynamical processes are those that act in a stochastic manner upon the radiation-belt particles. Such stochastic processes lead to the diffusion of particle distributions with respect to the adiabatic invariants. The observational data indicate that some form of particle diffusion plays an essential role in virtually every aspect of the radiation belts.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.