Behaviour of charged particle motion along an inhomogeneous magnetic field and a retarding electric field - evidence for the existence of discrete energy states

We report here rather astonishing observations in the motion of charged particles (electrons) in an (in general) inhomogeneous magnetic field in the presence of a retarding electrostatic potential. The motivation for this study is a theoretical prediction made for this system, based on a formalism developed by Varma. The comparison of the experimental results with theory is presented in the later part of the paper. (author) 2 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab