Time dependent drift Hamiltonian

The motion of individual charged particles in a given magnetic and an electric fields is discussed. An idea of a guiding center distribution function f is introduced. The guiding center distribution function is connected to the asymptotic Hamiltonian through the drift kinetic equation. The general non-stochastic magnetic field can be written in a contravariant and a covariant forms. The drift Hamiltonian is proposed, and the canonical gyroradius is presented. The proposed drift Hamiltonian agrees with Alfven's drift velocity to lowest non-vanishing order in the gyroradius. The relation between the exact, time dependent equations of motion and the guiding center equation is clarified by a Lagrangian analysis. The deduced Lagrangian represents the drift motion. (Kato, T.)