A many-particle adiabatic invariant of strongly magnetized pure electron plasmas

A pure electron plasma is said to be strongly magnetized if the cyclotron radius of the electrons is much smaller than the classical distance of closest approach. In this parameter regime a many-particle adiabatic invariant constrains the collisional dynamics. For the case of a uniform magnetic field, the adiabatic invariant is the total kinetic energy associated with the electron velocity components that are perpendicular to the magnetic field (i.e., Σj mv2j perpendicular/2). Were the adiabatic invariant an exact constant of the motion, no exchange of energy would be possible between the parallel and the perpendicular degrees of freedom, and the plasma could develop and maintain two different temperatures Tparallel and T perpendicular. An adiabatic invariant, however, is not strictly conserved. In the present case, each collision produces an exponentially small exchange of energy between the parallel and the perpendicular degrees of freedom, and these act cumulatively in such a way that Tparallel and T perpendicular eventually relax to a common value. The rate of equilibrium is calculated, both in the case where the collisions are described by classical mechanics and in the case where the collisions are described by quantum mechanics, the two calculations giving essentially the same result. A molecular dynamics simulation has been carried out, verifying the existence of this unusual invariant, and verifying the theoretically predicted rate equation