Approach to transverse equilibrium in axial channeling

Analytical treatments of channeling rely on the assumption of equilibrium on the transverse energy shell. The approach to equilibrium, and the nature of the equilibrium achieved, is examined using solutions of the equations of motion in the continuum multi-string model. The results show that the motion is chaotic in the absence of dissipative processes, and a complicated structure develops in phase space which prevent the development of the simple equilibrium usually assumed. The role of multiple scattering in smoothing out the equilibrium distribution is investigated