Interaction of electrons with an oscillating potential

A model experiment of Fermi acceleration was performed in a trap, where electrons moved between an oscillating potential and a fixed potential along a magnetic field. In the trap some of the electrons were accelerated until they went over the fixed potential. We have observed such electrons at specific frequencies of the oscillating potential. A numerical study relates this resonance behavior to the stochastic acceleration of electrons confined in the oscillating wall and the fixed wall. (author)