Electromagnetism – Why Do Charged Particles Follow Magnetic Field Lines?

electromagnetismmagnetic fieldsmagnetohydrodynamicssolar-wind

This may seem like a dumb question, but I can't think of the answer. The context I am curious about is the solar wind. Specifically particles flowing out of coronal holes and following the magnetic field lines arching out into space. Why do both the positive and negative particles follow these field lines and flow into space?

Best Answer

Background

In the absence of an electric field, a charged particle experiences a force that is perpendicular to the magnetic field and its velocity relative to that field, called the Lorentz force. This is given by: $$ \mathbf{F}_{s} = q_{s} \ \mathbf{v}_{s} \times \mathbf{B} \tag{1} $$ where $q_{s}$ is the charge of species $s$, $\mathbf{v}_{s}$ is the velocity of species $s$ with respect to the magnetic field, $\mathbf{B}$. We can approximate the plasma as a fluid, i.e., magnetohydrodynamics, which will help simplify some things.

In the fluid limit, we can show that Ohm's law, in a frame of reference moving relative to the fluid at velocity $\mathbf{U}$ (or equivalently, one can say we are at rest and the fluid moves at $\mathbf{U}$), is given by: $$ \mathbf{j} = \sigma \left( \mathbf{E} + \mathbf{U} \times \mathbf{B} \right) \tag{2} $$ where $\mathbf{j}$ is the current density and $\sigma$ is the electrical conductivity. Note that this is in the non-relativistic limit, where we can approximate by using gallilean transformations (e.g., $\mathbf{E}' = \mathbf{E} + \mathbf{U} \times \mathbf{B}$) instead of Lorentz transformations. We can then use Ampère's law combined with Ohm's law (e.g., Equation 2 above) to show: $$ \nabla \times \mathbf{B} = \mu_{o} \ \sigma \left( \mathbf{E} + \mathbf{U} \times \mathbf{B} \right) \tag{3} $$ where $\mu_{o}$ is the permeability of free space. We can take the curl of Equation 3 and combine with Faraday's law to show: $$ \partial_{t} \mathbf{B} = \nabla \times \left( \mathbf{U} \times \mathbf{B} \right) + \frac{1}{\mu_{o} \ \sigma} \nabla^{2} \mathbf{B} \tag{4} $$

In the limit as $\sigma \rightarrow \infty$, one can further show that: $$ \frac{d \Phi_{B}}{dt} = \int_{S} \ dA \ \left[ \partial_{t} \mathbf{B} - \nabla \times \left( \mathbf{U} \times \mathbf{B} \right) \right] \cdot \hat{\mathbf{n}} = 0 \tag{5} $$ where $\Phi_{B}$ is the magnetic flux and $dA$ is an arbitrary surface with unit normal vector, $\hat{\mathbf{n}}$. Equation 5 is known as the frozen-in condition because it states that the magnetic fields are tied to the fluid.

Answer

Why do both the positive and negative particles follow these field lines and flow into space?

The answer is two fold relating to the frozen-in condition being partially satisfied and the Lorentz force (Equation 1 above). Equation 1 shows that if a particle tries to move orthogonal to a magnetic field, the field will turn it back towards the field resulting in roughly circular motion (when considering only magnetic fields and only the perpendicular components of the velocity). There are intuitive reasons for why this should be so, as I previously stated in this answer.

If, however, a particle's velocity ($\mathbf{v}_{s}$) is parallel to the magnetic field, it will experience no force in the absence of electric and gravitational fields. Thus, it is very easy for particles to move along the magnetic field but difficult to move across it.

The frozen-in condition also shows that the field and particles are tied to each other, such that if one changes the other changes to compensate (assuming the changes are slow enough).

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