Loss cone constraints on relativistic electron beams injected from the magnetosphere

Abstract:

Higher order terms of the magnetic moment invariant are necessary to correctly determine the mirror point of trapped energetic particles, and therefore the loss cone. We present analytic and numberical studies of the effect of these terms on the loss cone. Numerical integration of particle orbits were carried out for a relativistic electron in a dipole field, showing agreement with analytic estimates. The results are relevant to experiments which are concerned with injection of relativistic beams into the ionosphere from aboard a spacecraft in the magnetosphere.