Potential Scattering of Electrons in the Simultaneous Presence of a Laser and a Magnetic Field

Abstract

Inverse bremsstrahlung has been considered as one of the important processes involved in the heating of fusion plasmas by laser radiation. Several authors have investigated this mechanism and we refer in particular to the work of Seely and Harris¹. Seely also treated the absorption of laser radiation by a magnetized plasma². The problem of electron motion and scattering in a laser and in a homogeneous magnetic field oriented in the direction of propagation of the laser radiation has moreover become of interest for the recently proposed field configurations of free electron lasers with an axial guiding field³. Moreover, particle scattering in strong fields is in itself a problem of fundamental importance⁴.

Work supported by the Österreichische Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung under Contract No. 3852, by the Exchange Program between the Austrian and Hungarian Academies of Sciences and by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.