Transverse Rutherford Scattering of Electron-Ion Collision in a Uniformly Magnetized Plasma

Abstract

Rutherford scattering formula plays an important role in plasma classical transport. It is urgent to investigate influence of magnetic field on the Rutherford scattering since the high magnetic field has been widely used in nowadays magnetic confinement fusion, inertial confinement fusion, and magneto-inertial fusion. In order to elucidate the magnetic field effect in a concise manner, we study the electron-ion collisions transverse to the magnetic field. The scattering angle is defined using the directions of electron velocity before and after collision, which is obtained analytically. It is found that the scattering angle can be influenced by finite magnetic field significantly. The theoretical results agree well with numerical calculation by checking the dependence of scattering angle on the magnetic field.