Numerical Analysis of Quantum-Mechanical Non-Uniform E × B Drift

Abstract

We have numerically solved the two-dimensional time-dependent Schödinger equation for a magnetized proton in the presence of a uniform electric field and a nonuniform magnetic field with a gradient scale length of L_B. It is shown that the particle mass and the electric field do not affect the time rate of variance change at which variance increases with time, and their characteristic times are of the order of L_B/v₀ sec with v₀ being the initial particle speed.