Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2012/s7/1/3/solution

Write , requiring and . The initial conditions fix and . At , the radial force is . Thus the unperturbed motion is the helix
To analyse a small initial radial velocity, eliminate the cyclic velocities using the conserved quantities. The radial energy equation is , with
Here and . The circular cylindrical radius is therefore stable. For , the first-order equation is , so
The orbit acquires small radial oscillations. The other coordinates are modulated consistently with the same constants:
These expressions retain the stated initial angular and axial velocities. The perturbation adds to the conserved energy. The expansion assumes , which follows from the supplied smallness condition when ; it is not an exact finite-amplitude helix.

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