Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-symmetry-and-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/2/d/a/solution
Past exam of the symmetry and relativity course of the University of Oxford 2017 2 d a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For the electric-dominated crossed-field orbit, choose a boost along . Since , it is subluminal. The Lorentz transformation of electromagnetic fields gives and , where . The initially stationary electron has , not zero velocity in this frame.
Let , and . Neglect radiation reaction, as in the prescribed external-field model. Integrating the relativistic Lorentz force in this purely electric frame gives the exact trajectoryIndeed , , and satisfy both the force equation and . The constant transverse momentum must be retained.
The inverse boost gives a useful exact laboratory parametrization as well:For , the lab electron starts accelerating toward negative and bends toward positive , the direction of . It never acquires a cyclotron orbit in this electric-dominated case. At late times, and , so its speed approaches along an oblique asymptote. Reversing field signs reverses the appropriate directions. The zero- limit is the ordinary electric-field hyperbolic motion.
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