Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-physics-i-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/2/c/solution

In a uniform-field region, is cyclic and is constant. Its equation is . The radial Euler-Lagrange equation is
so with and ,
The radial equation applies on intervals with a regular signed cylindrical-coordinate description; the Cartesian solution handles axis crossings.
In a field-free region, the equations are
For this particle , so and outside, until a coordinate change is needed at an axis crossing.
Axial velocity is constant within each uniform region, but not across the ends. In a smooth fringe,
The entrance develops an azimuthal speed while radial velocity remains zero. Conservation of total speed gives
Forward passage presumes the radicand is positive. The exit fringe changes axial velocity again. Neglecting these small changes is a paraxial approximation, requiring , rather than an exact consequence of cylindrical symmetry.

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