Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 1 36E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
For a constant electromagnetic field tensor, the relativistic Lorentz force is a linear system with constant coefficients, so
PutThe initial four-velocity is . For parallel fields along , the field tensor has one hyperbolic block in the plane and one rotation block in the plane. With the orientation convention in the question,Taking the initial spacetime point to be the origin and integrating gives the relativistic motion in parallel electric and magnetic fieldsThe expressions have their continuous or limits when one field vanishes; reversing the sign of reverses the electric acceleration and magnetic rotation.
Eliminating proper time between the first two equations yieldsAt early coordinate time,which is uniformly accelerated motion with the transverse relativistic inertia factor . At late positive time,so the longitudinal speed approaches the speed of light.
For the pitch magnitude assume and put , , andNumber the th proper-time period as . Its longitudinal displacement isConsequently, as ,where