Paper 3, Section II, B

Electrodynamics
Part II, 2010

A particle of rest-mass mm, electric charge qq, is moving relativistically along the path xμ(s)x^{\mu}(s) where ss parametrises the path.

Write down an action for which the extremum determines the particle's equation of motion in an electromagnetic field given by the potential Aμ(x)A^{\mu}(x).

Use your action to derive the particle's equation of motion in a form where ss is the proper time.

Suppose that the electric and magnetic fields are given by

E=(0,0,E)B=(0,B,0)\begin{aligned} \mathbf{E} &=(0,0, E) \\ \mathbf{B} &=(0, B, 0) \end{aligned}

where EE and BB are constants and B>E>0B>E>0.

Find xμ(s)x^{\mu}(s) given that the particle starts at rest at the origin when s=0s=0.

Describe qualitatively the motion of the particle.