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Handbook of Radiation Belts
Physics Throughout the Solar System
- 1st Edition - January 1, 2026
- Editors: Peter Kollmann, Alexander Drozdov
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 9 2 3 3 - 6
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 9 2 3 4 - 3
Handbook of Radiation Belts: Physics Throughout the Solar System provides a comprehensive overview of radiation belt processes throughout the solar system in a single book, com… Read more
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Request a sales quoteHandbook of Radiation Belts: Physics Throughout the Solar System provides a comprehensive overview of radiation belt processes throughout the solar system in a single book, compiling all information relevant to radiation belts in one place. It features an overview of radiation belts of each applicable planet in the Solar System to assist researchers working on individual radiation belt physics, particularly of comparative or multiplanetary scope. The handbook goes on to offer a detailed guide to basics such as measurement and particle motion to more advanced topics such as radial transport and associated acceleration. It provides the respective theory behind the physics as well as detailed derivations, with worked examples and case studies, allowing readers to follow the implementation of the theory behind the science to apply in their research.
The Handbook of Radiation Belts covers all relevant topics to radiation belts in our Solar System in one complete source, offering researchers, academics and students in space physics a complete guide to the topic for those performing fundamental research and teaching, as well as professionals planning and operating space missions or assets.
- Covers all key aspects of radiation belts physics in handbook format
- Provides information about radiation belts on all planes in the Solar System for the terrestrial as well as the planetary radiation community
- A complete treatment of radiation belts across the Solar System from foundational theory to complex worked examples and case studies means the book is accessible to introductory readers and of use to more experienced researchers
Research scientists, professionals, academics, graduate students, and undergraduates in astrophysics and planetary sciences
1. Magnetosphere and Radiation Belt Overview
a. Plasma and solar wind
i. Plasma definition
ii Solar wind
b. Magnetospheres in general
i. Separation from solar wind (refer to section below for details)
c. Radiation belts
i. Overview of the physical processes (just summarize and refer to chapters)
d. Induced magnetospheres (Venus & Mars)
i. Bow shock
ii. Magnetic barrier
iii. Ionosphere
iv. Absence of radiation beltsAsymmetric magnetospheres (Uranus & Neptune)
e. Small Magnetospheres (Mercury & Earth)
i. Bow shock
ii. Magnetopause
iii. Plasmapause (refer to section below for details)
iv. Magnetospheric currents
v. Solar response (Geomagnetic storms)
vi. Radiation belts of Earth
f.Mass loaded magnetospheres (Jupiter & Saturn)
i. Plasma disk
ii. Vasliyunas cycle
iii. Solar response (SEPs)
iv. Radiation belts
g. Asymmetric magnetospheres (Uranus & Neptune)
i. Misaligned axes
ii. No plasmapause
iii. Radiation belts
h. Embedded magnetospheres (Ganymede)
i. Magnetic connection
ii. Tentative radiation belt
i.Summary
i. Table with planetary parameters
ii. Figures comparing magnetosphere shapes and radiation belt structure
2. Experimental and theoretical techniques
a.Measurement and contamination
i.Detection techniques
ii. Measurement artifacts
b.Theoretical Approaches
i. Single particle motion, Kinetic theory, Quasi-linear theory, Non-linear theory
ii. Magnetohydrodynamic, Multi-fluid, Hybrid model
c. Single point measurement vs. global model
3. Particle ensembles
a. Count rates and calibration
b. Fluxes
c. Phase space densities
d. Liouville’s Theorem
4. Single particle motion in the magnetic and electric field
a. Fundamental forces
i. Lorentz and electric force
ii. Vlasov equation
b. Gyration
i. Particle motion in uniform magnetic field
ii. Guiding center approximation
c. Planetary fields
i. Dipole field
ii. Examples of distorted fields (example: compare Jupiter with dipole)
d.bounce
i. Magnetic trapping
ii. Bounce time (example: show bounce time over normalized distance in a dipole)
iii. Equatorial and local pitch angle
iv. Bounce loss cone
v. Bounce/Cyclotron resonances
vi. Shebansky orbit
e. Various drifts
i. Magnetic drifts, L-shell, drift shell splitting (example: show bounce time over normalized distance in a dipole and one other field)
ii. Electric drifts
iii. Applications
Ring current and metrics of geomagnetic indexes
Plasmasphere or its absence for different reasons (Gas vs Ice Giants)
Drift echos
Last Closed Drift Shell
iv. Mixture of E and B drifts (example: Saturn’s “banana” orbits)
f. Adiabatic invariants
i. Integral of motion for any periodic motion
ii. First and second invariant
iii. Third adiabatic invariant, Lstar and its calculation
g. Coordinate systems
i. L-shell, L-B coordinates, M-shell
5. Waves
a. Different waves that may affect radiation belts at different planets
b. Plasma instabilities and wave growth
c. Cold and hot plasma theory
6. The diffusion concept
a. Derivation of the Fokker-Planck equation
b. Derivation of the diffusion equation
7. Radial transport and associated acceleration
a. Adiabatic heating
b. Radial diffusion and transport
i. 1D Radial diffusion (example: Starfish evolution)
ii. Diffusion coefficients from first principles
iii. Mixed diffusion with pitch angle and energy
iv. Bounce resonance
c. Convection
i. Earth
ii. Jupiter/Saturn
d. Interchange
i. Pressure driven (Earth)
ii. Centrifugally driven (Jupiter, Saturn)
e. Tail reconnection
i. Dungey cycle, magnetic indices
ii. Vasyliunas cycle
8. Local acceleration and local diffusion
a. 1-D Pitch-angle diffusion (example: Jupiter’s ions with and without this diffusion)
b. Weak and strong diffusion regimes
c. 1-D Energy diffusion
d. 2D diffusion in energy & pitch angle
e. Mixed terms (example: a model with and without mixed diffusion)
f. Diffusion coefficient calculation
g. Adiabatic invariants instead of energy and pitch angle
h. 3D diffusion
i. 3-D Fokker-planck in various coordinate systems
9. Non-linear processes
a. Non-linear diffusion
10. Sources
a. CRAND (example: refilling of Earth’s proton belts)
b. SEPs
c. Low energy plasma
i. Solar wind
ii. Moon pickup ions
iii. ionosphere
d. Stripped ENAs
e. Scattered particles accelerated at high latitudes
11. Losses
a. Coulomb scattering
b. Losses to loss cone (refer back to loss cone)
c. Charge exchange
d. Energy friction in gas, plasma, and ring grains
e.Synchrotron
f. Moon and ring absorption (example: Saturn protons)
g. Magnetopause shado
h. drift loss cone
12. Importance of the trapped radiation
a. Space science, astrophysics, exoplanets
b.Technology at Earth and for exploration
c. Planetary science: moon surface weathering, constraining ring properties
a. Plasma and solar wind
i. Plasma definition
ii Solar wind
b. Magnetospheres in general
i. Separation from solar wind (refer to section below for details)
c. Radiation belts
i. Overview of the physical processes (just summarize and refer to chapters)
d. Induced magnetospheres (Venus & Mars)
i. Bow shock
ii. Magnetic barrier
iii. Ionosphere
iv. Absence of radiation beltsAsymmetric magnetospheres (Uranus & Neptune)
e. Small Magnetospheres (Mercury & Earth)
i. Bow shock
ii. Magnetopause
iii. Plasmapause (refer to section below for details)
iv. Magnetospheric currents
v. Solar response (Geomagnetic storms)
vi. Radiation belts of Earth
f.Mass loaded magnetospheres (Jupiter & Saturn)
i. Plasma disk
ii. Vasliyunas cycle
iii. Solar response (SEPs)
iv. Radiation belts
g. Asymmetric magnetospheres (Uranus & Neptune)
i. Misaligned axes
ii. No plasmapause
iii. Radiation belts
h. Embedded magnetospheres (Ganymede)
i. Magnetic connection
ii. Tentative radiation belt
i.Summary
i. Table with planetary parameters
ii. Figures comparing magnetosphere shapes and radiation belt structure
2. Experimental and theoretical techniques
a.Measurement and contamination
i.Detection techniques
ii. Measurement artifacts
b.Theoretical Approaches
i. Single particle motion, Kinetic theory, Quasi-linear theory, Non-linear theory
ii. Magnetohydrodynamic, Multi-fluid, Hybrid model
c. Single point measurement vs. global model
3. Particle ensembles
a. Count rates and calibration
b. Fluxes
c. Phase space densities
d. Liouville’s Theorem
4. Single particle motion in the magnetic and electric field
a. Fundamental forces
i. Lorentz and electric force
ii. Vlasov equation
b. Gyration
i. Particle motion in uniform magnetic field
ii. Guiding center approximation
c. Planetary fields
i. Dipole field
ii. Examples of distorted fields (example: compare Jupiter with dipole)
d.bounce
i. Magnetic trapping
ii. Bounce time (example: show bounce time over normalized distance in a dipole)
iii. Equatorial and local pitch angle
iv. Bounce loss cone
v. Bounce/Cyclotron resonances
vi. Shebansky orbit
e. Various drifts
i. Magnetic drifts, L-shell, drift shell splitting (example: show bounce time over normalized distance in a dipole and one other field)
ii. Electric drifts
iii. Applications
Ring current and metrics of geomagnetic indexes
Plasmasphere or its absence for different reasons (Gas vs Ice Giants)
Drift echos
Last Closed Drift Shell
iv. Mixture of E and B drifts (example: Saturn’s “banana” orbits)
f. Adiabatic invariants
i. Integral of motion for any periodic motion
ii. First and second invariant
iii. Third adiabatic invariant, Lstar and its calculation
g. Coordinate systems
i. L-shell, L-B coordinates, M-shell
5. Waves
a. Different waves that may affect radiation belts at different planets
b. Plasma instabilities and wave growth
c. Cold and hot plasma theory
6. The diffusion concept
a. Derivation of the Fokker-Planck equation
b. Derivation of the diffusion equation
7. Radial transport and associated acceleration
a. Adiabatic heating
b. Radial diffusion and transport
i. 1D Radial diffusion (example: Starfish evolution)
ii. Diffusion coefficients from first principles
iii. Mixed diffusion with pitch angle and energy
iv. Bounce resonance
c. Convection
i. Earth
ii. Jupiter/Saturn
d. Interchange
i. Pressure driven (Earth)
ii. Centrifugally driven (Jupiter, Saturn)
e. Tail reconnection
i. Dungey cycle, magnetic indices
ii. Vasyliunas cycle
8. Local acceleration and local diffusion
a. 1-D Pitch-angle diffusion (example: Jupiter’s ions with and without this diffusion)
b. Weak and strong diffusion regimes
c. 1-D Energy diffusion
d. 2D diffusion in energy & pitch angle
e. Mixed terms (example: a model with and without mixed diffusion)
f. Diffusion coefficient calculation
g. Adiabatic invariants instead of energy and pitch angle
h. 3D diffusion
i. 3-D Fokker-planck in various coordinate systems
9. Non-linear processes
a. Non-linear diffusion
10. Sources
a. CRAND (example: refilling of Earth’s proton belts)
b. SEPs
c. Low energy plasma
i. Solar wind
ii. Moon pickup ions
iii. ionosphere
d. Stripped ENAs
e. Scattered particles accelerated at high latitudes
11. Losses
a. Coulomb scattering
b. Losses to loss cone (refer back to loss cone)
c. Charge exchange
d. Energy friction in gas, plasma, and ring grains
e.Synchrotron
f. Moon and ring absorption (example: Saturn protons)
g. Magnetopause shado
h. drift loss cone
12. Importance of the trapped radiation
a. Space science, astrophysics, exoplanets
b.Technology at Earth and for exploration
c. Planetary science: moon surface weathering, constraining ring properties
- No. of pages: 325
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: January 1, 2026
- Imprint: Elsevier
- Paperback ISBN: 9780323992336
- eBook ISBN: 9780323992343
PK
Peter Kollmann
Dr. Peter Kollmann is a physicist who studies space plasma throughout our Solar System using satellite observations and theory. He received his Ph.D. in 2012 and today works at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He is deeply involved with all of the recent planetary missions to Jupiter and Saturn, and other missions such as Venus Express and New Horizons, where he is one of the instrument scientists. He has published in a variety of subjects from plasma at Venus, to the radiation belts of giant planets, to the interplanetary medium around Pluto. Dr Kollmann’s work commonly combines various techniques of data analysis and numerical modeling. He supports the community by organizing sessions at conferences that bring together different communities and by leading or contributing to White Papers that influence NASA’s and ESA’s future science priorities.
Affiliations and expertise
Senior professional staff, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USAAD
Alexander Drozdov
Dr. Alexander Drozdov started his scientific career in Moscow State University. His research interests were focused on the radiation effects related to the thunderstorm activity and radiation environments around Earth. In 2012 he started working at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on research of the radiation belt dynamics using the quasi-linear theory. He has applied his knowledge to perform numerical simulations in the space physics area while the Van Allen Probes mission launched, and he significantly contributed to the satellite data processing at UCLA space environment modeling group. His current research interests are directly related to the investigation of the acceleration, loss, and transport mechanisms of the Earth’s radiation belt electrons. In addition, he is actively involved in research involving radiation protection for interplanetary missions and the study of the radiation environment of Jupiter and Saturn.
Affiliations and expertise
Assistant Researcher, Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, USA