Cyclotron radiation

<p>In <a href="/facts/Particle_physics/YgIuyj2t">particle physics</a>, cyclotron radiation is <a href="/facts/Electromagnetic_radiation/Ynx7ujCW">electromagnetic radiation</a> emitted by non-relativistic accelerating <a href="/facts/Electric_charge/xxsBfmlB">charged</a> particles deflected by a <a href="/facts/Magnetic_field/Ta8Ev588">magnetic field</a>.  The <a href="/facts/Lorentz_force/aq1Rc3SS">Lorentz force</a> on the particles acts perpendicular to both the magnetic <a href="/facts/Field_line/Nxr20d47">field lines</a> and the particles' motion through them, creating an acceleration of charged particles that causes them to emit radiation as a result of the acceleration they undergo as they spiral around the lines of the magnetic field.
</p><p>The name of this radiation derives from the <a href="/facts/Cyclotron/Q8APwhWm">cyclotron</a>, a type of <a href="/facts/Particle_accelerator/Pkuc08xC">particle accelerator</a> used since the 1930s to create highly energetic particles for study. The cyclotron makes use of the circular orbits that charged particles exhibit in a uniform magnetic field. Furthermore, the period of the orbit is independent of the energy of the particles, allowing the cyclotron to operate at a set <a href="/facts/Frequency/QUSbPaW8">frequency</a>. Cyclotron radiation is emitted by all charged particles travelling through magnetic fields, not just those in cyclotrons. Cyclotron radiation from <a href="/facts/Plasma_(physics)/1d3btMVU">plasma</a> in the <a href="/facts/Interstellar_medium/mokU0WEz">interstellar medium</a> or around <a href="/facts/Black_hole/1r2lmkcF">black holes</a> and other astronomical phenomena is an important source of information about distant magnetic fields.
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Cyclotron radiation open-in-new

Cyclotron radiation