Threshold speed for two-dimensional confinement of charged particles in certain axisymmetric magnetic fields

In this paper we discuss conditions under which charged particles are confined by an axisymmetric longitudinal magnetic field with power law dependence on the radius. We derive a transcendental equation for the critical speed corresponding to the threshold between bounded and unbounded trajectories of the particles. This threshold speed shows strong dependence on the direction, and this dependence becomes more prominent as the exponent of the power law increases. The equation for threshold speed can be solved exactly for several specific values of the power exponent, but in general it requires a numerical treatment. Remarkably, if the magnetic field magnitude decreases more slowly than the inverse of the radius, charged particles remain confined no matter how large their energies may be.