Charged Particle Dynamics in the Field of a Slowly Rotating Compact Star

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a charged particle in the field of a slowly rotating compact star in the gravitoelectromagnetic approximation to the geodesic equation . The star is assumed to be surrounded by an ideal, highly conducting plasma (taken as a magnetohydrodynamic fluid) with a stationary, axially symmetric electromagnetic field. The general relativistic Maxwell equations are solved to obtain the effects of the background spacetime on the electromagnetic field in the linearized Kerr spacetime. The equations of motion are then set up and solved numerically to incorporate the gravitational as well as the electromagnetic effects. The analysis shows that in the slow rotation approximation the frame dragging effects on the electromagnetic field are absent. However the particle is directly effected by the rotating gravitational source such that close to the star the gravitational and electromagnetic field produce contrary effects on the particle's trajectory.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures in B & W PostScript Forma