Nonlinear dynamics of charged particles in an oblique electromagnetic wave

We study dynamics of a charged particle under action of an electromagnetic wave that propagates obliquely to a background uniform magnetic field. The dynamics is described by a slow-fast Hamiltonian system. We show that long-term dynamics is dominated by phenomena of capture of particle into resonance with the wave and escape from this resonance, as well as of scattering on resonance. We find that the variation of the particle's kinetic energy on the time interval between capture and escape is bounded and accumulated in the motion along the background field. We discuss possible applications of the obtained results. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.