Quantum effects on the motion of charged particles near the neutral surface of an ultrastrong magnetic field

The problem of quantum motion of charged particles in a magnetic field is e xtended to the case where the magnetic field has a neutral surface. This si tuation may occur in ultrahigh magnetic fields generated by multi-terawatt laser pulses interacting with a plasma of similar to 10-100 eV. Far from th e neutral surface the drift approximation holds for the classical motion an d the Landau description holds for the quantum motion. Near the neutral lay er at a classical distance less than the Larmor radius the particle motion is nonadiabatic. Here the quantum motion is described by a Schrodinger equa tion and new quantum levels for the particle transverse energy are found, w ith a separation that depends on the particle momentum along the neutral su rface.