This book contains the lectures presented at the Advanced Study Institute, 'Radiation Trapped in the Earth's Magnetic Field' which was held at the Bergen Tekniske Skole, Bergen, Norway, during the period August 16 through September 3, 1965. Approximately one-third of the time was devoted to discussion. The various Session Chairmen have summarized the essential points brought out in these discussion periods which were generally quite spirited. The authors and the publisher have made a special effort to rapidly publish an up-to-date status concerning the various aspects of trapped radiation. Almost all authors turned in their manuscripts prior to the end of the Institute and all prior to September 30, 1965. It was clearly recognized that rapid publication was essential in this rapidly changing research area. Special thanks are due to the Host, Dr. Odd Dahl, Chr. Michelsen Institute, for making all of the arrangements in Bergen, including excellent living and working facilities. Direct financial support was provided the Institute by: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Advanced Research Projects Agency, Air Force Cam bridge Research Laboratories, Army Research Office, Defence Atomic Support Agency, and the Office of Naval Research.

"Since the discovery of geomagnetically trapped radiation by Van Allen in 1958, an impressive amount of experimental information on the earth's particle and field environment has nourished research work for scores of scientists and thesis work for their students. This quest has challenged space-age technology to produce better and more sophisticated instruments and has challenged the international scientific community and governments to establish more, and more effective, cooperative programs of research and information exchange. As a result, an orderly picture of the principal physical mechanisms governing the earth's radiation environment is beginning to emerge. The interest in this topic has reached far beyond the domain of geophysics. Indeed, we find trapped radiation elsewhere in the universe: Jupiter's radiation belts, particle trapping in sunspot magnetic fields, cosmic rays confined in interstellar fields and, possibly, ultra-high-energy particles trapped in the magnetic fields of rotating neutron stars. There is abundant technical and scientific literature available on Van Allen radiation; comprehensive reviews are published regularly in journals* or have been collected in book form**, and books have been written on the subject***. The aim of this monograph is to complement the existing literature with a concise discussion of the basic dynamical processes that control the earth's radiation belts. It is mainly intended to help a graduate student or a researcher new to this field to understand the underlying physics and to provide him with guidelines for quantitative, numerical applications of the theory." --Publisher's website.