Diffusion of solar cosmic rays and the power spectrum of the interplanetary magnetic field

Van Allen and Krimigis find that solar electrons diffuse through the interplanetary medium at a rate that is similar to that of protons of the same velocity, despite the disparity by a factor of 2 × 10³ in their respective magnetic rigidities, and they suggest that this fact serves to extend knowledge of the structure of the interplanetary magnetic field to much smaller scale than has been measured by Coleman. This suggestion is developed quantitatively in the framework of Roelof's theory. It is found that the power spectrum of the interplanetary magnetic field varies inversely as the square of the frequency ƒ in the range 2.7 × 10−4 < ƒ < 0.5 cps.