Ponderomotive ratchet in a uniform magnetic field

We show how a ratchet effect, generally used in systems with periodic potentials, can also be practiced on charged particles by an ac field alone, in a background magnetic field near the cyclotron resonance. The effect relies entirely on the spatial inhomogeneity of the high-frequency drive, which produces a deterministic asymmetric ponderomotive barrier for undamped particles. Such a barrier can reflect particles incident from one side while transmitting those incident from the opposite side, hence acting somewhat like a Maxwell demon. The necessary fields are perhaps most easily realized in a plasma, though the effect is more general.