Effects of homogeneous and inhomogeneous magnetic fields on particles

[magnetics]

Hi,
To understand the difference between uniform magnetic fields and field gradients would it help to make comparisons between their effects on different particles? The posts on Stern-Gelach shed some light here.
For instance, what effect would a homogeneous and an inhomogeneous magnetic field have on the following three particles in both a stationary and moving (constant speed) state – charged particle, polarized particle and magnetic dipole? Would these three particles work best for the comparison?
Thank you.

 

[K^2]

Yes, that's a good starting point. As the simplest example, a neutron, having no charge, is unaffected by uniform field. However, having a magnetic moment, it is affected by a magnetic field gradient.

 

[magnetics]

So would it be correct to say that for the moving charged particle, both the homogeneous and inhomogeneous fields are going to produce a Lorentz Force = qv X B perpendicular to both the direction and the field. For the stationary charged particle there will be no force in a homogeneous field, but what about an inhomogeneous field?

For a magnetic dipole there will be no force in a homogeneous field, but a force in an inhomogeneous field while moving and stationary according to F = V(m.B), where V is the gradient.

For a polarized particle, the homogeneous field will only produce a torque on the particle if it is not aligned to the field lines. Will the inhomogeneous produce a different force on the polarized particle?