The magnetic tape includes a non-magnetic support, a magnetic layer that includes ferromagnetic powder having an average particle volume of 2,500 nm.sup.3 or less on one surface side of the non-magnetic support, and a back coating layer that includes non-magnetic powder on the other surface side of the non-magnetic support, in which the ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic powder selected from the group consisting of hexagonal ferrite powder and ε-iron oxide powder, and a ratio (PSD.sub.5μm-PSDmag/PSD.sub.10μm-PSDbc) of the magnetic layer and the back coating layer is in a range of 0.0050 to 0.20. A magnetic tape cartridge and a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus include the magnetic tape.

The magnetic tape cartridge group includes a plurality of magnetic tape cartridges. Regarding 100 reels of magnetic tape cartridges, in a case where a maximum value of an absolute value of a difference between a servo band spacing obtained before predetermined storage and a servo band spacing obtained after the predetermined storage is defined as A, an arithmetic mean of medium lives calculated by a linear function derived from a value of A obtained for different N and a value of the logarithm of total storage time T of the storage of N cycles is 3 years or longer and 3σ is 1 year or shorter. Medium life: T in a case where A satisfies A=1.5−B. B: a value calculated by multiplying a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of servo band spacings obtained in each of the five environments by ½.

The magnetic recording medium includes a non-magnetic support; and a magnetic layer including a ferromagnetic powder, in which the ferromagnetic powder is a ferromagnetic powder selected from the group consisting of a hexagonal strontium ferrite powder and an ε-iron oxide powder, the number of recesses having a depth which is ⅓ or more of a minimum recording bit length existing on a surface of the magnetic layer is less than 10/10,000 μm.sup.2, and a ratio d/t.sub.mag of a value d which is ⅓ of the minimum recording bit length to a thickness t.sub.mag of the magnetic layer is 0.15 to 0.50.

An object is to provide a magnetic recording medium having excellent traveling stability and a thin total thickness. The present technology provides a tape-shaped magnetic recording medium including: a magnetic layer; an underlayer; a base layer; and a back layer, in which a surface on a side of the magnetic layer has a kurtosis of 3.0 or more, a surface on a side of the back layer has a kurtosis of 2.0 or more, the surface on the magnetic layer side has arithmetic average roughness R.sub.a of 2.5 nm or less, the base layer includes a polyester as a main component, the magnetic recording medium has an average thickness t.sub.T of 5.6 μm or less, the magnetic recording medium includes a lubricant, the lubricant includes a fatty acid and a fatty acid ester, and a mass ratio between the fatty acid and the fatty acid ester extracted with hexane satisfies fatty acid/fatty acid ester≤0.6, and the magnetic recording medium has pores, and the pores have an average diameter of 6 nm or more and 11 nm or less when the diameters of the pores are measured in a state where the lubricant has been removed from the magnetic recording medium and the magnetic recording medium has been dried.

A magnetic recording medium is a magnetic recording medium in the form of a tape and includes a substrate, a foundation layer provided on the substrate, and a magnetic layer provided on the foundation layer and containing a magnetic powder. The foundation layer and the magnetic layer each contain a lubricant. A squareness ratio of the magnetic layer in a perpendicular direction is equal to or higher than 65%, an average thickness of the magnetic recording medium is equal to or smaller than 5.6 μm, a plurality of recessed portions each having a depth corresponding to 20% or higher of the average thickness of the magnetic layer is provided on a surface of the magnetic layer, and the number of the recessed portions per unit area of 1,600 μm.sup.2 of the surface of the magnetic layer is equal to or greater than 20 and equal to or smaller than 200, and an amount of exudation of the lubricant per unit region of 12.5 μm×9.3 μm on the surface of the magnetic layer in a vacuum is equal to or greater than 3.0 μm.sup.2 and equal to or smaller than 6.5 μm.sup.2.

A magnetic recording medium is provided and includes a magnetic layer, a non-magnetic layer, a base layer and a back layer, wherein an average thickness t.sub.T of the magnetic recording medium is t.sub.T≤5.3 a dimensional change amount Δw in a width direction with respect to a change in tension in a longitudinal direction is 700 ppm/N≤Δw, a thickness of the non-magnetic layer is 2.0 μm or less, a squareness ratio measured in a vertical direction of the magnetic recording medium is 65% or more, and the magnetic layer includes a magnetic powder.

A magnetic tape in which a tape thickness of the magnetic tape is 5.2 μm or less, and in an environment with a temperature of 32° C. and a relative humidity of 80%, a frictional force F.sub.45° on the surface of the magnetic layer with respect to an LTO8 head measured at a head tilt angle of 45° is 4 gf to 15 gf, and a standard deviation of a frictional force F on the surface of the magnetic layer with respect to the LTO8 head measured at each of head tilt angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45° is 10 gf or less.

The present technology provides a tape-shaped magnetic recording medium including: a magnetic layer; an underlayer; a base layer; and a back layer, in which the number of recesses having a depth of 20% or more of the thickness of the magnetic layer is 10 or more and 200 or less per surface area of 1600 μm.sup.2, the base layer includes a polyester as a main component, a surface on a side of the back layer has a kurtosis of 2.0 or more and 4.4 or less, the magnetic recording medium has an average thickness t.sub.T of 5.6 μm or less, the magnetic recording medium includes a lubricant, the magnetic recording medium has pores, and the pores have an average diameter of 6 nm or more and 11 nm or less when the diameters of the pores are measured in a state where the lubricant has been removed from the magnetic recording medium and the magnetic recording medium has been dried.

In the magnetic recording medium, a number distribution A of a plurality of bright regions, based on equivalent circle diameters thereof, in a binarized image of a secondary electron image obtained by imaging a surface of the magnetic layer by a scanning electron microscope at an acceleration voltage of 5 kV and a number distribution B of a plurality of dark regions, based on equivalent circle diameters thereof, in a binarized image of a secondary electron image obtained by imaging a surface of the magnetic layer by a scanning electron microscope at an acceleration voltage of 2 kV respectively satisfy a predetermined number distribution.

Provided are a magnetic tape including: a non-magnetic support; a magnetic layer including ferromagnetic powder and a binding agent on one surface side of the non-magnetic support; and a back coating layer including non-magnetic powder and a binding agent on the other surface side of the non-magnetic support, in which an isoelectric point of a surface zeta potential of the magnetic layer is equal to or greater than 5.5, and an isoelectric point of a surface zeta potential of the back coating layer is equal to or greater than 4.5, a magnetic tape cartridge, and a magnetic tape apparatus including this magnetic tape.