Simulations of self-magnetization in dusty space plasmas comparing different charge polarities and charge numbers of the dust

Abstract

In partially ionized dusty space plasmas collisional momentum transfer between neutral and charged components of different inertia yields significant self-induced magnetic fields on remarkable short time scales of several dust Alfven times. Considering the proto-solar accretion disk previous first self-consistent plasma–neutral gas–dust simulations have shown, that this process yields a self-magnetization of 10 - 5 – 10 - 3 T on time scales of about 100 days. Thus, this mechanism is able to explain the remanent magnetization of chondrite type meteorite matter. New simulations show the quantitative dependence of the self-magnetization on polarity and charge numbers of the dust grains.