The Motion of Charged Dust Particles in Interplanetary Space

Abstract

The problem of electromagnetic perturbations of charged dust particle orbits in interplanetary space has been re-examined in the light of our better understanding of the large scale spatial and temporal interplanetary plasma and field topology. In the equatorial plane, the magnetic sectors, caused by the warped current sheet, produce stochastic orbit perturbations. From this a diffusive description of particle motion can be derived, provided the dust particles are sufficiently small. The effects of large unipolar magnetic field regions at high heliographic latitudes will be briefly discussed.