Stochastic Diffusion of Dust Grains by the Interplanetary Magnetic Field

摘要

The effects of the sectored Interplanetary Magnetic Field on charged dust grains orbiting around the sun under radiation pressure and Poynting-Robertson drag forces are examined for initially circular and non-inclined orbits. The distribution function of the charged grains satisfies a Fokker-Planck equation in which the sectored field is taken as a source of stochastic impulses. By adopting the integrals of the impulse-free motion as variable parameters, the Fokker-Planck equation can be properly treated as a diffusion equation. Analytic solutions of the resulting diffusion equation show that dust grains injected near the ecliptic plane are scattered strongly to high helio-latitudes. The scattering is more pronounced for small grains injected at large distances from the Sun. (Atomindex citation 15:060348)