Magnetic-Dipole-Induced Plasma Motions

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Abstract
A supersonic flow of an electron plasma past a weak magnetic dipole is examined using a linearized set of two‐species continuum plasma equations. The resulting perturbations were found to exhibit both a hyperbolic as well as an elliptic behavior. The results as found are not directly applicable to the solar wind interaction with the geomagnetic dipole, but they strongly suggest the necessity of re‐examining the validity of magnetospheric models of the interaction, starting from the full two‐species plasma equations.

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