Interaction of a Streaming Plasma with the Magnetic Field of a Two-Dimensional Dipole

Abstract

The interaction of a rarefied plasma stream and the magnetic field of a two‐dimensional dipole has been investigated assuming that the domain of interaction between the field and plasma stream is small. The dipole field is found to be confined to a cavity in the plasma, with the plasma constituents being specularly reflected from the cavity wall. The shape of the cavity wall and the magnetic field inside have been determined. The interest of this problem lies in the analogous three‐dimensional problem: the interaction between the solar wind and the earth magnetic dipole field.