An exact analytical solution for the interstellar magnetic field in the vicinity of the heliosphere

TL;DR

This paper derives an exact analytical model of the interstellar magnetic field near the heliosphere, providing a useful approximation to complex numerical solutions of the magnetohydrodynamic equations.

Contribution

It presents a new analytical solution for the magnetic field structure near the heliosphere based on the induction equation and prescribed plasma flow.

Findings

Analytical solution closely matches numerical MHD models near the heliopause.

Provides a computationally efficient approximation for magnetic field configurations.

Enhances understanding of magnetic interactions at the solar system boundary.

Abstract

An analytical representation of the interstellar magnetic field in the vicinity of the heliosphere is derived. The three-dimensional field structure close to the heliopause is calculated as a solution of the induction equation under the assumption that it is frozen into a prescribed plasma flow resembling the characteristic interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium. The usefulness of this analytical solution as an approximation to self-consistent magnetic field configurations obtained numerically from the full MHD equations is illustrated by quantitative comparisons.