Charged dust close to outer mean-motion resonances in the heliosphere

TL;DR

This paper explores how the interplanetary magnetic field influences the orbital dynamics of charged dust near Jupiter's mean-motion resonances, revealing new chaotic behaviors and orbital plane variations.

Contribution

It introduces a dynamical model incorporating magnetic and non-gravitational forces, uncovering novel phenomena in charged dust dynamics near resonances.

Findings

Magnetic field causes orbital plane variations related to solar and magnetic axes.

Charged dust exhibits increased chaos and orbital jumps near resonances.

Magnetic effects do not significantly alter dust capture processes.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of charged dust close to outer mean-motion resonances with planet Jupiter. The importance of the interplanetary magnetic field on the orbital evolution of dust is clearly demonstrated. New dynamical phenomena are found that do not exist in the classical problem of uncharged dust. We find changes in the orientation of the orbital planes of dust particles, an increased amount of chaotic orbital motions, sudden 'jumps' in the resonant argument, and a decrease in time of temporary capture due to the Lorentz force. Variations in the orbital planes of dust grain orbits are found to be related to the angle between the orbital angular momentum and magnetic axes of the heliospheric field and the rotation rate of the Sun. These variations are bound using a simplified model derived from the full dynamical problem using first order averaging theory. It is found that the interplanetary magnetic field does not affect the capture process, that is still dominated by the other non-gravitational forces. Our study is based on a dynamical model in the framework of the inclined circular restricted three-body problem. Additional forces include solar radiation pressure, solar wind drag, the Poynting-Robertson effect, and the influence of a Parker spiral type interplanetary magnetic field model. The analytical estimates are derived on the basis of Gauss' form of planetary equations of motion. Numerical results are obtained by simulations of dust grain orbits together with the system of variational equations. Chaotic regions in phase space are revealed by means of Fast Lyapunov Chaos Indicators.