Interchange mode in the presence of dust

The linear and nonlinear development of an electrostatic interchange mode which involves a magnetized nonuniform electron-ion fluid in the presence of nonuniform static charged dust grains is investigated. The charge on grains is taken as spatially dependent, and the consequences of that condition are investigated. It is shown that standardly accepted stabilization of the interchange mode in the presence of negatively charged grains can be violated due to the spatial dependence of the charge on grains. Also, the ion drift, which is caused by the action of a gravity term perpendicular to the magnetic field lines, is taken as nonuniform as a result of the magnetic field nonuniformity, and it is shown that due to such a nonuniformity the instability condition can be significantly modified. In the nonlinear regime several types of coherent stationary vortex structures are found: namely, dipolar and tripolar vortices and vortex chains. The dipolar vortex is found to propagate in the direction of the ion drift, while the tripole and vortex chains are carried by the drift flow. The spatial dependence of these structures is determined by parameters describing the nonuniformity of the equilibrium plasma.status: publishe