Potential of a dielectric particle in a flow of a collisionless plasma

It is shown that the charge distribution on the surface of a dielectric particle immersed in a supersonic plasma flow is strongly inhomogeneous, which results in the appearance of a large dipole moment. The dependences of both the charge and dipole moment of the particle on the drift velocity of the ambient plasma are calculated. It was found that under the same conditions the charge of a dielectric particle considerably exceeds the charge of a metal one. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(99)03705-2].