Alfven vortices in a strongly magnetized electron-position plasma

Abstract

Using the cold plasma and Maxwell equations, the authors derive a pair of coupled nonlinear equations governing the propagation of finite amplitude shear Alfvén waves in a strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma. It is shown that the waves can propagate in the form of two-dimensional dipolar vortices. The latter may affect cross-field particle and energy transport in the pulsar magnetosphere.