Interstellar dust in the model heliosphere: effects of  time-dependent heliospheric current sheet

<p>The dynamics of small (few hundred nm) charged interstellar dust particles entering the heliosphere is affected by the heliospheric magnetic field and in particular by the heliospheric current sheet. To estimate the flux distribution of the dust particles inside the heliosphere we simulate numerically the trajectories of moderately large samples (10^4 particles) of small charged dust grains with starting points outside the heliopause. The simulations are repeated for different choices of the initial time. We use the semi-analytical model of the heliosphere that combines a simplified time-stationary description of the plasma flow in the heliosphere and the outer heliosheath with the time-dependent magnetic field carried passively by the flow. The form of the heliospheric current sheet is determined by our choice of the time-dependent magnetic polarity structure at the surface of the rotating Sun.&#160;</p>