Vlasov–Poisson–Poisson Equations, Critical Mass, and Kordylewski Clouds

Abstract

The Vlasov–Poisson–Poisson equation is derived to study stationary solutions for a system of gravitating charged particles in a neighborhood of triangular libration points (Kordylewski clouds). Stationary solutions are sought in the form of functions of integrals, which leads to elliptic nonlinear equations for the gravitational and electrostatic field potentials. This yields a critical mass: gravitation dominates for bodies with large masses, while electrostatics dominates for bodies with smaller masses.