Transverse dynamics of a collisionless plasma column in a homogeneous magnetic field

Results of a general study of a set of kinetic equations describing the dynamics of a two-component quasineutral collisionless plasma column in a homogeneous, nonstationary magnetic field are presented. The dynamics of the column is found to be completely determined by initial values of total kinetic energy of a plasma total angular momentum of each plasma component, and total mass of a plasma. In the case of a stationary magnetic field the column cross section is shown to oscillate harmonically at the low-hybrid frequency. The peculiarities of the plasma dynamics found are confirmed by self-similar solutions of a set of two Vlasov kinetic equations.