We calculate the equilibrium latitude and the period of oscillations about this equilibrium latitude for plasma in a centrifugally dominated tilted dipole magnetic field representing Juipiter's inner magnetosphere. For a hot plasma the equilibrium latitude is the magnetic equator; for a cold plasma it is the centrifugal equator; for a warm plasma it is somewhere in between. In the small-tilt-angle approximation, the latitudinal oscillation period of a cold particle in the centrifugal potential field is P0=PJ/31/2, where PJ is the rotation period of Jupiter. For a warm plasma the magnetic mirror force causes the bounce period to be decreased slightly. These results are applicable to the plasma injected by Io to form the torus of plasma surrounding Jupiter. We adopt an illustrative model in which atoms are sputtered from the Jupiter-facing hemisphere of Io and escape Io's gravity to be subsequently ionized some distance from I. Ionization generally does not take place at the equilibrium latitude, and the resulting latitudinal oscillations provide an explanation for the irregularities in electron concentration within the torus, as reported by the radio astronomy experiment aboard Voyager 1. |