Jeans instability of an inhomogeneous streaming dusty plasma

The dynamics of a self-gravitating unmagnetized, inhomogeneous, streaming dusty plasma is studied in the present work. The presence of the shear flow causes the coupling between gravitational and electrostatic forces. In the absence of self-gravity, the fluctuations in the plasma may grow at the expense of the density inhomogeneity and for certain wavelengths, such an unstable mode may dominate the usual streaming instability. However, in the presence of self-gravity, the plasma inhomogeneity causes an overlap between Jeans and streaming modes and collapse of the grain will continue at all wavelengths.     

Plasma-maser instability in dusty plasmas

The growth rates of the Langmuir and electromagnetic radiation due to the plasma-maser instability in multicomponent unmagnetized plasmas with stationary charged particulates are obtained. The up-conversion of the wave energy from ion-acoustic oscillations to the test Langmuir and electromagnetic waves is much enhanced owing to the enhanced accelaration of electrons by the dust ion-acoustic mode. The results could be important for the interpretation of high-frequency waves in space and astrophysical dusty plasmas.     

Control of chaos in dusty plasmas

Dusty plasmas, besides electrons and protons, contain very massive charged dust grains with very high charges. By means of Poincaré map analysis, we show that even a small fraction of these charged dust grains can eliminate the chaos in Alfvénic systems which are chaotic in the absence of dust particles.     

Streaming instability in quantum dusty plasmas

By using a quantum hydrodynamic (QHD) model, we derive a generalized dielectric constant for an unmagnetized quantum dusty plasma composed of electrons, ions, and charged dust particulates. Neglecting the electron inertial force in comparison with the electron pressure, and the force associated with the electron correlations at a quantum scale, we discuss two classes of electrostatic instabilities that are produced by streaming ions, and dust grains. The effects of the plasma streaming speeds, the thermal speed of electrons, and the quantum parameter are examined on the growth rates. The relevance of our investigation to dense astrophysical plasmas is discussed.     

Surface waves in strongly irradiated dusty plasmas

High-frequency surface waves at the interface between two dusty plasmas subject to radiation are considered. Ultraviolet radiation with energy flux larger than the photoelectric work function of the dust surface causes photoemission of electrons. The dust charge and the overall charge balance of the plasma are thus modified. The dispersion properties of the surface waves are investigated for three parameter regimes distinguished by the charging mechanisms in the two plasmas. It is shown that photoemission can significantly affect the plasma and the surface waves.     

Effect of polarization force on the Jeans instability of self-gravitating dusty plasma

The effect of polarization force acting on massive charged dust grains is investigated analytically on the Jeans instability of self-gravitating dusty plasma. The gravitational force acting on the massive negatively charged interstellar dust grains are considered in presence of both electrical and polarization forces. The basic equations of the problem are formulated and a general dispersion relation is obtained using plane wave approximation in low frequency wave mode. The effect of polarization force in the dispersion relation of the problem, condition of the Jeans instability and expression of the critical Jeans wave number is examined. The unstable growing modes due to self-gravitational force are studied in the situation when polarization force on the dust grain exceeds over the electrical force in magnitude. It is observed that the polarization force increases the growth rate of the system.     

Cylindrical dust acoustic waves in quantum dusty plasmas

The quantum hydrodynamic model is employed to study the nonlinear structure of non-planar dust acoustic waves in quantum dusty plasmas consisting of electrons, ions, and negatively/positively charged dust particles. A Kadomstev-Petviashvili equation is derived in cylindrical geometry. Based on the analytical solution, it is found that the Nebulon structure is significantly modified by the quantum effects including quantum diffraction effect and quantum statistical effect.     

Ultra-low-frequency dust-electromagnetic modes in self-gravitating magnetized dusty plasmas

Obliquely propagating altra-low-frequency dust-electromagnetic waves in a self-gravitating, warm, magnetized, two fluid dusty plasma system have been investigated. Two special cases, namely, dust-Alfvén mode propagating parallel to the external magnetic field and dustmagnetosonic mode propagating perpendicular to the external magnetic field have also been considered. It has been shown that effects of self-gravitational field, dust fluid temperature, and obliqueness significantly modify the dispersion properties of these ultra-low-frequency dust-electromagnetic modes. It is also found that in parallel propagating dust-Alfvén mode these effects play no role, but in obliquely propagating dust-Alfvén mode or perpendicular propagating dust-magnetosonic mode the effect of self-gravitational field plays destabilizing role whereas the effect of dust/ion fluid temperature plays stabilizing role.     

Parametric instabilities in magnetized bi-ion and dusty plasmas

The excitation of low frequency modes of oscillations in a magnetized bi-ion or dusty plasma with parametric pumping of the magnetic field is analysed. The equation of motion governing the perturbed plasma is derived and parametrically excited transverse modes propagating along the magnetic field are found. With multiple ion species or charged dust present, a number of different circularly polarized modes can be excited. The stability of these modes is investigated as a function of the plasma parameters. The modulational instabilities of large amplitude normal modes, modified by the extra ion species or dust and propagating along the magnetic field, are also investigated Article presented at the International Conference on the Frontiers of Plasma Physics and Technology, 9–14 December 2002, Bangalore, India.     

Lower-hybrid turbulence in the near-surface lunar dusty plasmas

The results are presented of the first investigation of linear and nonlinear processes associated with waves which are related to the presence of magnetic fields in dusty plasmas at the Moon. Excitation of lower-hybrid turbulence in dusty plasmas near the lunar surface is studied. It is shown that the lower-hybrid turbulence can be generated wherever the Earth's magnetotail interacts with the near-surface dusty plasmas at the Moon. The electric fields appearing as a consequence of the presence of lower-hybrid turbulence are estimated. They can make a significant contribution to the total electric field above the lunar surface which should be taken into account in the future experimental investigation of electric fields at the Moon.     

Dynamic nature of the ion wake in dusty plasmas

The dynamic nature of the ion wake formed downstream a dust particle immersed in a plasma with flowing ions has been investigated via Particle-in-Cell simulation. It is found that the wake oscillates in time and the motion is characterized by some dominant frequencies. By means of signal processing analysis, three harmonics are detected (two at low frequencies and one at high frequencies) and compared to the characteristic plasma frequencies given by the dispersion relations for ions and electrons. Good matching is found between the high frequency harmonic and the electron plasma frequency, and between the low frequency harmonics and the ion acoustic and ion plasma frequencies.     

Generation of gravitational radiation in dusty plasmas and supernovae

We present a novel nonlinear mechanism for exciting a gravitational radiation pulse (or a gravitational wave) by dust magnetohydrodynamic (DMHD) waves in dusty astrophysical plasmas. We derive the relevant equations governing the dynamics of nonlinearly coupled DMHD waves and a gravitational wave (GW). The system of equations is used to investigate the generation of a GW by compressional Alfvén waves in a type II supernova. The growth rate of our nonlinear process is estimated, and the results are discussed in the context of the gravitational radiation accompanying supernova explosions.     

Dynamics of sheath evolution in magnetized charge-fluctuating dusty plasmas

The evolution of sheath in plasma contaminated with varying dust charges under the effect of an external magnetic field is studied. Study of Sagdeev potential through pseudoptential approach has been attempted with a view to deriving the sheath equation. Numerical analysis has been carried out to study the potential variation with sheath-ward distance for various plasma parameters. A unique finding of the study is that the presence of dust particles as well as the magnetic field drastically modifies the Bohm sheath criterion for plasma sheath formation as obtained earlier in unmagnetised two-component plasma. The results have more realistic interpretation in showing explicitly the interaction of magnetic field and impurity caused by dust charge variation, with the possibility of its impact in various technological applications including plasma-material interaction, material processing and electro-mechanical devices.     

Formation of liquidlike and crystalline structures in dusty plasmas

Under certain conditions in a dusty plasma, which is a low-temperature plasma with dust grains, the strong interaction between grains can give rise to gas-liquid-solid-state phase transitions. A study is made of ordered (liquidlike and crystalline) grain structures in various kinds of dusty plasmas: a thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure, a plasma of a dc glow discharge, and a UV radiation-driven plasma. The results of experimental observations of ordered dust structures are reported, and the characteristic features of the dust structures and the conditions for their appearance are discussed.     

Symbolic computation on cylindrical-modified dust-ion-acoustic nebulons in dusty plasmas

In this Letter, for the dust-ion-acoustic waves with azimuthal perturbation in a dusty plasma, a cylindrical modified Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (CMKP) model is constructed by virtue of symbolic computation, with three families of exact analytic solutions obtained as well. Dark and bright CMKP nebulons are investigated with pictures and related to such dusty-plasma environments as the supernova shells and Saturn's F-ring. Difference of the CMKP nebulons from other known nebulons is also analyzed, and possibly-observable CMKP-nebulonic effects for the future plasma experiments are proposed, especially those on the possible notch/slot and dark-bright bi-existence.     

Dust-cyclotron and dust-lower-hybrid modes in self-gravitating magnetized dusty plasmas

Theoretical investigation has been made on two different ultra-low-frequency electrostatic modes, namely, dust-cyclotron mode and dust-lower-hybrid mode, propagating perpendicular to the external magnetic field, in a self-gravitating magnetized two-fluid dusty plasma system. It has been shown that the effect of the self-gravitational force, acting on both dust grains and ions, significantly modifies the dispersion properties of these two electrostatic modes. The implications of these results to some space and astrophysical dusty plasma systems, especially to planetary ring-systems and cometary tails, are briefly mentioned.