Interactions of charged dust particles in clouds of charges

Two charged dust particles inside a cloud of charges are considered as Debye atoms forming a Debye molecule. Cassini coordinates are used for the numerical solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for the charged cloud. The electric force acting on a dust particle by the other dust particle was determined by integrating the electrostatic pressure on the surface of the dust particle. It is shown that attractive forces appear when the following two conditions are satisfied. First, the average distance between dust particles should be approximately equal to two Debye radii. Second, attraction takes place when similar charges are concentrated predominantly on the dust particles. If the particles carry a small fraction of total charge of the same polarity, repulsion between the particles takes place at all distances. We apply our results to the experiments with thermoemission plasma and to the experiments with nuclear-pumped plasma.     

Interaction of charged particles with nanotubes

We have studied the interaction of charged particles with single-walled metallic nanotubes by solving Poisson’s equation with appropriate boundary conditions. Numerical results for the energy dispersion relations as a function of the wave vector are presented when the charged particle is inside or outside the nanotube.     

Resonant scattering of ions on charged dust particles

Resonant scattering ("scattering through waves") of ions on dust particles in plasmas is considered in the framework of the kinetic theory which consistently takes into account ion-dust collisions and dust charge fluctuations. Resonance with low frequency dusty plasma modes can enhance the ion-dust scattering cross section and the ion drag force on dust particles.     

Physics of collective attraction of negatively charged dust particles

A physical interpretation is proposed for the collective attraction of dust particles, leading to pairing of likely (negatively) charged dust particles, the formation of dust molecules, and the emergence of other complexes containing a large number of dust particles (in the limit, dust plasma crystals). The value of the spacing between particles in such dust structures estimated on the basis of the proposed mechanism of attraction corresponds to the observed interparticle distances in the crystal lattices of recently discovered plasma-dust crystals. The proposed mechanism may form the basis for interpreting various phenomena frequently observed in dusty plasmas.     

Propagation of waves in a multicomponent plasma having charged dust particles

Propagation of both low and high frequency waves in a plasma consisting of electrons, ions, positrons and charged dust particles have been theoretically studied. The characteristics of dust acoustic wave propagating through the plasma has been analysed and the dispersion relation deduced is a generalization of that obtained by previous authors. It is found that nonlinear localization of high frequency electromagnetic field in such a plasma generates magnetic field. This magnetic field is seen to depend on the temperatures of electrons and positrons and also on their equilibrium density ratio. It is suggested that the present model would be applicable to find the magnetic field generation in space plasma.     

Role of tunneling in electron accretion on negatively charged dust particles

In this Letter the authors have shown that the tunneling of electrons through a potential energy barrier around a negatively charged particle in a dusty plasma must be taken into account in the evaluation of the accretion current. Both the linear and nonlinear screenings have been considered.     

Confinement of charged dust particles by a hybrid-type electric curtain

The hybrid-type electric curtain (HTEC) comprises a planar electric curtain and a perpendicular planar condenser. Serial cylindrical electrodes are supplied with AC voltage, whereas the condenser is fed with DC voltage. HTEC allows for better control of the particle position shift in space. The particle oscillation path within the hybrid curtain has been photographically analysed. The changing particle path was recorded according to a DC changing voltage value and a constant AC voltage value. The aim of the paper is to describe a successful method that enables one to experimentally determine the region where the particle can be stably oscillated.     

Possibility of weakly charged nonlinear solitary dust clouds near the continuum threshold of dust population in a quasi-neutral dusty plasma

Considering the Boltzmann response of the plasma ions and electrons and inertial dynamics of the charged dust grains, the possibility of very weak compressive soliton near the continuum limit of the dust population has been inferred. It is concluded that the behaviour of such coherent structures could be well described by the numerical analysis of the derived nonlinear classical energy integral equation for bounded solutions. These seem to be higher order dispersive structures within acoustic limit of the nonlinear turbulence. It is observed that the dust density enhancement beyond the continuum threshold causes regular increment in width and amplitude of the soliton structures. It is found that the soliton amplitude sensitively depends on the massive impurity’s population. These coherent structures could be visualized as weakly charged solitary dust clouds of finite extension (∼ plasma Debye length) within Boltzmann environment of plasma particles in their local surroundings. The seeding mechanism of such clouds may be attributed to some plasma instabilities driven by either internal or external free energy sources. Numerical analysis of the problem concludes that the experimental observations of such clouds could be possible in low density plasma regime. It is deduced that for plasma density ∼ 10⁶ cm^-3 at temperatures of a few electron volts and for micron to l0nm sized dust grains, the observation of such structures could be possible within wide range variability of the dust population density.     

Interaction between glow discharge plasma and dust particles

The effect of dust particle concentration on gas discharge plasma parameters was studied through development of a self-consistent kinetic model which is based on solving the Boltzmann equation for the electron distribution function. It was shown that an increase in the Havnes parameter causes an increase in the average electric field and ion density, as well as a decrease in the charge of dust particles and electron density in a dust particle cloud. Self-consistent simulations for a wide range of plasma and dust particle parameters produced several scaling laws: these are laws for dust particle potential and electric field as a function of dust particle concentration and radius, and the discharge current density. The simulation results demonstrate that the process of self-consistent accommodation of parameters of dust particles and plasma in condition of particle concentration growth causes a growth in the number of high-energy electrons in plasma, but not to depletion of electron distribution function.     

Emission and accretion of electrons by negatively charged dust particles in a plasma

Taking into account the image force on the electron and Debye shielding an expression for the reduction in the work function for a spherical metallic particle in a dusty plasma on account of the negative charge on the surface has been derived. The dependence of the reduction of the work function on the charge on the particle and Debye radius has been tabulated. The effect of this reduction on the thermionic and photoelectric emission and accretion of electrons by the particle has been discussed. As an interesting application of the work, the observed enhancement of the photoelectric emission from individual micron size grains with increasingly negative surface potential has been explained; the grains were selected from samples of dust collected in the Apollo-17 and Luna-24 missions.     

Rotating dust clouds in general relativity

We present an exact solution of Einstein’s equations representing interpenetrating clouds of rotating dust. The solution is a member of the van Stockum class; it contains singularities at the centres of the clouds. These are sources of the angular momentum which is displayed by the metric at infinity. It is not clear whether the rotating dust contributes to the angular momentum. In the case of two clouds there is a conical singularity between the central ones. For three clouds the conical singularity may be absent.     

带电粒子与二维强耦合尘埃等离子体的相互作用

当船在水中自由滑行时，一方面会在水面产生一个“V”型的尾波，另一方面它会由于水的摩擦而不断减速．有意思的是，当带电粒子在二维强耦合尘埃等离子体表面飞行时，也会发生类似的现象．     

Mechanism of diffusion of positively charged dust particles in a photoemission cell under microgravity conditions

The decay of a dusty plasma in a photoemission cell under microgravity conditions is investigated on the basis of the method of nonlocal moments. It is founds that plasma decay in space experiments occurs in accordance with the mechanism of free electron diffusion followed by dust particle drift. An analytic solution is found for the evolution of radial distributions of the dust particle concentration and the electric field under the experimental conditions. The effect of abnormally high temperatures of dust particles is considered. The effect of axial magnetic fields on the decay of dusty plasma is investigated. It is shown that the plasma decay in a magnetic field is governed by the ambipolar diffusion mechanism, the decay being prolonged up to 10³ s in a magnetic field on the order of 10³–10⁴ G in strength.     

Interaction of classical nonrelativistic identically charged particles in a strong pulsed light field

In this review we consider the effective interaction force of identically charged nonrelativistic particles (electrons, light and heavy atoms nuclei) in a strong pulsed laser field. It is shown that under certain conditions, the effective interaction force can become a force of attraction. This effect significantly changes the kinematics of the interaction between the particles and can lead to bound states.     

带电粒子与二维强耦合尘埃等离子体的相互作用

当船在水中自由滑行时,一方面会在水面产生一个“V”型的尾波,另一方面它会由于水的摩擦而不断减速.有意思的是,当带电粒子在二维强耦合尘埃等离子体表面飞行时,也会发生类似的现象.     

Neutron yield when fast deuterium ions collide with strongly charged tritium-saturated dust particles

The ultrahigh charging of dust particles in a plasma under exposure to an electron beam with an energy up to 25 keV and the formation of a flux of fast ions coming from the plasma and accelerating in the strong field of negatively charged particles are considered. Particles containing tritium or deuterium atoms are considered as targets. The calculated rates of thermonuclear fusion reactions in strongly charged particles under exposure to accelerated plasma ions are presented. The neutron generation rate in reactions with accelerated deuterium and tritium ions has been calculated for these targets. The neutron yield has been calculated when varying the plasma-forming gas pressure, the plasma density, the target diameter, and the beam electron current density. Deuterium and tritium-containing particles are shown to be the most promising plasmaforming gas–target material pair for the creation of a compact gas-discharge neutron source based on the ultrahigh charging of dust particles by beam electrons with an energy up to 25 keV.     

两种带电尘埃颗粒的等离子体鞘层玻姆判据

采用流体方程和尘埃充电自洽模型研究了鞘边含有两种尘埃颗粒的等离子体玻姆判据. 通过拟牛顿法数值模拟了鞘边两种尘埃颗粒的存在对尘埃自身充电以及离子马赫数的影响. 两种尘埃颗粒中含量较少的尘埃颗粒数密度的增加, 导致两种尘埃颗粒表面悬浮势一个降低, 一个升高. 含量较少的尘埃颗粒的数密度越多和半径越小, 都会导致离子马赫数增大. 另外鞘边无论何种尘埃颗粒的速度增加, 鞘边离子马赫数都将减小. 关键词： 等离子体鞘层 尘埃颗粒 玻姆判据     

Stimulated Brillouin scattering of an electromagnetic wave in weakly magnetized plasma with variably charged dust particles

We have investigated analytically the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) of an electromagnetic wave in non-dissipative weakly magnetized plasma in the presence of dust particles with variable charge.