Large-amplitude dust waves excited by the gas-dynamic impact in a dc glow discharge plasma

Waves in a quasi-two-dimensional superparamagnetic dusty plasma liquid in a trap

In a two-dimensional (2D) dusty plasma composed of superparamagnetic, charged dust grains and immersed in an external magnetic field B, the grains interact via both Yukawa and magnetic dipole-dipole potentials. Because the grains' magnetic dipole moments are induced by B, the dipole moments all lie along B. When B is tilted with respect to the normal to the dust layer, the interaction between the grains becomes anisotropic. In our previous paper [Hartmann et al., Phys. Rev. E 89, 043102 (2014)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.89.043102], we studied the character of waves in such a system, confined strictly to two dimensions, without any spatial extension in the direction perpendicular to the layer. We analyzed how the dispersion of waves depends on the direction of propagation and the relative strengths of the magnetic dipole and Yukawa potentials. In this paper, we consider a more realistic quasi-2D system where the grains are confined by an external potential and can undergo small oscillations perpendicular to the layer. We analyze the effect of the strength of the confining potential on the in-plane correlations and on the wave propagation. In addition to the in-plane compressional and transverse waves, there now appears an out-of-plane transverse wave generated by the oscillation of the grains in the confining potential. The theoretical approach uses the quasi-localized charge approximation paralleled by molecular dynamics simulations.

Fluid approach to evaluate sound velocity in Yukawa systems and complex plasmas

The conventional fluid description of multicomponent plasma, supplemented by an appropriate equation of state for the macroparticle component, is used to evaluate the longitudinal sound velocity of Yukawa fluids. The obtained results are in very good agreement with those obtained earlier employing the quasilocalized charge approximation and molecular dynamics simulations in a rather broad parameter regime. Thus, a simple yet accurate tool to estimate the sound velocity across coupling regimes is proposed, which can be particularly helpful in estimating the dust-acoustic velocity in strongly coupled dusty (complex) plasmas. It is shown that, within the present approach, the sound velocity is completely determined by particle-particle correlations and the neutralizing medium (plasma), apart from providing screening of the Coulomb interaction, has no other effect on the sound propagation. The ratio of the actual sound velocity to its "ideal gas" (weak coupling) scale only weakly depends on the coupling strength in the fluid regime but exhibits a pronounced decrease with the increase of the screening strength. The limitations of the present approach in applications to real complex plasmas are briefly discussed.

Collective modes in two-dimensional binary Yukawa systems

We analyze via theoretical approaches and molecular dynamics simulations the collective mode structure of strongly coupled two-dimensional binary Yukawa systems, for selected density, mass, and charge ratios, both in the liquid and crystalline solid phases. Theoretically, the liquid phase is described through the quasilocalized charge approximation (QLCA) approach, while in the crystalline phase we study the centered honeycomb and the staggered rectangular crystal structures through the standard harmonic phonon approximation. We identify "longitudinal" and "transverse" acoustic and optic modes and find that the longitudinal acoustic mode evolves from its weakly coupled counterpart in a discontinuous nonperturbative fashion. The low-frequency acoustic excitations are governed by the oscillation frequency of the average atom, while the high-frequency optic excitation frequencies are related to the Einstein frequencies of the systems.

Effects of nonthermal ions and polarization force on dust-acoustic waves in a density-varying dusty plasma

A rigorous theoretical investigation has been made of the effects of nonthermal ions and polarization force (which arises due to the dust density inhomogeneity) on the propagation of dust-acoustic (DA) waves in a density-varying unmagnetized dusty plasma (consisting of nonthermal ions, Maxwellian electrons, and negatively charged mobile dust) by the normal mode analysis. It has been shown that the dispersion properties of the DA waves are significantly modified by the presence of nonthermal ions and polarization force. It has been also found that the phase speed of the DA waves, as well as the dust density perturbation, increases (decreases) with the increase of nonthermal ions (polarization force), and that the potential associated with the DA waves decreases with the increase of the equilibrium dust number density. The implications of our results in the specific situation of space environments (dust-ion plasma situation) are also briefly discussed.

Laboratory observations of self-excited dust acoustic shocks

Repeated, self-excited dust acoustic shock waves (DASWs) have been observed in a dc glow discharge dusty plasma using high-speed video imaging. Two major observations are reported: (1) The self-steepening of a nonlinear dust acoustic wave (DAW) into a saw-tooth wave with sharp gradient in dust density, very similar to those found in numerical solutions of the fully nonlinear fluid equations for a nondispersive DAW [B. Eliasson and P. K. Shukla, Phys. Rev. E 69, 067401 (2004)], and (2) the collision and confluence of two DASWs.

Dissipative dark soliton in a complex plasma

The observation of a dark soliton in a three-dimensional complex plasma containing monodisperse microparticles is presented. We perform our experiments using neon gas in the bulk plasma of an rf discharge. A gas temperature gradient of 500K/m is applied to balance gravity and to levitate the particles in the bulk plasma. The wave is excited by a short voltage pulse on the electrodes of the radio frequency discharge chamber. It is found that the wave propagates with constant speed. The propagation time of the dark soliton is approximately 20 times longer than the damping time.

Shock wave formation in a dc glow discharge dusty plasma

A jump of dust density propagating through the dusty plasma structure has been observed. To excite the disturbance an impulse of axial magnetic field to the dusty plasma in a dc glow discharge striation has been applied. This impulse resulted in the dynamical stretching of the dusty plasma structure. During the reconstruction of the structure a ramp-shaped perturbation of dust density appeared. The perturbation was steepening and formed into a dust-acoustic shock. The anomalously high shock compression is observed.