Interaction potential among dust grains in a plasma with ion flow.
Linear-response dielectric theory is used to study the interaction potential between dust grains in a flowing plasma, taking into account the finite sizes and the asymmetric charge distributions of the grains. This potential can be divided into two parts: a screened Coulomb potential and a wake potential. The former is a short-ranged repulsive potential, while the later is a long-ranged oscillatory potential which acts only on trailing grains. Both the amplitude and wavelength of the wake potential depend on the Mach number. The grain size and the asymmetric charge distribution may affect the interaction potential in a significant way when the distances between grains are comparable with the grain size, or when the grain size is comparable with the plasma Debye length.
Hou
L J
LJ
Department of Physics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China.
Wang
Y N
YN
Miskovic
Z L
ZL