Rotation of a two-dimensional Coulomb cluster in a magnetic field.
A coordinated study of a laboratory experiment, a computer simulation, and a theoretical analysis reveals a structure and its dynamic motion of a Coulomb cluster trapped in a plasma with a confining potential in the presence of gravitational and magnetic fields. Charged dust particulates are found to form a circle in a horizontal plane with a radius determined by a balance of a restoring force due to a confining potential and the screened Coulomb force between dust particulates. The dust particulates in a circle show angular rotation with the structure intact, while they oscillate radially around the equilibrium orbit. The analytical study reveals the oscillatory rotational nature of dust particulates as a result of coupling between the Lorentz force and the harmonic oscillation.
Ishihara
Osamu
O
Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Japan.
Kamimura
Tetsuo
T
Hirose
Keiichi I
KI
Sato
Noriyoshi
N