title: From transport to disorder: thermodynamic properties of finite dust clouds.
abstract: The quantities entropy and diffusion are measured for two- and three-dimensional (3D) dust clusters in the fluid state. Entropy and diffusion are predicted to be closely linked via unstable modes. The method of instantaneous normal modes is applied for various laser-heated clusters to determine these unstable modes and the corresponding diffusive properties. The configurational entropy is measured for 2D and 3D clusters from structural rearrangements. The entropy shows a threshold behavior at a critical temperature for the 2D clusters, allowing us to estimate a configurational melting temperature. Further, the entropic disorder increases for larger clusters. Finally, the predicted relation between entropy and unstable modes has been confirmed from our experiments for 2D systems, whereas 3D systems do not show such a clear correlation.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schella
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulsow
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melzer
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schablinski
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Block