dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA model for the condensation of a dusty plasma
| Authors | P. M. Bellan |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0403119 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0403119 |
| DOI | 10.1063/1.1740773 |
Abstract
A model for the condensation of a dusty plasma is constructed by considering the spherical shielding layers surrounding a dust grain test particle. The collisionless region less than a collision mean free path from the test particle is shown to separate into three concentric layers, each having distinct physics. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is invoked at the interfaces between these layers and provides equations which determine the radii of the interfaces. Despite being much smaller than the Wigner-Seitz radius, the dust Debye length is found to be physically significant because it gives the scale length of a precipitous cut-off of the shielded electrostatic potential at the interface between the second and third layers. Condensation is predicted to occur when the ratio of this cut-off radius to the Wigner-Seitz radius exceeds unity and this prediction is shown to be in good agreement with experiments.
{
"annotation_id": "6b69bd82-dc90-4bec-aa7d-08b5f2aac459",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:00:49.903000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:00:49.903000Z",
"file_hash": "9766b9bb9603bd05d4abdcbc97e88d5cbba6711afc84e38d8a15b030de33c791",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "A model for the condensation of a dusty plasma is constructed by considering\nthe spherical shielding layers surrounding a dust grain test particle. The\ncollisionless region less than a collision mean free path from the test\nparticle is shown to separate into three concentric layers, each having\ndistinct physics. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is invoked at the\ninterfaces between these layers and provides equations which determine the\nradii of the interfaces. Despite being much smaller than the Wigner-Seitz\nradius, the dust Debye length is found to be physically significant because it\ngives the scale length of a precipitous cut-off of the shielded electrostatic\npotential at the interface between the second and third layers. Condensation is\npredicted to occur when the ratio of this cut-off radius to the Wigner-Seitz\nradius exceeds unity and this prediction is shown to be in good agreement with\nexperiments.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0403119",
"authors": [
"P. M. Bellan"
],
"categories": [
"physics.plasm-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1063/1.1740773",
"title": "A model for the condensation of a dusty plasma",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0403119"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "be131db6-2e01-44a4-a3c4-affe0fcd540c",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}