COMPACT—a new complex plasma facility for the ISS

Abstract

Complex plasma is a state of soft matter where micrometer-sized particles are immersed in a weakly ionized gas. The particles acquire negative charges of the order of several thousand elementary charges in the plasma, and they can form gaseous, liquid and crystalline states. Direct optical observation of individual particles allows to study their dynamics on the kinetic level even in large many-particle systems. Gravity is the dominant force in ground-based experiments, restricting the research to vertically compressed, inhomogeneous clouds, or two-dimensional systems, and masking dynamical processes mediated by weaker forces. An environment with reduced gravity, such as provided on the International Space Station (ISS), is therefore essential to overcome this limitations. We will present the research goals for the next generation complex plasma facility COMPACT to be operated onboard the ISS. COMPACT is envisaged as an international multi-purpose and multi-user facility that gives access to the full three-dimensional kinetic properties of the particles.

Enhancing particle string detection in electrorheological plasmas using asymmetrical kernel convolutional networks

“…The newer complex plasma setup COMPACT [20] could potentially improve insights into such dynamic processes because it can provide time-resolved three dimensional particle positions using four stereoscopic cameras rather than slow two dimensional scans [21]. These three dimensional particle coordinates could be analyzed in a completely different way, possibly using a three dimensional convolutional voxel based neural network.…”

On the Klimontovich description of complex (dusty) plasmas

“…Let us begin with the rigorous plasma Klimontovich equation, Equation (6). Courtesy of the 𝛿-function and the fact that the microscopic dust phase density does not vary within a dust diameter, we have…”

“…[3] Together with their simple visualization, this aspect makes complex plasmas ideal laboratories for the study of strong correlations. [4][5][6] This includes liquid-like, ordered crystal, and even amorphous glassy behaviour as well as the transitions between these (meta)stable phases. (b) The dust grains serve as a constant sink of plasma particles and the dust charge fluctuates around its quasi-equilibrium value.…”

Controlling the charge of dust particles in a plasma afterglow by timed switching of an electrode voltage

“…In a dusty plasma, small solid particles are immersed in a low-temperature plasma [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In a laboratory plasma, dust particles generally have a negative charge while the plasma * Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.…”