Elementary Physics of Complex Plasmas

Electromagnetic wave band structure due to surface plasmon resonances in a complex plasma

“…In dusty plasmas, the dust inclusions are charged due to charging by various processes; in laboratory plasmas, this is mostly by plasma currents [1][2][3]. The presence of dust charges affects the boundary condition for surface wave fields.…”

“…Dispersion equation Forω in >ω h , the dependence ofñ 2 on ω 2 , see Fig. 1, shows the first, low frequency, branch starting from the host medium plasma frequencyω 2 h . This branch begins as the stan- dard plasma branch in the long-wavelength limit, however, then asymptotically approaches the (squared) resonance frequency ω 2 res (10) at whichñ 2 → +∞, and this frequency is associated with the surface plasmon resonances.…”

“…The presence of macroscopic particles (macroparticles, "dust") significantly modifies plasma properties [1][2][3][4], with visualization of kinetic effects of collective plasma dynamics [5,6]. For example, the "charging" damping appears due to plasma currents on dust particles [7] thus affecting propagation and scattering of electromagnetic waves in such complex plasmas [8,9].…”

Shielding of absorbing objects in collisionless flowing plasma

“…These fluxes affect plasma far from the grain, preventing it from reaching an equilibrium with the grain field, and hence affecting the grain shielding by the plasma in a qualitative way, compared to a non-absorbing (test) charged grain. This qualitative effect of absorption on the screening is important for interaction of dust grains in dust clouds, clusters and crystals [4], and for related phenomena such as phase transitions in complex plasma structures [5,6].…”

“…This attraction may play a crucial role in formation and sustaining of plasma dust clusters and crystals (see [1][2][3][4] and references therein). The attractive part appears due to the r −3 tail in the potential of the test charge far from the charge, which has the sign opposite to that of the test charge.…”