Wake Pairing of Dust Particles

Abstract

The pairing and motion of two dust particles coupled in the ion flow were investigated. It is shown that in the case of a sufficiently strong ion flow, the vertical separation of dust particles can be significantly less than the plasma electron Debye length. Possible mechanisms for the experimentally observed "closed pairing" of dust particles are discussed. On the basis of the particle pairing the influence of the bottom particle on the wake parameters was considered.