Microphysics of inhomogeneous flowing dusty plasmas studied by molecular dynamics simulations

A strongly coupled inhomogeneous dust flow in a toroidal trap is studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. In this system, the particles arrange themselves in concentric shells. These shells merge and split depending on the acceleration and deceleration of the flow, which determines the lo...

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Veröffentlicht in:Physics of plasmas 2017-08, Vol.24 (8)
Hauptverfasser: Wilms, Jochen, Piel, Alexander
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:A strongly coupled inhomogeneous dust flow in a toroidal trap is studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. In this system, the particles arrange themselves in concentric shells. These shells merge and split depending on the acceleration and deceleration of the flow, which determines the local stress in the fluid. The merging proceeds smoothly near an energetic minimum. The splitting can occur in the form of sudden hydraulic jumps. Particular attention is paid to the changes of the Voronoi cell geometry and the nearest-neighbor dynamics. A common feature of the microphysics is a preference of shear motion over compressional motion, which can be quantified by the novel measures of mean strain rate and mean rotation rate.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.4986032