Tempest in a glass tube: A helical vortex formation in a complex plasma

Abstract

A collective behavior of dust particles in a complex plasma with a magnetic field (up to 4 kG) is investigated. Dust particles form a dust disk which is rotating in a horizontal plane pushed by ions rotating with the E × B drift as a trigger force. The thickness of the disk is determined by controlling the experimental conditions. The disk rotates in a horizontal plane and forms a two-dimensional thin structure when the pressure pAr is relatively high. The dust particles are ejected from near the disk center and form a rotation in the vertical plane and, hence, forms a helical vortex when the disk is thick for relatively low pAr. The reason the dust disk has the different thickness is due to the neutral pressure. Under a higher (lower) neutral gas pressure, the disk becomes two (three) dimensional due to the influence of the neutral drag force.