Effective interaction potential of dust particles in a plasma from experimental pair correlation functions

Abstract

AbstractInteraction between dust particles in a plasma is investigated on the basis of experimental pair correlation functions of dust formation in a dc glow discharge and the Poisson equation. It is shown that the calculated effective potentials have an oscillating character and depend rather weakly on macroscopic parameters of the plasma. Existence of an attractive component in the interaction of dust particles is confirmed within the validity range of our model.