Edward Thomas, Jr.
The Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Series presents Edward Thomas, Jr. of Auburn University on “The Magnetized Dusty Plasma Experiment (MDPX)” on Friday, March 20, at 4:10 p.m. in Walter 245.
Abstract: A dusty (or complex) plasma is a four-component plasma system consisting of electrons, ions, neutral atoms, and charged, nanometer to micrometer-sized particles (i.e., the “dust”). Because these dust grains are charged, they fully participate in the plasma dynamics and can be used to reveal details about transport, instabilities, and charging properties of plasmas. Dusty plasmas are known to occur naturally in astrophysical environments (e.g., planetary rings, comet tails, etc.) and have been studied as a distinct discipline of laboratory plasma science for almost three decades. However, one important area that has not been studied extensively in the laboratory is the area of magnetized dusty plasmas. Even though the charged dust grains in a typical experiment can acquire several thousand elementary charges, the large mass of the grains ensures that the charge-to-mass ratio is quite low. As a result, it is technically challenging to design an experiment that can achieve full magnetization of electrons, ion, and the charged dust grains. This presentation will provide an introduction to the physics of dusty plasmas, an overview of the development of magnetized dusty plasma experiments, and highlight initial results from MDPX – the first US facility dedicated to the study of magnetized dusty plasmas.
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