A laboratory observation of the dust‐acoustic instability is reported. The results are compared with available theories.

http://www2.physics.uiowa.edu/~rmerlino/daw1.pdf

Laboratory observation of the dust-acoustic wave mode

Complex (dusty) plasmas: current status, open issues, perspectives

A systemized version of the tanh method is used to solve particular evolution and wave equations. If one deals with conservative systems, one seeks travelling wave solutions in the form of a finite series in tanh. If present, boundary conditions are implemented in this expansion. The associated velocity can then be determined a priori, provided the solution vanishes at infinity. Hence, exact closed form solutions can be obtained easily in various cases.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0031-8949/54/6/003/pdf

The tanh method: I. Exact solutions of nonlinear evolution and wave equations

Complex (dusty) plasmas are composed of a weakly ionized gas and charged microparticles and represent the plasma state of soft matter. Complex plasmas have several remarkable features: Dynamical time scales associated with microparticles are ``stretched'' to tens of milliseconds, yet the microparticles themselves can be easily visualized individually. Furthermore, since the background gas is dilute, the particle dynamics in strongly coupled complex plasmas is virtually undamped, which provides a direct analogy to regular liquids and solids in terms of the atomistic dynamics. Finally, complex plasmas can be easily manipulated in different ways---also at the level of individual particles. Altogether, this gives us a unique opportunity to go beyond the limits of continuous media and study---at the kinetic level---various generic processes occurring in liquids or solids, in regimes ranging from the onset of cooperative phenomena to large strongly coupled systems. In the first part of the review some of the basic and new physics are highlighted which complex plasmas enable us to study, and in the second (major) part strong coupling phenomena in an interdisciplinary context are examined. The connections with complex fluids are emphasized and a number of generic liquid and solid-state issues are addressed. In summary, application oriented research is discussed.

N.N. Rao

Papers

Dust -acoustic waves in dusty plasmas

Nonlinear dust-acoustic waves with dust charge fluctuations

Decay and modulational instabilities of electron plasma waves in unmagnetized dusty plasmas