scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Journal ArticleDOI

Complex plasmas: An interdisciplinary research field

02 Oct 2009-Reviews of Modern Physics (American Physical Society)-Vol. 81, Iss: 4, pp 1353-1404
TL;DR: Complex (dusty) plasmas are composed of a weakly ionized gas and charged microparticles and represent the plasma state of soft matter as discussed by the authors, and they can be easily manipulated in different ways, also at the level of individual particles.
Abstract: 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.
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a guided tour through the development of artificial self-propelling microparticles and nanoparticles and their application to the study of nonequilibrium phenomena, as well as the open challenges that the field is currently facing.
Abstract: Differently from passive Brownian particles, active particles, also known as self-propelled Brownian particles or microswimmers and nanoswimmers, are capable of taking up energy from their environment and converting it into directed motion. Because of this constant flow of energy, their behavior can be explained and understood only within the framework of nonequilibrium physics. In the biological realm, many cells perform directed motion, for example, as a way to browse for nutrients or to avoid toxins. Inspired by these motile microorganisms, researchers have been developing artificial particles that feature similar swimming behaviors based on different mechanisms. These man-made micromachines and nanomachines hold a great potential as autonomous agents for health care, sustainability, and security applications. With a focus on the basic physical features of the interactions of self-propelled Brownian particles with a crowded and complex environment, this comprehensive review will provide a guided tour through its basic principles, the development of artificial self-propelling microparticles and nanoparticles, and their application to the study of nonequilibrium phenomena, as well as the open challenges that the field is currently facing.

2,188 citations


Cites background from "Complex plasmas: An interdisciplina..."

  • ...One example might be to make active Janus particles that move through a dusty plasma (Morfill and Ivlev, 2009), air, or even a vacuum....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The unique plasma-specific features and physical phenomena in the organization of nanoscale soild-state systems in a broad range of elemental composition, structure, and dimensionality are critically reviewed in this paper.
Abstract: The unique plasma-specific features and physical phenomena in the organization of nanoscale soild-state systems in a broad range of elemental composition, structure, and dimensionality are critically reviewed. These effects lead to the possibility to localize and control energy and matter at nanoscales and to produce self-organized nano-solids with highly unusual and superior properties. A unifying conceptual framework based on the control of production, transport, and self-organization of precursor species is introduced and a variety of plasma-specific non-equilibrium and kinetics-driven phenomena across the many temporal and spatial scales is explained. When the plasma is localized to micrometer and nanometer dimensions, new emergent phenomena arise. The examples range from semiconducting quantum dots and nanowires, chirality control of single-walled carbon nanotubes, ultra-fine manipulation of graphenes, nano-diamond, and organic matter to nano-plasma effects and nano-plasmas of different states of matter.

509 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a unified conceptual framework based on the control of production, transport, and self-organization of precursor species is introduced and a variety of plasma-specific non-equilibrium and kinetics-driven phenomena across the many temporal and spatial scales is explained.
Abstract: The unique plasma-specific features and physical phenomena in the organization of nanoscale solid-state systems in a broad range of elemental composition, structure, and dimensionality are critically reviewed. These effects lead to the possibility to localize and control energy and matter at nanoscales and to produce self-organized nano-solids with highly unusual and superior properties. A unifying conceptual framework based on the control of production, transport, and self-organization of precursor species is introduced and a variety of plasma-specific non-equilibrium and kinetics-driven phenomena across the many temporal and spatial scales is explained. When the plasma is localized to micrometer and nanometer dimensions, new emergent phenomena arise. The examples range from semiconducting quantum dots and nanowires, chirality control of single-walled carbon nanotubes, ultra-fine manipulation of graphenes, nano-diamond, and organic matter, to nano-plasma effects and nano-plasmas of different states of matter.

422 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors give an overview on recent experimental and theoretical results in complex plasmas, including liquid-like behavior, crystal formation, structural and dynamic properties, which is expected that many of these effects will be of interest also to researchers in other fields where strong correlations play a prominent role.
Abstract: Strong correlations—cooperative behavior due to many-particle interactions—are omnipresent in nature. They occur in electrolytic solutions, dense plasmas, ultracold ions and atomic gases in traps, complex (dusty) plasmas, electrons and excitons in quantum dots and the quark–gluon plasma. Correlation effects include the emergence of long-range order, of liquid-like or crystalline structures and collective dynamic properties (collective modes). The observation and experimental analysis of strong correlations are often difficult, requiring, in many cases, extreme conditions such as very low temperatures or high densities. An exception is complex plasmas where strong coupling can be easily achieved, even at room temperature. These systems feature the strongest correlations reported so far and experiments allow for an unprecedented precision and full single-particle resolution of the stationary and time-dependent many-particle behavior. The governing role of the interactions in strongly correlated systems gives rise to many universal properties observed in all of them. This makes the analysis of one particular system interesting for many others. This motivates the goal of this paper which is to give an overview on recent experimental and theoretical results in complex plasmas including liquid-like behavior, crystal formation, structural and dynamic properties. It is expected that many of these effects will be of interest also to researchers in other fields where strong correlations play a prominent role. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version) This article was invited by Gordon Baym.

349 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the basic concepts and applications of the phase-field-crystal (PFC) method, which is one of the latest simulation methodologies in materials science for problems, where atomic and microscales are tightly coupled.
Abstract: Here, we review the basic concepts and applications of the phase-field-crystal (PFC) method, which is one of the latest simulation methodologies in materials science for problems, where atomic- and microscales are tightly coupled. The PFC method operates on atomic length and diffusive time scales, and thus constitutes a computationally efficient alternative to molecular simulation methods. Its intense development in materials science started fairly recently following the work by Elder et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002), p. 245701]. Since these initial studies, dynamical density functional theory and thermodynamic concepts have been linked to the PFC approach to serve as further theoretical fundamentals for the latter. In this review, we summarize these methodological development steps as well as the most important applications of the PFC method with a special focus on the interaction of development steps taken in hard and soft matter physics, respectively. Doing so, we hope to present today's state of the...

259 citations

References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The dynamical steady-state probability density is found in an extended phase space with variables x, p/sub x/, V, epsilon-dot, and zeta, where the x are reduced distances and the two variables epsilus-dot andZeta act as thermodynamic friction coefficients.
Abstract: Nos\'e has modified Newtonian dynamics so as to reproduce both the canonical and the isothermal-isobaric probability densities in the phase space of an N-body system. He did this by scaling time (with s) and distance (with ${V}^{1/D}$ in D dimensions) through Lagrangian equations of motion. The dynamical equations describe the evolution of these two scaling variables and their two conjugate momenta ${p}_{s}$ and ${p}_{v}$. Here we develop a slightly different set of equations, free of time scaling. We find the dynamical steady-state probability density in an extended phase space with variables x, ${p}_{x}$, V, \ensuremath{\epsilon}\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{}, and \ensuremath{\zeta}, where the x are reduced distances and the two variables \ensuremath{\epsilon}\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{} and \ensuremath{\zeta} act as thermodynamic friction coefficients. We find that these friction coefficients have Gaussian distributions. From the distributions the extent of small-system non-Newtonian behavior can be estimated. We illustrate the dynamical equations by considering their application to the simplest possible case, a one-dimensional classical harmonic oscillator.

17,939 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a new definition of order called topological order is proposed for two-dimensional systems in which no long-range order of the conventional type exists, and the possibility of a phase transition characterized by a change in the response of the system to an external perturbation is discussed in the context of a mean field type of approximation.
Abstract: A new definition of order called topological order is proposed for two-dimensional systems in which no long-range order of the conventional type exists. The possibility of a phase transition characterized by a change in the response of the system to an external perturbation is discussed in the context of a mean field type of approximation. The critical behaviour found in this model displays very weak singularities. The application of these ideas to the xy model of magnetism, the solid-liquid transition, and the neutral superfluid are discussed. This type of phase transition cannot occur in a superconductor nor in a Heisenberg ferromagnet.

6,371 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A comprehensive review of spatiotemporal pattern formation in systems driven away from equilibrium is presented in this article, with emphasis on comparisons between theory and quantitative experiments, and a classification of patterns in terms of the characteristic wave vector q 0 and frequency ω 0 of the instability.
Abstract: A comprehensive review of spatiotemporal pattern formation in systems driven away from equilibrium is presented, with emphasis on comparisons between theory and quantitative experiments. Examples include patterns in hydrodynamic systems such as thermal convection in pure fluids and binary mixtures, Taylor-Couette flow, parametric-wave instabilities, as well as patterns in solidification fronts, nonlinear optics, oscillatory chemical reactions and excitable biological media. The theoretical starting point is usually a set of deterministic equations of motion, typically in the form of nonlinear partial differential equations. These are sometimes supplemented by stochastic terms representing thermal or instrumental noise, but for macroscopic systems and carefully designed experiments the stochastic forces are often negligible. An aim of theory is to describe solutions of the deterministic equations that are likely to be reached starting from typical initial conditions and to persist at long times. A unified description is developed, based on the linear instabilities of a homogeneous state, which leads naturally to a classification of patterns in terms of the characteristic wave vector q0 and frequency ω0 of the instability. Type Is systems (ω0=0, q0≠0) are stationary in time and periodic in space; type IIIo systems (ω0≠0, q0=0) are periodic in time and uniform in space; and type Io systems (ω0≠0, q0≠0) are periodic in both space and time. Near a continuous (or supercritical) instability, the dynamics may be accurately described via "amplitude equations," whose form is universal for each type of instability. The specifics of each system enter only through the nonuniversal coefficients. Far from the instability threshold a different universal description known as the "phase equation" may be derived, but it is restricted to slow distortions of an ideal pattern. For many systems appropriate starting equations are either not known or too complicated to analyze conveniently. It is thus useful to introduce phenomenological order-parameter models, which lead to the correct amplitude equations near threshold, and which may be solved analytically or numerically in the nonlinear regime away from the instability. The above theoretical methods are useful in analyzing "real pattern effects" such as the influence of external boundaries, or the formation and dynamics of defects in ideal structures. An important element in nonequilibrium systems is the appearance of deterministic chaos. A greal deal is known about systems with a small number of degrees of freedom displaying "temporal chaos," where the structure of the phase space can be analyzed in detail. For spatially extended systems with many degrees of freedom, on the other hand, one is dealing with spatiotemporal chaos and appropriate methods of analysis need to be developed. In addition to the general features of nonequilibrium pattern formation discussed above, detailed reviews of theoretical and experimental work on many specific systems are presented. These include Rayleigh-Benard convection in a pure fluid, convection in binary-fluid mixtures, electrohydrodynamic convection in nematic liquid crystals, Taylor-Couette flow between rotating cylinders, parametric surface waves, patterns in certain open flow systems, oscillatory chemical reactions, static and dynamic patterns in biological media, crystallization fronts, and patterns in nonlinear optics. A concluding section summarizes what has and has not been accomplished, and attempts to assess the prospects for the future.

6,145 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the mean values of all the powers of the velocity $u$ and the displacement $s$ of a free particle in Brownian motion are calculated and the exact expressions for the square of the deviation of a harmonically bound particle in the Fokker-Planck partial differential equation as a function of the time and the initial deviation are obtained.
Abstract: With a method first indicated by Ornstein the mean values of all the powers of the velocity $u$ and the displacement $s$ of a free particle in Brownian motion are calculated It is shown that $u\ensuremath{-}{u}_{0}\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\beta}t)$ and $s\ensuremath{-}\frac{{u}_{0}}{\ensuremath{\beta}[1\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\beta}t)]}$ where ${u}_{0}$ is the initial velocity and $\ensuremath{\beta}$ the friction coefficient divided by the mass of the particle, follow the normal Gaussian distribution law For $s$ this gives the exact frequency distribution corresponding to the exact formula for ${s}^{2}$ of Ornstein and F\"urth Discussion is given of the connection with the Fokker-Planck partial differential equation By the same method exact expressions are obtained for the square of the deviation of a harmonically bound particle in Brownian motion as a function of the time and the initial deviation Here the periodic, aperiodic and overdamped cases have to be treated separately In the last case, when $\ensuremath{\beta}$ is much larger than the frequency and for values of $t\ensuremath{\gg}{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, the formula takes the form of that previously given by Smoluchowski

3,394 citations

MonographDOI
01 Jan 1972
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the Reynolds equations and estimate of the Reynolds stress in the kinetic theory of gases, and describe the effects of shear flow near a rigid wall.
Abstract: This chapter contains sections titled: The Reynolds equations, Elements of the kinetic theory of gases, Estimates of the Reynolds stress, Turbulent heat transfer, Turbulent shear flow near a rigid wall

3,270 citations