Nonlinear dust acoustic waves in a plasma under microgravity conditions.

POSTER

Abstract

Nonlinear dust acoustic waves were investigated in a plasma under microgravity conditions, using the European Space Agency facility PK-4 on the International Space Station (ISS). A large three-dimensional cloud of dust particles was confined near a radio-frequency coil that powered a glow discharge in low-pressure neon gas. Low-frequency dust acoustic waves were spontaneously excited, due to the flowing ions in the plasma. The waves were nonlinear, with a large amplitude. Experimental spectra for dust particle motion were obtained, using the particle position data from an analysis of the images of the particle motion. Nonlinear phenomena are discussed, including nonsinusoidal waveform shape and indicator of wave synchronization. All authors acknowledge the joint ESA/Roscosmos ``Experiment Plasmakristall-4'' onboard the International Space Station. Work was partially supported by DLR Grant Nos. 50WM1441 and 50WM1742. Work at Iowa was supported by NASA-JPL subcontracts 1573629 and 1579454, and the NSF Award No. 1740379.

Authors

  • Bin Liu

    • University of Iowa

  • John Goree

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA

  • Mikhail Pustylnik

    • Institut für Materialphysik im Weltraum, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchner Str. 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany

  • Hubertus Thomas

    • Institut für Materialphysik im Weltraum, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchner Str. 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany

  • Vladimir Fortov

    • Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (JIHT RAS), Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia

  • Andrey Lipaev

    • Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (JIHT RAS), Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia

  • Alexander Usachev

    • Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (JIHT RAS), Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia

  • Vladimir Molotkov

    • Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (JIHT RAS), Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia

  • Oleg Petrov

    • Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (JIHT RAS), Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia

  • Markus Thoma

    • I. Physikalisches Institut, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 16, 35392 Gießen, Germany