Microphysics of inhomogeneous flowing dusty plasmas studied by molecular dynamics simulations

摘要

A strongly coupled inhomogeneous dust flow in a toroidal trap is studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. In this system, the particles arrange themselves in concentric shells. These shells merge and split depending on the acceleration and deceleration of the flow, which determines the local stress in the fluid. The merging proceeds smoothly near an energetic minimum. The splitting can occur in the form of sudden hydraulic jumps. Particular attention is paid to the changes of the Voronoi cell geometry and the nearest-neighbor dynamics. A common feature of the microphysics is a preference of shear motion over compressional motion, which can be quantified by the novel measures of mean strain rate and mean rotation rate. Published by AIP Publishing.