Density functional theory for the ground state of spherically confined dusty plasma

Abstract

The spatial structure of dusty plasma confined in a spherical microcavity has been investigated by use of the density functional theory for classical fluids, in which all particles undergo an isotropic harmonic potential and the interparticle interaction is described by the hard-core Yukawa potential. The fundamental measure theory of Rosenfeld and its modified versions have been used in the energy functional to incorporate hard-core interactions between particles. Based on the variational principle, the equilibrium density profile can be obtained by use of an iteration calculation with the average density of particles as an input. In terms of density profiles presented under various conditions, the roles of the trapped parameter, coupling parameter, screening parameter, and the average number density of particles are discussed, and significant influences of these factors on the structure of confined dusty plasma are found.