Dust charging effects on test charge potential in a multi-ion dusty plasma

Abstract

The Debye–Huckel and oscillatory wake potentials caused by a test charge are studied in a multi-ion dusty plasma, whose constituents are the Boltzmann distributed electrons and light positive ions, the heavy mobile negative ions, and static but charge fluctuating dust particles. For this purpose, fluid equations are employed to obtain the dielectric constant of the dust-negative-ion acoustic wave involving the negative ions and dust charge fluctuation effects. Theoretical and numerical investigations have revealed the modification in the Debye–Huckel and wake potentials due to the effects of dust relaxation rate, dust absorption frequency, dust grain radius, and negative ion temperature. The present results should be important to form new materials in the presence of negative ions in laboratory as well as dust coagulation/agglomeration in space dusty plasmas.