Effect of the size of charged spherical macroparticles on their electrostatic interaction in an equilibrium plasma

Abstract

The effect of the size of two charged spherical macroparticles on their electrostatic interaction in an equilibrium plasma is analyzed within the linearized Poisson–Botzmann model. It is established that, under the interaction of two charged dielectric macroparticles in an equilibrium plasma, the forces acting on each particle turn out to be generally unequal. The forces become equal only in the case of conducting macroparticles or in the case of dielectric macroparticles of the same size and charge. They also turn out to be equal when the surface potentials of the macroparticles remain constant under the variation of interparticle distances. Formulas are proposed that allow one to calculate the interaction force with a high degree of accuracy under the condition that the radii of macroparticles are much less than the screening length, which is usually satisfied in experiments with dusty plasmas.