Molecular dynamics simulations of soliton-like structures in a dusty plasma medium

Abstract

The existence and evolution of soliton-like structures in a dusty plasma medium are investigated in a first principles approach using molecular dynamic (MD) simulations of particles interacting via a Yukawa potential. These localized structures are found to exist in both weakly and strongly coupled regimes with their structures becoming sharper as the correlation effects between the dust particles get stronger. A surprising result, compared to fluid simulations, is the existence of rarefactive soliton-like structures in our non-dissipative system, a feature that arises from the charge conjugation symmetry property of the Yukawa fluid. Our simulation findings closely resemble many diverse experimental results reported in the past.