Vibrational Modes and Instabilities of a Dust Particle Pair in a Complex Plasma

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the vibrational modes and instabilities of a dust particle pair in a complex plasma using an analytical model that considers plasma wakefield effects, revealing multiple normal modes and specific instability types.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical approach employing an image charge model to study dust particle pair vibrations and instabilities in complex plasmas.

Findings

Four normal vibrational modes exist for equilibrium pairs.

Horizontal pairs exhibit one type of instability.

Vertical pairs exhibit two types of instabilities.

Abstract

Vibrational modes and instabilities of a dust particle pair in a terrestrial laboratory complex plasma are investigated employing an analytical method whereby the plasma wakefield induced by an external electric field is modeled using an image charge method. It is found that for both horizontally and vertically aligned dust particle pairs in equilibrium, four normal modes exist. Variations of the confinement parameters cause a single type of instability in the horizontal pair and two types of instabilities in the vertical pair.