Theoretical and experimental studies of dusty plasma

Why it is interesting: There are almost no such cosmic bodies near which dusty plasma is not present. It finds itself in space gas clusters, comet tails, near artificial satellites and spacecraft orbiting the Earth. In 1983, it was discovered that Saturn's planetary rings are partly composed of dusty plasma.

Relevance to fundamental science: In 1994, four independent scientific groups demonstrated the formation of dust crystals in a gas discharge. It was explained by the strong interaction of highly charged dust particles, due to which it became possible for the formation of structures in strata similar in their properties to crystals and liquids. It was soon discovered that, with a change in the discharge parameters, gas pressure and the amount of dust particles, one can observe phase transitions between the aggregate states of the medium. Dusty plasma, which is easy to obtain in laboratory conditions, allows, without using a microscope, to observe the processes that occur at the molecular level in a gas, liquid or solid.