Coulomb scatter of diamagnetic dust particles in a cusp magnetic trap under microgravity conditions

Abstract

The effect of a dc electric field on strongly nonideal Coulomb systems consisting of a large number (~10⁴) of charged diamagnetic dust particles in a cusp magnetic trap are carried out aboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) within the Coulomb Crystal experiment. Graphite particles of 100–400 μm in size are used in the experiments. Coulomb scatter of a dust cluster and the formation of threadlike chains of dust particles are observed experimentally. The processes observed are simulated by the molecular dynamics (MD) method.