On the Magnetomechanical Effect in a Low-Pressure Steady-State Discharge

Abstract

A unified mechanism explaining the rotation of a suspension and the azimuthal rotation of a dust structure in the plasma of a vertically oriented gas discharge placed in a longitudinal magnetic field is proposed. Basically, it consists in the action of a magnetic field on the electric current produced by the directed motion of ions in the layer of space charge around the solid bodies placed in a plasma. The derived expressions, which define the dependences of the torque of the magnetomechanical effect acting on the plate and the angular velocity of azimuthal rotation of the dust structure on external plasma parameters, qualitatively correspond to the experimental results.