Microstructural evolution and irreversibility in the viscoelastic response of mesoscopic dusty-plasma liquids

We experimentally demonstrate the viscoelastic response and construct a microscopic dynamical picture using a quasi-2D dusty-plasma liquid confined in a mesoscopic gap and sheared periodically. The correlation between microdisplacement and structural evolution at the discrete kinetic level is explored. Through hopping, the structural rearrangement associated with shear enhanced stretching, kinking, breaking, and reconnection of local lattice lines generates irreversible plastic deformation. The strain energy accumulation in the twisted regions without topological rearrangement is the source for local rebound.