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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Non-equilibrium Microwave Plasma for Efficient High Temperature Chemistry
Published on: August 1, 2017
Free thermal convection in complex plasma with background-gas friction
A V Ivlev1, S K Zhdanov, G E Morfill
1Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, 85741 Garching, Germany. ivlev@mpe.mpg.de
Abstract:
The onset of free thermal convection in complex fluids with background friction is theoretically investigated. It is shown that in the limit when friction prevails--opposite to the classic Rayleigh-Bénard case--the onset is determined by a renormalized Rayleigh number and also depends on the Prandtl number. Such convection should be observable in experiments with complex plasmas.
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