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Published on: February 22, 2018
Wake-Mediated Propulsion of an Upstream Particle in Two-Dimensional Plasma Crystals
I Laut1, C Räth1, S K Zhdanov1
1Institut für Materialphysik im Weltraum, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), 82234 Weßling, Germany.
Abstract:
The wake-mediated propulsion of an "extra" particle in a channel of two neighboring rows of a two-dimensional plasma crystal, observed experimentally by Du et al. [Phys. Rev. E 89, 021101(R) (2014)PRESCM1539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.89.021101], is explained in simulations and theory. We use the simple model of a pointlike ion wake charge to reproduce this intriguing effect in simulations, allowing for a detailed investigation and a deeper understanding of the underlying dynamics. We show that the nonreciprocity of the particle interaction, owing to the wake charges, is responsible for a broken symmetry of the channel that enables a persistent self-propelled motion of the extra particle. We find good agreement of the terminal extra-particle velocity with our theoretical considerations and with experiments.
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