NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
A note on dust grain charging in space plasmasCentral to the study of dust-plasma interactions in the solar system is the electrostatic charging of dust grains. While previous calculations have generally assumed that the distributions of electrons and ions in the plasma are Maxwellian, most space plasmas are observed to have non-Maxwellian tails and can often be fit by a generalized Lorentzian (kappa) distribution. Here we use such a distribution to reevaluate the grain potential, under the condition that the dominant currents to the grain are due to electron and ion collection, as is the case in certain regions of space. The magnitude of the grain potential is found to be larger than that in a Maxwellian plasma as long as the electrons are described by a kappa distribution: this enhancement increased with ion mass and decreasing electron kappa. The modification of the grain potential in generalized Lorentzian plasmas has implications for both the physics (e.g., grain growth and disruption) and the dynamics of dust in space plasmas. These are also briefly discussed.
Document ID
19930026569
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Rosenberg, M.
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Mendis, D. A.
(California Univ. La Jolla, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
September 25, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 97
Issue: E9
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
93A10566
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2252
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available