On a kinetic theory for strongly coupled dusty plasmas

A kinetic theory for strongly coupled dusty plasmas is developed from the Bogolyubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon (BBGKY) hierarchy. In these plasmas, interparticle distances are typically much smaller than the Debye length, and the coupling parameter Gamma(d) = q(d)(2)/d(d)T(d) is much larger than unity. (Here q(d) is the dust charge, T-d is the temperature, and d(d) = [3/(4 pi n(d))](1/3) is the inter-dust-particle distance.) For Such quasi-steady-state plasmas, a theoretical argument is given for the validity of the Vlasov equation in the regimes Gamma(d) much less than 1 and Gamma(c) much greater than Gamma(d) much greater than 1, where Gamma(c) designates the coupling parameter when Coulomb crystallization occurs. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.