Plasma kinetics in dusty plasmas

The time evolution of the plasma distribution functions (electrons and ions) in dusty plasmas is found solving numerically the equations of the kinetic theory of dusty plasmas [Tsytovich and de Angelis, Phys. Plasmas 6, 1093 (1999); 7, 554 (2000)]. The role and importance of the plasma source and particle diffusion are investigated. The "equilibrium" distributions (asymptotic solutions) are used to calculate the static screening of a dust particle, and the difference with the usual result (Debye screening) of a three-component plasma is shown for various parameter regimes. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.