Creation of ordered structures in a classical thermal plasma containing macroparticles: Experiment and computer simulation

We have compared experimental measurements of ordered structures in a thermal plasma containing macroparticles of CeO2 at atmospheric pressure and a temperature around 1700 K with the results of numerical Monte Carlo calculations for the Yukawa model. We describe several distinctive features of the way the experiments were done, including how the ordered macroparticle structures were detected. We discuss a theoretical model of the behavior of an equilibrium system of charged macroparticles in a plasma and the effective interaction potential between them. Good agreement between the experimental and numerical results is noted, and possible reasons for the observed discrepancies are discussed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.