Related papers: Aggregation of Sub-mm Particles in Strong Electric…

Polarized dust emission outside of disks reveal the magnetic field morphology of molecular clouds. Within disks, however, polarized dust emission can arise from very different mechanisms (e.g., self-scattering), and each of them are useful…

Mutual sticking of dust aggregates is the first step toward planetesimal formation in protoplanetary disks. In spite that the electric charging of dust particles is well recognized in some contexts, it has been largely ignored in the…

Neglecting the effects associated with the solar wind plasma, the photoelectrons are the only elementary particles which create an electrical current through sunlit surface of the moon. They are knocked off of the surface soil, rise above…

Sandstorms are frequently accompanied by the generation of intense electric fields and lightning. In a very narrow region close to the ground level, sand particles undergo a charge exchange mechanism whereby larger (resp. smaller) sized…

We have computed wind models with time-dependent dust formation and grain-size dependent opacities, where (1) the problem is simplified by assuming a fixed dust-grain size, and where (2) the radiation pressure efficiency is approximated…

Tons of space particles enter the Earth atmosphere every year, being detected when they produce fireballs, meteor showers, or when they impact the Earth surface. Particle detection in the showers could also be attempted from space using…

The coagulation of dust particles under the conditions in protoplanetary disks is investigated. The study focuses on the repulsive electrostatic barrier against growth of charged dust grains. Taking into account the photoelectric effect…

For the investigation of collisions among protoplanetesimal dust aggregates, we performed microgravity experiments in which the impacts of high-porosity mm-sized dust aggregates into 2.5 cm-sized high-porosity dust aggregates can be…

A proper treatment of the non-equilibrium dust formation process is crucial in models of AGB star winds. In this paper the micro-physics of this process is treated in detail, with an emphasis on the effects of drift (drift models). We…

How and when in the star formation sequence do dust grains start to grow into pebbles is a cornerstone question to both star and planet formation. We compute the polarized radiative transfer from a model solar-type protostellar core, using…

In protoplanetary disks, the distribution and abundance of small (sub)micron grains are important for a range of physical and chemical processes. For example, they dominate the optical depth at short wavelengths and their surfaces are the…

Agglomeration of highly charged microparticles was observed and studied in complex plasma experiments carried out in a capacitively coupled rf discharge. The agglomeration was caused by strong dust density waves triggered in a particle…

Dust aggregates are formed in a laboratory plasma as monodisperse spheres are accelerated in a self-excited dust density wave. The asymmetric charge on the aggregates causes them to rotate as they interact with the sheath electric field or…

We conducted micro-gravity experiments to study the outcome of collisions between sub-mm-sized dust agglomerates consisting of \mu m-sized SiO2 monomer grains at velocities of several cm/s. Prior to the experiments, we used X-ray computer…

Supernova ejecta and stellar winds are believed to produce interstellar dust grains with relatively large sizes. Smaller grains can be produced via the shattering of large grains that have been stochastically accelerated. To understand this…

Polarimetry is one of the most informative techniques of studying magnetic fields in molecular clouds. How reliable the interpretation of the polarization maps in terms of magnetic fields is the issue that the grain alignment theory…

Charged dust clouds play an important role in the evolution of sub-stellar atmospheres through electrical discharges such as lightning events or inter-grain discharges. The consequent plasma activation presents an alternative source of…

I review my work with Bruce Draine on dust emissivity at microwave frequencies (3 cm - 3 mm). This emissivity explains the recently detected "anomalous" component of the galactic foreground emission. Both small (a<0.001 micron) and large…

Dust grains play a major role in many astrophysical contexts. They affect the chemical, magnetic, dynamical, and optical properties of their environment, from galaxies down to the interstellar medium, star-forming regions, and…

Collisional growth of submicron-sized dust grains into macroscopic aggregates is the first step of planet formation in protoplanetary disks. These grains are expected to carry nonzero negative charges in the weakly ionized disks, but its…