Related papers: Electrostatic Repulsion of Dust from Planetary Sur…
Small (sub)-micron dust is present over the entire lifetime of protoplanetary disks. As aggregation readily depletes small particles, one explanation might be that dust is continuously generated by larger bodies in the midplane and…
A plethora of studies ranging from precision physics to quantum information employ ions, highly excited neutral atoms or polar molecules as tools. Motivated by the need for miniaturization, scalability and controllability, the particles are…
Magnetic fields are fundamental to the evolution of galaxies, playing a key role in the astrophysics of the interstellar medium and star formation. Large-scale ordered magnetic fields have been mapped in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies,…
A counterintuitive effect of a repulsion between uncharged and charged conductors is considered. Our numerical calculations prove this effect for various axially symmetric systems of a neutral conductor in an electric field of a point…
Here, we study the old problem of why identical insulators can charge one another on contact. We perform several experiments showing that, if driven by a preexisting electric field, charge is transferred between contacting insulators. This…
The quantization of energy levels in very nanoparticles suppresses dissipative processes that convert grain rotational kinetic energy into heat. For grains small enough to have GHz rotation rates, the suppression of dissipation can be…
Understanding the physical properties of dust aggregates is of great importance in planetary science. In this study, we revisited the sticking property of submillimetre-sized aggregates. We revealed that the "effective surface energy" model…
This study examines the effect that dipole-dipole charge interactions between fractal aggregates have on the growth of dust grains. Aggregates in a plasma or radiative environment will have charge distributed over their extended surface,…
Nanometer- and micrometer-sized solid particles play an important role in the evolutionary cycle of stars and interstellar matter. The optical properties of cosmic grains determine the interaction of the radiation field with the solids,…
We introduce a possible disruption mechanism of dust grains in planet formation by their spinning motion. This mechanism has been discussed as rotational disruption for the interstellar dust grains. We theoretically calculate whether porous…
A significant fraction of main sequence stars observed interferometrically in the near infrared have slightly extended components that have been attributed to very hot dust. To match the spectrum appears to require the presence of large…
This paper provides perspectives on recent progress in the understanding of the physics of devices where the external magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the discharge current. This configuration generates a strong electric field,…
A short account of the physics of electrical discharges in gases is given in view of its historical evolution and application to planetary atmospheres. As such it serves as an introduction to the articles on particular aspects of electric…
Many debris disks seen in scattered light have shapes that imply their dust grains trace highly eccentric, apsidally aligned orbits. Apsidal alignment is surprising, especially for dust. Even when born from an apse-aligned ring of parent…
It is shown theoretically that the confinement of an electron at a repulsive potential can exist in nanostructures subjected to a strong high-frequency electromagnetic field. As a result of the confinement, the metastable bound electron…
Spokes in Saturn's rings are radially-extended structures consisting of dust grains. Although spacecraft and space telescope observations have revealed various detailed features of the spokes and their time variation, their formation…
We evaluate the electrostatic potential and the electrostatic field created by a point charge and an arbitrarly oriented electrical dipole placed near a grounded perfectly conducting sphere. Induced surface charge distributions as well as…
This theoretical and numerical study investigates the impact of electrostatic stresses on the shape of charged water structures (grains) in weakly ionized plasmas. We developed an analytic model to predict the conditions under which a grain…
Stars interact with their close-in planets through radiation, gravitation, and magnetic fields. We investigate the energy input to a planetary atmosphere by reconnection between stellar and planetary magnetic fields and compare it to the…
Magnetic fields likely play a key role in the dynamics and evolution of protoplanetary discs. They have the potential to efficiently transport angular momentum by MHD turbulence or via the magnetocentrifugal acceleration of outflows from…