Irregularity excitation associated with charged dust cloud boundary layers

Irregularity generation associated with dust cloud expansion through a background plasma along a magnetic field is investigated. Because of the dust charging process, a boundary layer is produced, separating the dusty plasma generated and the background plasma. It is observed that under appropriate conditions, localized plasma irregularities may be generated in this boundary layer. Theoretical and computational models are used to study the evolution of relevant plasma instabilities thought to play a dominant role in irregularity production. An electron flow develops along the boundary layer of the dust cloud, and plasma irregularities are generated in response to this flow. Several aspects of the cloud's structure (thickness of the boundary layer, average particle size and density, collisional processes, and cloud expansion speed) and the ambient plasma are varied to determine the effect of these quantities on the resulting irregularities. The relevance of these results to past experimental observations in space and the laboratory for applications to the expansion of naturally or artificially created dust clouds is discussed.