On a kinetic theory for strongly coupled dusty plasmas

A kinetic theory for strongly coupled dusty plasmas is developed from the Bogolyubov–Born–Green–Kirkwood–Yvon (BBGKY) hierarchy. In these plasmas, interparticle distances are typically much smaller than the Debye length, and the coupling parameter Γd≡q2d/ddTd is much larger than unity. (Here qd is the dust charge, Td is the temperature, and dd≡[3/(4πnd)]1/3 is the inter-dust-particle distance.) For such quasi-steady-state plasmas, a theoretical argument is given for the validity of the Vlasov equation in the regimes Γd≪1 and Γc≫Γd≫1, where Γc designates the coupling parameter when Coulomb crystallization occurs.