Fingerprints of different interaction mechanisms on the collective modes in complex (dusty) plasmas

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the relations between the exact shape of interparticle interactions in complex (dusty) plasmas and the dispersion relation of the longitudinal collective mode. Several representative repulsive potentials, predicted previously theoretically, are chosen and the corresponding dispersion relations are calculated using the quasi-crystalline approximation. Both weakly coupled and strongly coupled regimes are considered. It is shown that the long-wavelength portions of the dispersion relations are sensitive to the long-range asymptote of the interaction potential. This can be used to discriminate between different interaction mechanisms operational in complex plasmas experimentally. Main requirements are briefly discussed.