Thermal instability of an optically thin dusty plasma

Abstract

We investigate the role of thermal instability, arising from radiative cooling of an optically thin, dusty plasma, by linear stability analysis. The corresponding isobaric stability condition for condensation mode is found to be modified significantly by the degree of ionization and concentration of finite sized, relatively heavy, and negatively charged dust particles. It has been shown that though the fundamental wave mode is similar in nature to the one in absence of dust particles, a new dust-wave mode can propagate in such a plasma. It is conjectured that the presence of negatively charged dust particles may considerably affect the stability of various astrophysical structures against thermal instability, which can not be explained with the help of gravitational instability.