Molecular dynamics simulations of magnetized dusty plasmas

The combination of the electric field that confines a dust cloud with a static magnetic field generally leads to a rotation of the dust cloud. In weak magnetic fields, the Hall component of the ion flow exerts a drag force that sets the dust in rotation. We have performed detailed molecular-dynamics simulations of the dynamics of torus-shaped dust clouds in anodic plasmas. The stationary flow [1] is characterized by a shell structure in the laminar dust flow and by the spontaneous formation of a shear-flow around a stationary vortex. Here we present new results on dynamic phenomena, among them fluctuations due to a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the shear-flow. The simulations are compared with experimental results. \\[4pt] [1] T. Reichstein, A. Piel, Phys. Plasmas \underline{18}, 083705 (2011)