Effect of Hot Electrons on the Behavior of Dust Grains in a Complex Plasma

In a dusty plasma, dust grains acquire charge through collisions with ambient ions and electrons. As electrons dominate this process, their energy distribution has a significant effect on charging, which in turn affects dynamics and formation processes. A method is devised for calculating the effects of varying electron distributions on dust charging and morphology, and this is applied to a range of plasma parameters with atmospheric and astrophysical relevance. It is found that the hottest electrons dominate the equilibrium charge, such that small fractions of high-energy electrons cause significant changes to equilibrium dust charge. The electron distributions of various space plasma environments are estimated, and the deviations in dust charging from a simple Maxwellian case are explored.