Abstract
Shear flow in a three-dimensional (3D) complex plasma was experimentally studied in microgravity conditions using the Plasmakristall-4 laboratory on board the International Space Station. The shear flow was created in an extended suspension of microparticles by applying the radiation pressure force of the manipulation-laser beam. Individual particle trajectories in the flow were analyzed and from these, using the Navier-Stokes equation, an upper estimate of the complex plasma's kinematic viscosity was calculated in the range of . This estimate is much lower than previously reported in ground-based experiments with 3D complex plasmas. Possible reasons for this difference are discussed.
- Received 3 June 2020
- Accepted 20 August 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033404
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
Published by the American Physical Society