Hannover 2010 – scientific programme

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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 5: Theory/Modelling I

P 5.2: Talk

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 14:40–14:55, B 302

Theory of strongly correlated spherically confined plasmas — •Michael Bonitz¹, Alexei Filinov¹, Patrick Ludwig¹, Hanno Kählert¹, Christian Henning¹, and James W. Dufty² — ¹Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel — ²Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville (USA)

Charged particles in a spherical confinement potential form Coulomb crystals consisting of concentric shells. This has been observed experimentally in ultracold ions and in dusty plasmas [1]. These systems allow for an analysis of strong correlation effects with an unprecedented accuracy. Moreover they are a test ground for theoretical approaches to strongly coupled systems. In this talk we review recent theoretical results. First we show that the shell structure of these crystals agrees well with first principle computer simulations [2]. Then, theoretical results for the excitation spectrum will be reported [3] and an analytical theory for the density profile [4], the pair correlations and the thermodynamic properties will be presented [5]. Finally, the short-time behavior is discussed with a particular focus on the crystallization dynamics [6].

[1] Arp et al. PRL 93 (2004), [2] Bonitz et al. PRL 96 (2006), [3] Henning et al. PRL 101(2008), [4] Henning et al. PRE 76 (2007), [5] Wrighton et al. PRE, accepted (2009) [6] Kählert et al. PRL, accepted (2009)