Effects of charge dispersion in dusty plasmas

We investigate the charge-dispersive effects on a sheath of monosized dust particles in equilibrium. This is done through describing the dust particles by using equations in (x, v) space (kinetic space) that include terms originating from the charge distribution of the dust particles. The charge-dispersive terms are assumed to be completely determined by the local charging processes. We find that the effects due to these terms are opposed by the ordinary gradient terms in the current equation in kinetic space, and they are therefore smaller than first expected. We also identify kinetic effects that are not included in the usual expression for the dust charge in hydrodynamic space.