Theory of Space Dusty Plasma

Ionized gases, contaminated with fine (nanometer to micrometer-sized) charged dust, loosely referred to a dusty plasmas, occur in a wide variety of cosmic and laboratory environments. In this topical review I will discuss the underlying theory of such plasmas, with emphasis on the space environment. Central to the discussion is the electrostatic charging of the dust grains by the various currents that they experience in the plasma and radiative environment in which they are immersed. This charging could lead to both physical and dynamical consequences for the dust as well as for the plasma. Among the physical effects for the dust are electrostatic disruption and electrostatic levitation from charged surfaces. The dynamics of the charged dust is affected by the Lorentz force they experience, since space plasmas are generally magnetized. The physical effects for plasma result from the fact that the dust can act both as a sink and as a source of electrons in different space environments. The dynamical effects on the plasma arise from the fact that the charged dust can alter the phase velocity of normal wave modes (e.g., the Ion acoustic mode) by changing the charge equilibrium in the plasma. Additionally the charged dust can also participate in the wave dynamics, leading, for example, to the very low frequency, novel, "dust-acoustic" wave that has been observed in the laboratory. Finally the possibility that charged dust in a space plasma, may indirectly influence the propagation of electromagnetic radiation through it, will also be, briefly, discussed.