SCALING LAW FOR THE FLUID-SOLID PHASE TRANSITION IN YUKAWA SYSTEMS (DUSTY PLASMAS)
Vaulina O.S., Khrapak S.A.

Received: June 9, 1999

PACS: 52.25.Zb, 64.70.-p, 64.70.Dv

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Yukawa systems serve as models for plasmas and colloidal suspensions of charged particles. The state of these systems is determined by two dimensionless parameters: k=a/λ_D, which is the ratio of the mean interparticle distance to the Debye length λ_D, and Γ=Z²_de²/aT_d, which is the ratio of the Coulomb potential energy to the particle temperature T_d (Z_d is the charge of each particle). We propose an empirical scaling law for the critical coupling parameter Γ_c needed for crystallization in Yukawa systems. The dependence of Γ_c on k is in good agreement with recent molecular dynamics simulations.