The interaction between charged dust particles calculated in Cassini coordinates

The Poisson-Boltzmann equation for two charged dust particles surrounded by a cloud of charged plasma was numerically solved using the Cassini coordinates. The force of the electric field acting on each particle was determined by integrating the field pressure over the particle surface. It is shown that the dust particles can exhibit attraction at distances on the order of the Debye screening radius and the average spacing between particles. The attraction drops sharply if the particle charge is significantly smaller than the charge of surrounding plasma species. (C) 2002 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".