Dusty plasma experiment to confirm an expression for the decay of autocorrelation functions.

Haralson, Zach; Goree, J; Belousov, Roman · Phys Rev E · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Statistical physicists recently proposed an expression for an autocorrelation function (ACF) [Belousov and Cohen, Phys. Rev. E 94, 062124 (2016)2470-004510.1103/PhysRevE.94.062124] that has, until now, not been tested experimentally. The expression captures the early behavior of the ACF decay, when the ACF is flattened. Using experimental data from a nonequilibrium steady-state dusty plasma, we confirm that the expression's use extends to liquidlike strongly coupled plasmas. A transition in the shape of the ACF is identified, and we suggest that it corresponds to the onset of collisional scattering.