Dr. Lorin Swint Matthews
Professor and Chair, Department of Physics
Associate Director, Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics, and Engineering Research

Charged Dust in Astrophysical Environments
Dust is everywhere.  99.99% of the matter in the universe is in the plasma state – it’s everywhere, too. What happens when dust and plasma get together?  The dust becomes charged – and it can go everywhere.  Charged dust is the primary component of many beautiful astrophysical phenomena such as comet tails, planetary rings, protoplanetary disks, and noctilucent clouds. However, it is a problem for missions to airless bodies in our solar system: the Apollo astronauts found that lunar dust can alter the thermal properties of equipment, obscure visors and instrument readouts, degrade seals, and abrade materials.  In addition, it poses a health hazard for astronauts if it is inhaled.  Understanding the charging and dynamics of dust is vital to understanding our universe as well as exploring our solar system.  Numerical modeling of the coupled charging and transport processes allows exploration of environments which can’t be easily reached.  These models must be validated by comparing with experimental measurements.  This talk will provide a brief overview of current capabilities of numerical models and their validation against both ground and space-based experiments.