Vapour-liquid phase transition in dusty plasmas

The equation of state describing the Coulomb liquids and the vapour-liquid phase transition in dusty plasmas is derived by making a virial expansion in terms of g(-1) = n(d)lambda(D)(3) < 1, where n(d) and lambda(D) are the dust number density and the Dusty plasma Debye length, respectively. The expressions for the latent heat of transition, the Joule cooling of the dust grains and the Boyles temperatures are obtained. Furthermore, a simple model for the one-dimensional dust crystal is constructed and the process of the sublimation of the linear dust chain, melting of the two-dimensional lattices, etc, are briefly discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.