Polarization charge effects on ion-dust grain collisions in presence of ion drift

Abstract

The nonuniform polarization charging effects due to the ion flow on the ion-dust elastic collision process is investigated in the presence of ion drift. The Born analysis is considered to obtain the scattering amplitude and cross section as a function of the momentum transfer, Mach number, and Debye length. The result shows that the nonuniform charging effects significantly enhance the differential scattering cross section for backward-scattering directions. It is also found that the nonuniform charging effects are significant for large momentum transfers. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.