Dispersion properties in a complex plasma with varying size dust population

Summary form only given. Complex plasmas, which consist of micron-sized dust grains immersed in a plasma environment, have been shown to exhibit unusual characteristics that have earned them a place in some papers as the "fifth state of matter." Under the proper conditions, a complex plasma system can form an ordered crystalline state known as a Coulomb or dust crystal. The conditions that lead to this system have been the subject of intense investigation for the past 10-12 years both in the lab and by means of computer modeling. The dynamics of the dust crystal, particularly wave propagation modes such as DIW, DAW and DLW\´s have also been a subject of great interest. This paper reports a theoretical examination (using the BOX/spl I.bar/TREE code) of a two dimensional (2D) plasma crystal formed from a non-monodisperse set of particles with a specific particle size distribution. These results are compared against experiments carried out in a GEC rf reference cell modified for use as a complex plasma system. In both cases, the pair correlation function was determined and then compared to previous studies using monodisperse spheres. The effect of such a dust size distribution on the ordering (liquid and/or crystalline) of a complex plasma was examined as was its impact on phase transitions, the dispersion properties for the recently theorized out of plane or optical (transverse) DLW and other thermodynamic properties.