Condensed Plasmas under Microgravity

Experiments under microgravity conditions were carried out to study “condensed” (liquid and crystalline) states of a colloidal plasma (ions, electrons, and charged microspheres). Systems with $\sim {10}^6$ microspheres were produced. The observed systems represent new forms of matter—quasineutral, self-organized plasmas—the properties of which are largely unexplored. In contrast to laboratory measurements, the systems under microgravity are clearly three dimensional (as expected); they exhibit stable vortex flows, sometimes adjacent to crystalline regions, and a central “void,” free of microspheres.