Potential of electrostatic interaction in a thermal dusty plasma

The potential of electrostatic interaction between particles in a thermal d usty plasma is studied under the assumption that the grains acquire the cha rge mainly through thermal electron emission. It is shown that, under condi tions when a strong nonlinearity of Poisson's equation plays an important r ole (which is characteristic of dusty plasmas), a number of relationships t hat are frequently used to describe this interaction become inapplicable. T aking into account this nonlinearity makes it possible to correctly determi ne the parameter Gamma, which describes the interaction between the grains and is one of the most important characteristics in the physics of dusty pl asmas.