Temperature dependence of viscosity in a two-dimensional dusty plasma without the effects of shear thinning

Abstract

An experiment was designed to measure viscosity and its temperature dependence in a two-dimensional dusty plasma. To avoid shear thinning while maintaining a uniform temperature, the shear flow and heating were provided separately, using different kinds of laser manipulation. The viscosity was found to be significantly higher than that was reported in three previous experiments most similar to ours, probably due to our avoidance of shear thinning. The viscosity increases linearly with the inverse temperature Γ, as predicted by simulations for a liquid-like strongly coupled plasma at low temperatures.