Electron energy probability function in the temporal afterglow of a dusty plasma

The kinetic description of the electron energy probability function (EEPF) in a dusty afterglow plasma is considered for two typical cases: when the rate of electron-neutral momentum-transfer collisions is independent of the electron energy and when it is a power function of the electron energy. The electron Boltzmann equation is solved using the method of characteristics and analytical expressions for the EEPF are obtained for different initial EEPFs (including both Maxwellian and Druyvesteyn distributions) at electron energies larger than the dust-surface potential. The analytical EEPF functions are then used to analyze several experimental parameter regimes of the dust radius and density, the dust-charge decay time, the afterglow duration, etc. It is also found that absorption of electrons by the dust particles plays an important role in determining the EEPF in a dusty afterglow