Modulational instability of an electron plasma wave in a dusty plasma

The modulational instability of an electron plasma wave in a homogeneous, unmagnetized, hot, and collisionless dusty plasma has been investigated analytically. The Vlasov equation has been solved perturbatively to find the nonlinear response of the plasma particles with random static distribution of massive and charged dust grains having certain correlation. It is noticed that the growth rate of the modulational instability of the electron plasma wave through a new ultra-low-frequency dust mode is more efficient than that through the usual ion-acoustic mode in the dusty plasma. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.