Dusty plasma expansion with a variable charge in a spherical configuration

The expansion of a dusty plasma into a vacuum with a variable charge is considered self-consistently. Due to the plasma spatial finitude, loss terms are introduced in fluid equations. Particles attachment also imposes that the Boltzmann distribution be relaxed. A nonlinear differential equations system is obtained and solved numerically. A breakdown of the quasineutrality on the front along with a buildup of scale-invariant waves are reported as well. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.