Vortex formation in a strongly coupled dusty plasma flow past an obstacle

A pair of counter-rotating symmetric vortices has been observed in the wake behind a stationary obstacle (dust void) in a flowing dusty plasma. A strongly coupled dusty plasma flow with controllable velocity is generated and directed toward the void in a novel experiment. In the unsteady laminar flow regime, the curl of the fluid flow velocity along the boundary layer of the void generates the vortex pair behind the void. Particle image velocimetry analysis of high speed image data clearly depicts the flow pattern and the vorticities. The shear viscosity of the dusty plasma fluid along with the experimental parameters is considered to obtain the Reynolds number range for the evolution of the vortices. Molecular dynamics simulation is also performed to support the experimental observation.