Design Criteria for the Magnetized Dusty Plasma eXperiment

This paper discusses the design of the new Magnetized Dusty Plasma eXperiment (MDPX) device that is currently under construction at Auburn University. This device, which is envisioned to be operated as a multiuser facility, has incorporated many of the features of current dusty plasma experiments that make use of strong magnetic fields while adding new features-such as an extended plasma volume, programmable linear magnetic field gradients, and variable magnetic field geometries-that will greatly extend the operating space of the new device. This paper discusses the physics criteria used to define the operating parameters of the MDPX device and presents a discussion of the initial configuration of the experiment.