Dust Cluster Oscillation Spectrum in the Presence of Charge Fluctuations

The mode spectra of small N=3 clusters of dust particles with fluctuating charges are analysed. Building on previous results investigating the influence of charge variance and correlation, efforts were made to quantify these effects on mode spectra via affected mode properties. This allows a more quantitative assessment of results, which is useful particularly as the number of particles in a cluster increases. The effect of charge fluctuation distribution on mode spectra properties for N=3 clusters was also examined using a selection of different probability distributions.