ACCELERATION OF SMALL ASTROPHYSICAL GRAINS DUE TO CHARGE FLUCTUATIONS

We discuss a novel mechanism of dust acceleration which may dominate for particles smaller than similar to 0.1 mu m. The acceleration is caused by their direct electrostatic interactions arising from fluctuations of grain charges. The energy sources for the acceleration are the irreversible plasma processes occurring on the grain surfaces. We show that this mechanism of charge-fluctuation-induced acceleration likely affects the rate of grain coagulation and shattering of the population of small grains.