In protoplanetary disks, solid objects (so-called planetesimals) are formed from dust.
Micrometre-sized dust grains grow into millimetre-sized aggregates. Once those aggregates …

By rigorously accounting for mesoscale spatial correlations in donor/acceptor surface
properties, we develop a scale-spanning model for same-material tribocharging. We find …

Volcanic eruptions are associated with a wide range of electrostatic effects. Increasing
evidence suggests that high-altitude discharges (lightning) in maturing plumes are driven by …

Collisions electrically charge grains, which promotes growth by coagulation. We present
aggregation experiments with three large ensembles of basalt beads (150–180 μm), two of …

In an earlier work, we found that large metallic iron fractions in dust aggregates and strong
magnetic fields boost preplanetary growth. This sets an initial bias for the formation of …

We introduce collisions of solids as a new and efficient ionization mechanism for gas in
protoplanetary discs, which especially operates in the dense midplane of protoplanetary …

Numerous laboratory experiments, starting in the Viking Lander era, have reported that
frictional interactions between Martian analog dust grains can catalyze electrostatic …

Our ability to observe extraterrestrial lightning is limited by our detection techniques, which
rest mostly on our understanding of terrestrial lightning. However, gas discharge physics …

The early evolution of dust in protoplanetary disks is dominated by sticking collisions.
However, this initial phase of particle growth faces constraints, notably from destructive …

Corona discharges are luminous signs of strong local electric fields allowing a continuous
discharge into the surrounding atmosphere. They commonly occur at the ends of conductors …