Spontaneous symmetry breaking is an essential feature of modern science. We demonstrate that it also plays an important role in the physics of complex plasmas. Complex plasmas can serve as a powerful tool for observing and studying discrete types of
symmetry and disordering at the kinetic level that numerous many-body systems exhibit.
String theoretical arguments led to the hypothesis that the ratio of viscosity to entropy of any physical system has a lower bound. Strongly coupled systems usually have a small viscosity compared to weakly coupled plasmas in which the viscosity is p
roportional to the mean free path. In the case of a one-component plasma the viscosity as a function of the coupling strength shows a minimum. Here we show that the ratio of viscosity to entropy of a strongly coupled one-component plasma is always above the lower bound predicted by string theory.
