Radial transport in the Elmo Bumpy Torus in collisionless electron regimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, E.F.; Hedrick, C.L.; Spong, D.A.

1979-01-01

One important area of disagreement between radial transport theory and the ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT) experiment has been the degree of collisionality of the toroidal plasma electrons. Experiment shows relatively warm electrons (kTsub(e) approximately 300-600eV) and collisionless scaling, i.e. energy confinement increasing with temperature. But results of early one-dimensional (1-D), neoclassical transport models with radially inward pointing electric fields are limited to relatively cool electrons (kTsub(e) approximately 100-200eV) and collisional scaling. In this paper these early results are extended to include lowest-order effects of ion diffusion in regions where poloidal drift frequencies are small. The effects of direct, or non-diffusive, losses in such regions are neglected along with the effects of finite radial electric fields on electron transport coefficients and of self-consistent poloidal electric fields on ion transport coefficients. Results show that solutions in the collisionless electron regime do exist. Furthermore, when the effects of finite electron ring beta on magnetic fields near the plasma edge are included, these solutions occur at power levels consistent with experiment. (author)

An Introduction to the Physics of Collisionless Shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, C.T.

2005-01-01

Collisionless shocks are important in astrophysical, heliospheric and magnetospheric settings. They deflect flows around obstacles; they heat the plasma, and they alter the properties of the flow as it intersects those obstacles. The physical processes occurring at collisionless shocks depend on the Mach number (strength) and beta (magnetic to thermal pressure) of the shocks and the direction of the magnetic field relative to the shock normal. Herein we review how the shock has been modeled in numerical simulations, the basic physical processes at work, including dissipation and thermalization, the electric potential drop at the shock, and the formation of the electron and ion foreshocks

Zonal flow generation in collisionless trapped electron mode turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, J; Nordman, H; Singh, R; Weiland, J

2006-01-01

In the present work the generation of zonal flows in collisionless trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence is studied analytically. A reduced model for TEM turbulence is utilized based on an advanced fluid model for reactive drift waves. An analytical expression for the zonal flow growth rate is derived and compared with the linear TEM growth, and its scaling with plasma parameters is examined for typical tokamak parameter values

Electron cyclotron heating (ECH) of tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshino, Katsumichi

1990-01-01

Electron cyclotron heating (ECH) is one of the intense methods of plasma heating, and which utilizes the collisionless electron-cyclotron-resonance-interaction between the launched electromagnetic waves (called electron cyclotron waves) and electrons which are one of the constituents of the high temperature plasmas. Another constituent, namely the ions which are subject to nuclear fusion, are heated indirectly but strongly and instantly (in about 0.1 s) by the collisions with the ECH-heated electrons in the fusion plasmas. The recent progress on the development of high-power and high-frequency millimeter-wave-source enabled the ECH experiments in the middle size tokamaks such as JFT-2M (Japan), Doublet III (USA), T-10 (USSR) etc., and ECH has been demonstrated to be the sure and intense plasma heating method. The ECH attracts much attention for its remarkable capabilities; to produce plasmas (pre-ionization), to heat plasmas, to drive plasma current for the plasma confinement, and recently especially by the localization and the spatial controllability of its heating zone, which is beneficial for the fine controls of the profiles of plasma parameters (temperature, current density etc.), for the control of the magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, or for the optimization/improvement of the plasma confinement characteristics. Here, the present status of the ECH studies on tokamak plasmas are reviewed. (author)

Collisionless kinetic-fluid model of zonal flows in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugama, H.; Watanabe, T.-H.; Horton, W.

2006-12-01

A novel kinetic-fluid model is presented, which describes collisionless time evolution of zonal flows in tokamaks. In the new zonal-flow closure relations, the parallel heat fluxes are written by the sum of short- and long-time-evolution parts. The former part is given in the dissipative form of the parallel heat diffusion and relates to collisionless damping processes. The latter is derived from the long-time-averaged gyrocenter distribution and plays a major role in describing low-frequency or stationary zonal flows, for which the parallel heat fluxes are expressed in terms of the parallel flow as well as the nonlinear-source and initial-condition terms. It is shown analytically and numerically that, when applied to the zonal flow driven by either ion or electron temperature gradient turbulence, the kinetic-fluid equations including the new closure relations can reproduce the same long-time zonal-flow responses to the initial condition and to the turbulence source as those obtained from the gyrokinetic model. (author)

Numerical simulations of energy transfer in two collisionless interpenetrating plasmas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davis S.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Ion stream instabilities are essential for collisionless shock formation as seen in astrophysics. Weakly relativistic shocks are considered as candidates for sources of high energy cosmic rays. Laboratory experiments may provide a better understanding of this phenomenon. High intensity short pulse laser systems are opening possibilities for efficient ion acceleration to high energies. Their collision with a secondary target could be used for collisionless shock formation. In this paper, using particle-in-cell simulations we are studying interaction of a sub-relativistic, laser created proton beam with a secondary gas target. We show that the ion bunch initiates strong electron heating accompanied by the Weibel-like filamentation and ion energy losses. The energy repartition between ions, electrons and magnetic fields are investigated. This yields insight on the processes occurring in the interstellar medium (ISM and gamma-ray burst afterglows.

Electron velocity distributions near collisionless shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, W.C.

1984-01-01

Recent studies of the amount of electron heating and of the shapes of electron velocity distributions across shocks near the earth are reviewed. It is found that electron heating increases with increasing shock strength but is always less than the ion heating. The scale length of electron heating is also less than that for the ions. Electron velocity distributions show characteristic shapes which depend on the strength of the shocks. At the weaker shocks, electron heating is mostly perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field, bar B, and results in Gaussian-shaped velocity distributions at low-to-moderate energies. At the stronger shocks, parallel heating predominates resulting in flat-topped velocity distributions. A reasonable interpretation of these results indicates that at the weaker shocks electron heating is dominated by a tendency toward conservation of the magnetic moment. At the stronger fast-mode shocks, this heating is thought to be dominated by an acceleration parallel to bar B produced by the macroscopic shock electric field followed by beam driven plasma instabilities. Some contribution to the heating at the stronger shocks from conservation of the magnetic moment and cross-field current-driven instabilities cannot be ruled out. Although the heating at slow-mode shocks is also dominated by instabilities driven by magnetic field-aligned electron beams, their acceleration mechanism is not yet established

Reversible electron heating vs. wave-particle interactions in quasi-perpendicular shocks

Science.gov (United States)

Veltri, P.; Mangeney, A.; Scudder, J. D.

1992-01-01

The energy necessary to explain the electron heating in quasi-perpendicular collisionless shocks can be derived either from the electron acceleration in the d.c. cross shock electric potential, or by the interactions between the electrons and the waves existing in the shock. A Monte Carlo simulation has been performed to study the electron distribution function evolution through the shock structure, with and without particle diffusion on waves. This simulation has allowed us to clarify the relative importance of the two possible energy sources; in particular it has been shown that the electron parallel temperature is determined by the d.c. electromagnetic field and not by any wave-particle-induced heating. Wave particle interactions are effective in smoothing out the large gradients in phase space produced by the 'reversible' motion of the electrons, thus producing a 'cooling' of the electrons.

Comparison of collisionless macroscopic models and application to the ion-electron instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahedo, E.; Lapuerta, V.

2001-01-01

In a first part, different macroscopic models of linear Landau damping are compared using a concise one-dimensional (1-D) collisionless formulation. The three-moment model of Chang and Callen (CC) [Phys. Fluids B 4, 1167 (1992)] with two closure relations (complex in the Fourier space) for the viscous stress and the heat conduction is found to be equivalent to the two-moment model of Stubbe-Sukhorukov (SS) [Phys. Plasmas 6, 2976 (1999)], which uses a single (complex) closure relation for the pressure. The comparison of the respective closure relations favors clearly the SS pressure law, which associates an anomalous resistivity to the Landau damping. In a second part, a macroscopic interpretation, with the SS model, of the ion-electron instability shows its resistive character for low and intermediate drift velocities, and the transition to the reactive Buneman limit. The pressure law for the electrons is found to verify a simple law, whereas approximate laws are discussed for the ion pressure. These laws are used to close a macroscopic model for stability analyses of nonhomogeneous plasma structures, where SS and CC models are not applicable easily

Electron heating mode transition induced by mixing radio frequency and ultrahigh frequency dual frequency powers in capacitive discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahu, B. B.; Han, Jeon G.

2016-01-01

Electron heating mode transitions induced by mixing the low- and high-frequency power in dual-frequency nitrogen discharges at 400 mTorr pressure are presented. As the low-frequency (13.56 MHz) power decreases and high-frequency (320 MHz) power increases for the fixed power of 200 W, there is a transition of electron energy distribution function (EEDF) from Druyvesteyn to bi-Maxwellian type characterized by a distinguished warm electron population. It is shown that this EEDF evolution is attributed to the transition from collisional to collisionless stochastic heating of the low-energy electrons.

Electron and ion heating by whistler turbulence: Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, R. Scott; Gary, S. Peter; Wang, Joseph

2014-01-01

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of decaying whistler turbulence are carried out on a collisionless, homogeneous, magnetized, electron-ion plasma model. In addition, the simulations use an initial ensemble of relatively long wavelength whistler modes with a broad range of initial propagation directions with an initial electron beta β e = 0.05. The computations follow the temporal evolution of the fluctuations as they cascade into broadband turbulent spectra at shorter wavelengths. Three simulations correspond to successively larger simulation boxes and successively longer wavelengths of the initial fluctuations. The computations confirm previous results showing electron heating is preferentially parallel to the background magnetic field B o , and ion heating is preferentially perpendicular to B o . The new results here are that larger simulation boxes and longer initial whistler wavelengths yield weaker overall dissipation, consistent with linear dispersion theory predictions of decreased damping, stronger ion heating, consistent with a stronger ion Landau resonance, and weaker electron heating

THE EFFECT OF LARGE-SCALE MAGNETIC TURBULENCE ON THE ACCELERATION OF ELECTRONS BY PERPENDICULAR COLLISIONLESS SHOCKS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Fan; Giacalone, Joe

2010-01-01

We study the physics of electron acceleration at collisionless shocks that move through a plasma containing large-scale magnetic fluctuations. We numerically integrate the trajectories of a large number of electrons, which are treated as test particles moving in the time-dependent electric and magnetic fields determined from two-dimensional hybrid simulations (kinetic ions and fluid electron). The large-scale magnetic fluctuations effect the electrons in a number of ways and lead to efficient and rapid energization at the shock front. Since the electrons mainly follow along magnetic lines of force, the large-scale braiding of field lines in space allows the fast-moving electrons to cross the shock front several times, leading to efficient acceleration. Ripples in the shock front occurring at various scales will also contribute to the acceleration by mirroring the electrons. Our calculation shows that this process favors electron acceleration at perpendicular shocks. The current study is also helpful in understanding the injection problem for electron acceleration by collisionless shocks. It is also shown that the spatial distribution of energetic electrons is similar to in situ observations. The process may be important to our understanding of energetic electrons in planetary bow shocks and interplanetary shocks, and explaining herringbone structures seen in some type II solar radio bursts.

The inversion layer of electric fields and electron phase-space-hole structure during two-dimensional collisionless magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Lijen; Lefebvre, Bertrand; Torbert, Roy B.; Daughton, William S.

2011-01-01

Based on two-dimensional fully kinetic simulations that resolve the electron diffusion layer in undriven collisionless magnetic reconnection with zero guide field, this paper reports the existence and evolution of an inversion layer of bipolar electric fields, its corresponding phase-space structure (an electron-hole layer), and the implication to collisionless dissipation. The inversion electric field layer is embedded in the layer of bipolar Hall electric field and extends throughout the entire length of the electron diffusion layer. The electron phase-space hole structure spontaneously arises during the explosive growth phase when there exist significant inflows into the reconnection layer, and electrons perform meandering orbits across the layer while being cyclotron-turned toward the outflow directions. The cyclotron turning of meandering electrons by the magnetic field normal to the reconnection layer is shown to be a primary factor limiting the current density in the region where the reconnection electric field is balanced by the gradient (along the current sheet normal) of the off-diagonal electron pressure-tensor.

Laser plasma physics in shock ignition – transition from collisional to collisionless absorption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klimo O.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Shock Ignition is considered as a relatively robust and efficient approach to inertial confinement fusion. A strong converging shock, which is used to ignite the fuel, is launched by a high power laser pulse with intensity in the range of 1015 − 1016 W/cm2 (at the wavelength of 351 nm. In the lower end of this intensity range the interaction is dominated by collisions while the parametric instabilities are playing a secondary role. This is manifested in a relatively weak reflectivity and efficient electron heating. The interaction is dominated by collective effects at the upper edge of the intensity range. The stimulated Brillouin and Raman scattering (SBS and SRS respectively take place in a less dense plasma and cavitation provides an efficient collisionless absorption mechanism. The transition from collisional to collisionless absorption in laser plasma interactions at higher intensities is studied here with the help of large scale one-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (PIC simulations. The relation between the collisional and collisionless processes is manifested in the energy spectrum of electrons transporting the absorbed laser energy and in the spectrum of the reflected laser light.

Nonlocal collisionless and collisional electron transport in low temperature plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Kaganovich, Igor

2009-10-01

The purpose of the talk is to describe recent advances in nonlocal electron kinetics in low-pressure plasmas. A distinctive property of partially ionized plasmas is that such plasmas are always in a non-equilibrium state: the electrons are not in thermal equilibrium with the neutral species and ions, and the electrons are also not in thermodynamic equilibrium within their own ensemble, which results in a significant departure of the electron velocity distribution function from a Maxwellian. These non-equilibrium conditions provide considerable freedom to choose optimal plasma parameters for applications, which make gas discharge plasmas remarkable tools for a variety of plasma applications, including plasma processing, discharge lighting, plasma propulsion, particle beam sources, and nanotechnology. Typical phenomena in such discharges include nonlocal electron kinetics, nonlocal electrodynamics with collisionless electron heating, and nonlinear processes in the sheaths and in the bounded plasmas. Significant progress in understanding the interaction of electromagnetic fields with real bounded plasma created by this field and the resulting changes in the structure of the applied electromagnetic field has been one of the major achievements of the last decade in this area of research [1-3]. We show on specific examples that this progress was made possible by synergy between full scale particle-in-cell simulations, analytical models, and experiments. In collaboration with Y. Raitses, A.V. Khrabrov, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, USA; V.I. Demidov, UES, Inc., 4401 Dayton-Xenia Rd., Beavercreek, OH 45322, USA and AFRL, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433, USA; and D. Sydorenko, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. [4pt] [1] D. Sydorenko, A. Smolyakov, I. Kaganovich, and Y. Raitses, IEEE Trans. Plasma Science 34, 895 (2006); Phys. Plasmas 13, 014501 (2006); 14 013508 (2007); 15, 053506 (2008). [0pt] [2] I. D. Kaganovich, Y. Raitses, D. Sydorenko, and

Effects of radial envelope modulations on the collisionless trapped-electron mode in tokamak plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hao-Tian; Chen, Liu

2018-05-01

Adopting the ballooning-mode representation and including the effects of radial envelope modulations, we have derived the corresponding linear eigenmode equation for the collisionless trapped-electron mode in tokamak plasmas. Numerical solutions of the eigenmode equation indicate that finite radial envelope modulations can affect the linear stability properties both quantitatively and qualitatively via the significant modifications in the corresponding eigenmode structures.

Heat Flux Inhibition by Whistlers: Experimental Confirmation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eichler, D.

2002-01-01

Heat flux in weakly magnetized collisionless plasma is, according to theoretical predictions, limited by whistler turbulence that is generated by heat flux instabilities near threshold. Observations of solar wind electrons by Gary and coworkers appear to confirm the limit on heat flux as being roughly the product of the magnetic energy density and the electron thermal velocity, in agreement with prediction (Pistinner and Eichler 1998)

Shearing Box Simulations of the MRI in a Collisionless Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Prateek; Hammett, Gregory W.; Quataert, Eliot; Stone, James M.

2005-01-01

We describe local shearing box simulations of turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in a collisionless plasma. Collisionless effects may be important in radiatively inefficient accretion flows, such as near the black hole in the Galactic Center. The MHD version of ZEUS is modified to evolve an anisotropic pressure tensor. A fluid closure approximation is used to calculate heat conduction along magnetic field lines. The anisotropic pressure tensor provides a qualitatively new mechanism for transporting angular momentum in accretion flows (in addition to the Maxwell and Reynolds stresses). We estimate limits on the pressure anisotropy due to pitch angle scattering by kinetic instabilities. Such instabilities provide an effective ''collision'' rate in a collisionless plasma and lead to more MHD-like dynamics. We find that the MRI leads to efficient growth of the magnetic field in a collisionless plasma, with saturation amplitudes comparable to those in MHD. In the saturated state, the anisotropic stress is comparable to the Maxwell stress, implying that the rate of angular momentum transport may be moderately enhanced in a collisionless plasma

Collisionless shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sagdeev, R.Z.; Kennel, C.F.

1991-01-01

Collisionless shocks cannot occur naturally on the earth, because nearly all matter here consists of electrically neutral atoms and molecules. In space, however, high temperatures and ultraviolet radiation from hot stars decompose atoms into their constituent nuclei and electrons, producing a soup of electrically charged particles known as a plasma. Plasma physicists proposed that the collective electrical and magnetic properties of plasmas could produce interactions that take the place of collisions and permit shocks to form. In 1964 the theoretical work found its first experimental confirmation. Norman F. Ness and his colleagues at the Goddard Space Flight Center, using data collected from the iMP-1 spacecraft, detected clear signs that a collisionless shock exists where the solar wind encounters the earth's magnetic field. More recent research has demonstrated that collisionless shocks appear in a dazzling array of astronomical settings. For example, shocks have been found in the solar wind upstream (sunward) of all the planet and comets that have been visited by spacecraft. Violent flares on the sun generate shocks that propagate to the far reaches of the solar system; tremendous galactic outbursts create disruptions in the intergalactic medium that are trillions of times larger. In addition, many astrophysicists think that shocks from supernova explosions in our galaxy accelerate cosmic rays, a class of extraordinarily energetic elementary particles and atomic nuclei that rain down on the earth from all directions

A new fast reconnection model in a collisionless regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsiklauri, David

2008-01-01

Based on the first principles [i.e., (i) by balancing the magnetic field advection with the term containing electron pressure tensor nongyrotropic components in the generalized Ohm's law; (ii) using the conservation of mass; and (iii) assuming that the weak magnetic field region width, where electron meandering motion supports electron pressure tensor off-diagonal (nongyrotropic) components, is of the order of electron Larmor radius] a simple model of magnetic reconnection in a collisionless regime is formulated. The model is general, resembling its collisional Sweet-Parker analog in that it is not specific to any initial configuration, e.g., Harris-type tearing unstable current sheet, X-point collapse or otherwise. In addition to its importance from the fundamental point of view, the collisionless reconnection model offers a much faster reconnection rate [M c ' less =(c/ω pe ) 2 /(r L,e L)] than Sweet-Parker's classical one (M sp =S -1/2 ). The width of the diffusion region (current sheet) in the collisionless regime is found to be δ c ' less =(c/ω pe ) 2 /r L,e , which is independent of the global reconnection scale L and is only prescribed by microphysics (electron inertial length, c/ω pe , and electron Larmor radius, r L,e ). Amongst other issues, the fastness of the reconnection rate alleviates, e.g., the problem of interpretation of solar flares by means of reconnection, as for the typical solar coronal parameters the obtained collisionless reconnection time can be a few minutes, as opposed to Sweet-Parker's equivalent value of less than a day. The new theoretical reconnection rate is compared to the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment device experimental data by Yamada et al. [Phys. Plasmas 13, 052119 (2006)] and Ji et al. [Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, 13106 (2008)], and a good agreement is obtained.

Study on intense relativistic electron beam propagation in a low density collisionless plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korenev, S.A.; Rubin, N.B.; Khodataev, K.V.

1982-01-01

The results of investigations into the increase in effectivity of transport of an intensive relativistic electron beam (IREB) in a collisionless plasma of low density are presented. The electron beam with the current of 1.5 kA, energy of 300 keV, radius of 1.5 cm is in ected into a plasma channel 180 cm long which is a metallic cylinder covered with a biniplast layer from inside 0.5 cm thickness on which there is a metallic net from the vacuum side. Plasma production is carried out during the supply of voltage pulse to the net. A condition of the optimum IREB distribution is found. It is sohwn that self-focusing IREB transport in plasma of low density can be effective if equilibrium conditions are carried out in plasma with the concentration of electrons less (or equal) to the concentration of electrons in a beam

Kinetic electron model for plasma thruster plumes

Science.gov (United States)

Merino, Mario; Mauriño, Javier; Ahedo, Eduardo

2018-03-01

A paraxial model of an unmagnetized, collisionless plasma plume expanding into vacuum is presented. Electrons are treated kinetically, relying on the adiabatic invariance of their radial action integral for the integration of Vlasov's equation, whereas ions are treated as a cold species. The quasi-2D plasma density, self-consistent electric potential, and electron pressure, temperature, and heat fluxes are analyzed. In particular, the model yields the collisionless cooling of electrons, which differs from the Boltzmann relation and the simple polytropic laws usually employed in fluid and hybrid PIC/fluid plume codes.

Collisionless plasmas in astrophysics

CERN Document Server

Belmont, Gerard; Mottez, Fabrice; Pantellini, Filippo; Pelletier, Guy

2013-01-01

Collisionless Plasmas in Astrophysics examines the unique properties of media without collisions in plasma physics. Experts in this field, the authors present the first book to concentrate on collisionless conditions in plasmas, whether close or not to thermal equilibrium. Filling a void in scientific literature, Collisionless Plasmas in Astrophysics explains the possibilities of modeling such plasmas, using a fluid or a kinetic framework. It also addresses common misconceptions that even professionals may possess, on phenomena such as "collisionless (Landau) damping". Abundant illustrations

Non-thermal particle acceleration in collisionless relativistic electron-proton reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, G. R.; Uzdensky, D. A.; Begelman, M. C.; Cerutti, B.; Nalewajko, K.

2018-02-01

Magnetic reconnection in relativistic collisionless plasmas can accelerate particles and power high-energy emission in various astrophysical systems. Whereas most previous studies focused on relativistic reconnection in pair plasmas, less attention has been paid to electron-ion plasma reconnection, expected in black hole accretion flows and relativistic jets. We report a comprehensive particle-in-cell numerical investigation of reconnection in an electron-ion plasma, spanning a wide range of ambient ion magnetizations σi, from the semirelativistic regime (ultrarelativistic electrons but non-relativistic ions, 10-3 ≪ σi ≪ 1) to the fully relativistic regime (both species are ultrarelativistic, σi ≫ 1). We investigate how the reconnection rate, electron and ion plasma flows, electric and magnetic field structures, electron/ion energy partitioning, and non-thermal particle acceleration depend on σi. Our key findings are: (1) the reconnection rate is about 0.1 of the Alfvénic rate across all regimes; (2) electrons can form concentrated moderately relativistic outflows even in the semirelativistic, small-σi regime; (3) while the released magnetic energy is partitioned equally between electrons and ions in the ultrarelativistic limit, the electron energy fraction declines gradually with decreased σi and asymptotes to about 0.25 in the semirelativistic regime; and (4) reconnection leads to efficient non-thermal electron acceleration with a σi-dependent power-law index, p(σ _i)˜eq const+0.7σ _i^{-1/2}. These findings are important for understanding black hole systems and lend support to semirelativistic reconnection models for powering non-thermal emission in blazar jets, offering a natural explanation for the spectral indices observed in these systems.

Electron cooling and finite potential drop in a magnetized plasma expansion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez-Sanchez, M. [Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Navarro-Cavallé, J. [Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Aeronáutica y del Espacio, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Plaza Cardenal Cisneros 3, Madrid 28040 (Spain); Ahedo, E. [Departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. Universidad 30, Leganés 28911, Madrid (Spain)

2015-05-15

The steady, collisionless, slender flow of a magnetized plasma into a surrounding vacuum is considered. The ion component is modeled as mono-energetic, while electrons are assumed Maxwellian upstream. The magnetic field has a convergent-divergent geometry, and attention is restricted to its paraxial region, so that 2D and drift effects are ignored. By using the conservation of energy and magnetic moment of particles and the quasi-neutrality condition, the ambipolar electric field and the distribution functions of both species are calculated self-consistently, paying attention to the existence of effective potential barriers associated to magnetic mirroring. The solution is used to find the total potential drop for a set of upstream conditions, plus the axial evolution of various moments of interest (density, temperatures, and heat fluxes). The results illuminate the behavior of magnetic nozzles, plasma jets, and other configurations of interest, showing, in particular, in the divergent plasma the collisionless cooling of electrons, and the generation of collisionless electron heat fluxes.

Collisionless emission of radiation by an inhomogeneous plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mejerovich, B.Eh.

1976-01-01

Collisionless emission of radiation by an inhomogeneous plasma due to the finite motion of charges in the field of external forces and collective interaction forces is studied. The intensity of the radiation is inversely proportional to the square of the transverse dimensions of the plasma. It apparently makes the main contribution to the radiation from a vacuum spark and other relativitstic beams compressed to a small size by collective interaction forces. The intensity of the collisionless radiation is calculated by taking into account Fermi statistics of the electrons. The spectral radiance in the low frequency range increases with frequency, reaches a maximum at the frequency of the finite motion of the emitters and then decreases. Measurement of collisionless radiation emission by a plasma compressed to a small size by the pinch effect is a natural way of diagnosing the plasma

The generalized Ohm's law in collisionless magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, H.J.; Lee, L.C.

1997-01-01

The generalized Ohm close-quote s law and the force balance near neutral lines in collisionless magnetic reconnection is studied based on two-dimensional full particle simulations in which the ion endash electron mass ratio is set to be 1836. The off-diagonal elements of a plasma pressure tensor are found to be responsible for the breakdown of the frozen-in condition in collisionless reconnection. While the off-diagonal elements of the electron pressure tensor are dominant terms in the generalized Ohm close-quote s law near neutral lines, the ion off-diagonal pressure terms are of significant importance when ions are main current carriers. The spatial scale of electron off-diagonal pressure term P xy (e) is also found to be proportional to the Dungey length scale, (m e E y /eβ 2 ) 1/3 , where β=∂B z /∂x. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

Plasma confinement in self-consistent, one-dimensional transport equilibria in the collisionless-ion regime of EBT operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.S.; Miller, R.L.

1983-01-01

It has long been recognized that if an EBT-confined plasma could be maintained in the collisionless-ion regime, characterized by positive ambipolar potential and positive radial electric field, the particle loss rates could be reduced by a large factor. The extent to which the loss rate of energy could be reduced has not been as clearly determined, and has been investigated recently using a one-dimensional, time-dependent transport code developed for this purpose. We find that the energy confinement can be improved by roughly an order of magnitude by maintaining a positive radial electric field that increases monotonically with radius, giving a large ExB drift near the outer edge of the core plasma. The radial profiles of heat deposition required to sustain these equilibria will be presented, and scenarios for obtaining dynamical access to the equilibria will be discussed

Collisionless electrostatic shocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, H.K.; Andersen, S.A.; Jensen, Vagn Orla

1970-01-01

An attempt was made in the laboratory to observe the standing collisionless electrostatic shocks in connection with the bow shock of the earth......An attempt was made in the laboratory to observe the standing collisionless electrostatic shocks in connection with the bow shock of the earth...

Limits on the streaming and escape of electrons in thermal models for solar hard X-ray emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.F.; Brown, J.C.

1980-01-01

Upper limits on the number of fast electrons streaming through and escaping from a plasma whose electrons have been heated to approx.10 8 K and confined by a collisionless ion-acoustic thermal conduction front are determined. It is shown that such a front is fairly transparent to fast electrons with velocities much larger than the thermal velocity because the anisotropic ion-acoustic waves cannot scatter them, making them collisionless on a scale much larger than the thickness of the front. The collisionless analog of the collisional thermoelectric field is derived self-consistently and shown to offer a significant impediment to fast electrons because they must climb over a large potential barrier than in the collisional case. The only factors limiting the escape of electrons able to surmount this barrier are their rate of production and the requirement that they carry less heat flux than the maximum heat flux allowable. The rate of production is determined for the case of a Maxwellian whose tail is being filled collisionally. Requirements for the stability of these electrons in the hot source plasma and conduction front are given. Methods of refining these limits are discussed

Anomalous particle pinch for collisionless plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terry, P.W.

1989-01-01

The particle transport arising from the convection of nonadiabatic electron density by ion temperature gradient driven turbulence is examined when trapped electrons collide less often than a bounce period. In the lower temperature end of this regime, trapped electrons are collisional and the particle flux is outward (in the direction of the gradients). When the trapped electrons are collisionless, there is a temperature threshold above which the electron temperature gradient driven particle flux changes sign and becomes inward. The magnitude of the nonadiabatic electron contribution to the growth rate is found to be potentially of the same order as the ion contribution. 11 refs

Collisionless magnetic reconnection associated with coalescence of flux bundles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Motohiko.

1994-11-01

The basic process of collisionless reconnection is studied in terms of coalescence of magnetized flux bundles using an implicit particle simulation of two-dimensions. The toroidal electric field that directly relates to magnetic reconnection is generated solenoidally in a region much broader than the current sheet whose width is a few electron skin depths. The reconnected flux increases linearly in time, but it is insensitive to finite Larmor radii of the ions in this Sweet-Parker regime. The toroidal electric field is controlled by a balance of transit acceleration of finite-mass electrons and their removal by sub-Alfvenic E x B drift outflow. The simulation results supports the collisionless Ohm's law E t ≅η eq J t with η eq the inertia resistivity. (author)

Study on the intense relativistic electron beam propagation in a collisionless plasma of small density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korenev, S.A.; Rubin, N.B.; Khodataev, K.V.

1982-01-01

The results of the experimental studies of the intense relativistic electron beam (IREB) propagation with ν/γ approximately 0.1, and γ approximately 1.6 (γ is an electron beam relativistic factor) in a collisionless plasma of small density over the 180 cm length are presented. Plasma is generated with the incomplete discharge over dielectric surface at the residual gas pressure of P approximately 10 -5 Torr. It is shown that the transportation efficiency may be essentially high, if the electron concentration in plasma satisfies the equilibrium conditions and if it is less or equal to the electron concentration in a beam. At concentration less than optimum one, the transportation efficiency decreases due to violations of equilibrium conditions. At high concentration the transportation efficiency also decreased due to the scattering and breaking on excited small-scale and plasma oscillations. The IREB propagation occurs without essential time delay under optimum conditions

Gyrokinetic Electron and Fully Kinetic Ion Particle Simulation of Collisionless Plasma Dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu Lin; Xueyi Wang; Liu Chen; Zhihong Lin

2009-08-11

Fully kinetic-particle simulations and hybrid simulations have been utilized for decades to investigate various fundamental plasma processes, such as magnetic reconnection, fast compressional waves, and wave-particle interaction. Nevertheless, due to disparate temporal and spatial scales between electrons and ions, existing fully kinetic-particle codes have to employ either unrealistically high electron-to-ion mass ratio, me/mi, or simulation domain limited to a few or a few ten's of the ion Larmor radii, or/and time much less than the global Alfven time scale in order to accommodate available computing resources. On the other hand, in the hybrid simulation, the ions are treated as fully kinetic particles but the electrons are treated as a massless fluid. The electron kinetic effects, e.g., wave-particle resonances and finite electron Larmor radius effects, are completely missing. Important physics, such as the electron transit time damping of fast compressional waves or the triggering mechanism of magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas is absent in the hybrid codes. Motivated by these considerations and noting that dynamics of interest to us has frequencies lower than the electron gyrofrequency, we planned to develop an innovative particle simulation model, gyrokinetic (GK) electrons and fully kinetic (FK) ions. In the GK-electron and FK-ion (GKe/FKi) particle simulation model, the rapid electron cyclotron motion is removed, while keeping finite electron Larmor radii, realistic me/mi ratio, wave-particle interactions, and off-diagonal components of electron pressure tensor. The computation power can thus be significantly improved over that of the full-particle codes. As planned in the project DE-FG02-05ER54826, we have finished the development of the new GK-electron and FK-ion scheme, finished its benchmark for a uniform plasma in 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D systems against linear waves obtained from analytical theories, and carried out a further convergence

Gyrokinetic Electron and Fully Kinetic Ion Particle Simulation of Collisionless Plasma Dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Yu; Wang, Xueyi; Chen, Liu; Lin, Zhihong

2009-01-01

Fully kinetic-particle simulations and hybrid simulations have been utilized for decades to investigate various fundamental plasma processes, such as magnetic reconnection, fast compressional waves, and wave-particle interaction. Nevertheless, due to disparate temporal and spatial scales between electrons and ions, existing fully kinetic-particle codes have to employ either unrealistically high electron-to-ion mass ratio, me/mi, or simulation domain limited to a few or a few ten's of the ion Larmor radii, or/and time much less than the global Alfven time scale in order to accommodate available computing resources. On the other hand, in the hybrid simulation, the ions are treated as fully kinetic particles but the electrons are treated as a massless fluid. The electron kinetic effects, e.g., wave-particle resonances and finite electron Larmor radius effects, are completely missing. Important physics, such as the electron transit time damping of fast compressional waves or the triggering mechanism of magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas is absent in the hybrid codes. Motivated by these considerations and noting that dynamics of interest to us has frequencies lower than the electron gyrofrequency, we planned to develop an innovative particle simulation model, gyrokinetic (GK) electrons and fully kinetic (FK) ions. In the GK-electron and FK-ion (GKe/FKi) particle simulation model, the rapid electron cyclotron motion is removed, while keeping finite electron Larmor radii, realistic me/mi ratio, wave-particle interactions, and off-diagonal components of electron pressure tensor. The computation power can thus be significantly improved over that of the full-particle codes. As planned in the project DE-FG02-05ER54826, we have finished the development of the new GK-electron and FK-ion scheme, finished its benchmark for a uniform plasma in 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D systems against linear waves obtained from analytical theories, and carried out a further convergence test

Collisionless sausage instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coppins, M.

1989-01-01

The Chew--Goldberger--Low (CGL) double adiabatic model [Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. A 236, 112 (1956)] is used to study the linear m = 0 (sausage) mode in a Z pinch operating in the collisionless, small ion Larmor radius regime. The model is valid in this case since the parallel heat flow is identically zero. A necessary and sufficient condition for stability, applicable to arbitrary (anisotropic) Z-pinch equilibria, is derived and the eigenvalue equation is solved for two classes of isotropic equilibria. Growth rates are shown to be lower than those of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). It is found that, in contrast to ideal MHD, the CGL eigenfunctions are characterized by an unperturbed inner region

Collisionless damping of nonlinear dust ion acoustic wave due to dust charge fluctuation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Samiran; Chaudhuri, Tushar K.; Sarkar, Susmita; Khan, Manoranjan; Gupta, M.R.

2002-01-01

A dissipation mechanism for the damping of the nonlinear dust ion acoustic wave in a collisionless dusty plasma consisting of nonthermal electrons, ions, and variable charge dust grains has been investigated. It is shown that the collisionless damping due to dust charge fluctuation causes the nonlinear dust ion acoustic wave propagation to be described by the damped Korteweg-de Vries equation. Due to the presence of nonthermal electrons, the dust ion acoustic wave admits both positive and negative potential and it suffers less damping than the dust acoustic wave, which admits only negative potential

Comparison of multi-fluid moment models with particle-in-cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Liang; Germaschewski, K.; Hakim, Ammar H.; Bhattacharjee, A.

2015-01-01

We introduce an extensible multi-fluid moment model in the context of collisionless magnetic reconnection. This model evolves full Maxwell equations and simultaneously moments of the Vlasov-Maxwell equation for each species in the plasma. Effects like electron inertia and pressure gradient are self-consistently embedded in the resulting multi-fluid moment equations, without the need to explicitly solving a generalized Ohm's law. Two limits of the multi-fluid moment model are discussed, namely, the five-moment limit that evolves a scalar pressures for each species and the ten-moment limit that evolves the full anisotropic, non-gyrotropic pressure tensor for each species. We first demonstrate analytically and numerically that the five-moment model reduces to the widely used Hall magnetohydrodynamics (Hall MHD) model under the assumptions of vanishing electron inertia, infinite speed of light, and quasi-neutrality. Then, we compare ten-moment and fully kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of a large scale Harris sheet reconnection problem, where the ten-moment equations are closed with a local linear collisionless approximation for the heat flux. The ten-moment simulation gives reasonable agreement with the PIC results regarding the structures and magnitudes of the electron flows, the polarities and magnitudes of elements of the electron pressure tensor, and the decomposition of the generalized Ohm's law. Possible ways to improve the simple local closure towards a nonlocal fully three-dimensional closure are also discussed

Self-reinforcing process of the reconnection electric field in the electron diffusion region and onset of collisionless magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Quanming; Lu San; Huang Can; Wu Mingyu; Wang Shui

2013-01-01

The onset of collisionless magnetic reconnection is considered to be controlled by electron dynamics in the electron diffusion region, where the reconnection electric field is balanced mainly by the off-diagonal electron pressure tensor term. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are employed in this paper to investigate the self-reinforcing process of the reconnection electric field in the electron diffusion region, which is found to grow exponentially. A theoretical model is proposed to demonstrate such a process in the electron diffusion region. In addition the reconnection electric field in the pileup region, which is balanced mainly by the electromotive force term, is also found to grow exponentially and its growth rate is twice that in the electron diffusion region. (paper)

Weakly Collisional and Collisionless Astrophysical Plasmas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berlok, Thomas

are used to study weakly collisional, stratified atmospheres which offer a useful model of the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters. Using linear theory and computer simulations, we study instabilities that feed off thermal and compositional gradients. We find that these instabilities lead to vigorous...... investigate helium mixing in the weakly collisional intracluster medium of galaxy clusters using Braginskii MHD. Secondly, we present a newly developed Vlasov-fluid code which can be used for studying fully collisionless plasmas such as the solar wind and hot accretions flows. The equations of Braginskii MHD...... associated with the ions and is thus well suited for studying collisionless plasmas. We have developed a new 2D-3V Vlasov-fluid code which works by evolving the phase-space density distribution of the ions while treating the electrons as an inertialess fluid. The code uses the particle-incell (PIC) method...

Diagnosing collisionless energy transfer using field-particle correlations: Vlasov-Poisson plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Howes, Gregory G.; Klein, Kristopher G.; Li, Tak Chu

2017-02-01

Turbulence plays a key role in the conversion of the energy of large-scale fields and flows to plasma heat, impacting the macroscopic evolution of the heliosphere and other astrophysical plasma systems. Although we have long been able to make direct spacecraft measurements of all aspects of the electromagnetic field and plasma fluctuations in near-Earth space, our understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for the damping of the turbulent fluctuations in heliospheric plasmas remains incomplete. Here we propose an innovative field-particle correlation technique that can be used to measure directly the secular energy transfer from fields to particles associated with collisionless damping of the turbulent fluctuations. Furthermore, this novel procedure yields information about the collisionless energy transfer as a function of particle velocity, providing vital new information that can help to identify the dominant collisionless mechanism governing the damping of the turbulent fluctuations. Kinetic plasma theory is used to devise the appropriate correlation to diagnose Landau damping, and the field-particle correlation technique is thoroughly illustrated using the simplified case of the Landau damping of Langmuir waves in a 1D-1V (one dimension in physical space and one dimension in velocity space) Vlasov-Poisson plasma. Generalizations necessary to apply the field-particle correlation technique to diagnose the collisionless damping of turbulent fluctuations in the solar wind are discussed, highlighting several caveats. This novel field-particle correlation technique is intended to be used as a primary analysis tool for measurements from current, upcoming and proposed spacecraft missions that are focused on the kinetic microphysics of weakly collisional heliospheric plasmas, including the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS), Solar Probe Plus, Solar Orbiter and Turbulence Heating ObserveR (THOR) missions.

The dynamics of electron and ion holes in a collisionless plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Eliasson

2005-01-01

Full Text Available We present a review of recent analytical and numerical studies of the dynamics of electron and ion holes in a collisionless plasma. The new results are based on the class of analytic solutions which were found by Schamel more than three decades ago, and which here work as initial conditions to numerical simulations of the dynamics of ion and electron holes and their interaction with radiation and the background plasma. Our analytic and numerical studies reveal that ion holes in an electron-ion plasma can trap Langmuir waves, due the local electron density depletion associated with the negative ion hole potential. Since the scale-length of the ion holes are on a relatively small Debye scale, the trapped Langmuir waves are Landau damped. We also find that colliding ion holes accelerate electron streams by the negative ion hole potentials, and that these streams of electrons excite Langmuir waves due to a streaming instability. In our Vlasov simulation of two colliding ion holes, the holes survive the collision and after the collision, the electron distribution becomes flat-topped between the two ion holes due to the ion hole potentials which work as potential barriers for low-energy electrons. Our study of the dynamics between electron holes and the ion background reveals that standing electron holes can be accelerated by the self-created ion cavity owing to the positive electron hole potential. Vlasov simulations show that electron holes are repelled by ion density minima and attracted by ion density maxima. We also present an extension of Schamel's theory to relativistically hot plasmas, where the relativistic mass increase of the accelerated electrons have a dramatic effect on the electron hole, with an increase in the electron hole potential and in the width of the electron hole. A study of the interaction between electromagnetic waves with relativistic electron holes shows that electromagnetic waves can be both linearly and nonlinearly

Hydrodynamics of ponderomotive interactions in a collisionless plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kono, M.; Skoric, M.M.; ter Haar, D.

1987-01-01

A hydrodynamic treatment of ponderomotive interactions in a collisionless plasma is presented and it is shown that consistent hydrodynamics leads to the correct expression for the solenoidal ponderomotive electron current density, a result previously thought to be derivable only in the framework of the warm-plasma kinetic theory

Collisionless relaxation in spiral galaxy models

Science.gov (United States)

Hohl, F.

1974-01-01

The increase in random kinetic energy of stars by rapidly fluctuating gravitational fields (collisionless or violent relaxation) in disk galaxy models is investigated for three interaction potentials of the stars corresponding to (1) point stars, (2) rod stars of length 2 kpc, and (3) uniform density spherical stars of radius 2 kpc. To stabilize the galaxy against the large scale bar forming instability, a fixed field corresponding to a central core or halo component of stars was added with the stars containing at most 20 percent of the total mass of the galaxy. Considerable heating occurred for both the point stars and the rod stars, whereas the use of spherical stars resulted in a very low heating rate. The use of spherical stars with the resulting low heating rate will be desirable for the study of large scale galactic stability or density wave propagation, since collective heating effects will no longer mask the phenomena under study.

Physics of collisionless scrape-off-layer plasma during normal and off-normal Tokamak operating conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Konkashbaev, I.

1999-01-01

The structure of a collisionless scrape-off-layer (SOL) plasma in tokamak reactors is being studied to define the electron distribution function and the corresponding sheath potential between the divertor plate and the edge plasma. The collisionless model is shown to be valid during the thermal phase of a plasma disruption, as well as during the newly desired low-recycling normal phase of operation with low-density, high-temperature, edge plasma conditions. An analytical solution is developed by solving the Fokker-Planck equation for electron distribution and balance in the SOL. The solution is in good agreement with numerical studies using Monte-Carlo methods. The analytical solutions provide an insight to the role of different physical and geometrical processes in a collisionless SOL during disruptions and during the enhanced phase of normal operation over a wide range of parameters

Highly Supersonic Ion Pulses in a Collisionless Magnetized Plasma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juul Rasmussen, Jens; Schrittwieser, R.

1982-01-01

The initial transient response of a collisionless plasma to a high positive voltage step is investigated. Four different pulses are observed. An electron plasma wave pulse is followed by an ion burst. The latter is overtaken and absorbed by a highly supersonic ion pulse. Thereafter, an ion...

Collisionless plasma expansion into a vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denavit, J.

1979-01-01

Particle simulations of the expansion of a collisionless plasma into vacuum are presented. The cases of a single-electron-temperature plasma and of a two-electron-temperature plasma are considered. The results confirm the existence of an ion front and verify the general features of self-similar solutions behind this front. A cold electron front is clearly observed in the two-electron-temperatures case. The computations also show that for a finite electron-to-ion mass ratio, m/sub e//m/sub i/, the electron thermal velocity in the expansion region is not constant, but decreases approximately linearly with xi 0 -(γ-1) xi/2, and comparison with computer simulation results show that the constant γ-1 is proportional to (Zm/sub e//m/sub i/)atsup 1/2at, where Z is the ion charge number

Collisionless analogs of Riemann S ellipsoids with halo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abramyan, M.G.

1987-01-01

A spheroidal halo ensures equilibrium of the collisionless analogs of the Riemann S ellipsoids with oscillations of the particles along the direction of their rotation. Sequences of collisionless triaxial ellipsoids begin and end with dynamically stable members of collisionless embedded spheroids. Both liquid and collisionless Riemann S ellipsoids with weak halo have properties that resemble those of bars of SB galaxies

Hermite Polynomials and the Inverse Problem for Collisionless Equilibria

Science.gov (United States)

Allanson, O.; Neukirch, T.; Troscheit, S.; Wilson, F.

2017-12-01

It is long established that Hermite polynomial expansions in either velocity or momentum space can elegantly encode the non-Maxwellian velocity-space structure of a collisionless plasma distribution function (DF). In particular, Hermite polynomials in the canonical momenta naturally arise in the consideration of the 'inverse problem in collisionless equilibria' (IPCE): "for a given macroscopic/fluid equilibrium, what are the self-consistent Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium DFs?". This question is of particular interest for the equilibrium and stability properties of a given macroscopic configuration, e.g. a current sheet. It can be relatively straightforward to construct a formal solution to IPCE by a Hermite expansion method, but several important questions remain regarding the use of this method. We present recent work that considers the necessary conditions of non-negativity, convergence, and the existence of all moments of an equilibrium DF solution found for IPCE. We also establish meaningful analogies between the equations that link the microscopic and macrosopic descriptions of the Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium, and those that solve the initial value problem for the heat equation. In the language of the heat equation, IPCE poses the pressure tensor as the 'present' heat distribution over an infinite domain, and the non-Maxwellian features of the DF as the 'past' distribution. We find sufficient conditions for the convergence of the Hermite series representation of the DF, and prove that the non-negativity of the DF can be dependent on the magnetisation of the plasma. For DFs that decay at least as quickly as exp(-v^2/4), we show non-negativity is guaranteed for at least a finite range of magnetisation values, as parameterised by the ratio of the Larmor radius to the gradient length scale. 1. O. Allanson, T. Neukirch, S. Troscheit & F. Wilson: From one-dimensional fields to Vlasov equilibria: theory and application of Hermite polynomials, Journal of Plasma Physics, 82

The Child-Langmuir law and analytical theory of collisionless to collision-dominated sheaths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benilov, M S

2009-01-01

This paper is concerned with summarizing simple analytical models of space-charge sheaths and tracing their relation to the Child-Langmuir model of an ion sheath. The topics discussed include the Child-Langmuir law and model of a collisionless ion sheath, the Mott-Gurney law and model of a collision-dominated ion sheath, the Bohm model of a collisionless ion-electron sheath, the Su-Lam-Cohen model of a collision-dominated ion-electron sheath, ion sheaths with arbitrary collisionality, high-accuracy boundary conditions for the Child-Langmuir and Mott-Gurney models of an ion sheath and the mathematical sense of Child-Langmuir type models of an ion sheath from the point of view of modern theoretical physics.

Pressure gradient turbulent transport and collisionless reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Connor, J.W.

1993-01-01

The scale invariance technique is employed to discuss pressure gradient driven turbulent transport when an Ohm's law with electron inertia, rather than resistivity, is relevant. An expression for thermal diffusivity which has many features appropriate to L-mode transport in tokamaks, is seen to have greater generality than indicated by their particular calculation. The results of applying the technique to a more appropriate collisionless Ohm's law are discussed. (Author)

Universal collisionless transport of graphene

Science.gov (United States)

Link, Julia M.; Orth, Peter P.; Sheehy, Daniel E.; Schmalian, Jörg

2016-06-01

The impact of the electron-electron Coulomb interaction on the optical conductivity of graphene has led to a controversy that calls into question the universality of collisionless transport in this and other Dirac materials. Using a lattice calculation that avoids divergences present in previous nodal Dirac approaches, our work settles this controversy and obtains results in quantitative agreement with experiment over a wide frequency range. We also demonstrate that dimensional regularization methods agree, if the regularization of the theory in modified dimensions is correctly implemented. Tight-binding lattice and nodal Dirac theory calculations are shown to coincide at low energies even when the nonzero size of the atomic orbital wave function is included, conclusively demonstrating the universality of the optical conductivity of graphene.

Whistler dominated quasi-collisionless magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biskamp, D.; Drake, J.F.

1995-05-01

A theory of fast quasi-collisionless reconnection is presented. For spatial scales smaller than the ion inertia length the electrons decouple from the ions and the dynamics is described by electron magnetohydrodynamics (EMHD). A qualitative analysis of the reconnection region is obtained, which is corroborated by numerical simulations. The main results are that in contrast to resistive reconnection no macroscopic current sheet is generated, and the reconnection rate is independent of the smallness parameters of the system, i.e. the electron inertia length and the dissipation coefficients. At larger scales the coupling to the ions is important, which, however, does not change the small-scale dynamics. The reconnection rate is only limited by ion inertia being independent of the electron inertia scale and the dissipation coefficients. Reconnection is much faster than in the absence of the whistler mode. (orig.)

High-speed photography of a 'switch-on' collisionless shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Khalafawy, T.A.; El-Nicklawy, M.M.; Bashara, A.B.; El-Masry, M.A.; Rudnev, N.J.

1975-01-01

The paper presents the results of the investigation of a 'switch-on' shock profile and the measurement of the wave velocity in the collisionless regime employing high-speed photography. Data for the electron temperature (Tsub(e)) ahead of and behind the wave front are presented here, and a Table with estimated and measured characteristic physical quantities. (author)

Paleoclassical electron heat transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callen, J.D.

2005-01-01

Radial electron heat transport in low collisionality, magnetically-confined toroidal plasmas is shown to result from paleoclassical Coulomb collision processes (parallel electron heat conduction and magnetic field diffusion). In such plasmas the electron temperature equilibrates along magnetic field lines a long length L, which is the minimum of the electron collision length and a maximum effective half length of helical field lines. Thus, the diffusing field lines induce a radial electron heat diffusivity M ≅ L/(πR 0q ) ∼ 10 >> 1 times the magnetic field diffusivity η/μ 0 ≅ ν e (c/ω p ) 2 . The paleoclassical electron heat flux model provides interpretations for many features of 'anomalous' electron heat transport: magnitude and radial profile of electron heat diffusivity (in tokamaks, STs, and RFPs), Alcator scaling in high density plasmas, transport barriers around low order rational surfaces and near a separatrix, and a natural heat pinch (or minimum temperature gradient) heat flux form. (author)

Collisionless current sheet equilibria

Science.gov (United States)

Neukirch, T.; Wilson, F.; Allanson, O.

2018-01-01

Current sheets are important for the structure and dynamics of many plasma systems. In space and astrophysical plasmas they play a crucial role in activity processes, for example by facilitating the release of magnetic energy via processes such as magnetic reconnection. In this contribution we will focus on collisionless plasma systems. A sensible first step in any investigation of physical processes involving current sheets is to find appropriate equilibrium solutions. The theory of collisionless plasma equilibria is well established, but over the past few years there has been a renewed interest in finding equilibrium distribution functions for collisionless current sheets with particular properties, for example for cases where the current density is parallel to the magnetic field (force-free current sheets). This interest is due to a combination of scientific curiosity and potential applications to space and astrophysical plasmas. In this paper we will give an overview of some of the recent developments, discuss their potential applications and address a number of open questions.

Kinetic particle simulation study of parallel heat transport in scrape-off layer plasmas over a wide range of collisionalities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Froese, Aaron; Takizuka, Tomonori; Yagi, Masatoshi

2010-01-01

Fluid models are not generally applicable to fusion edge plasmas without external provision of kinetic factors: closure parameters and boundary conditions inside the sheath region. We explain the PARASOL-1D simulation, a particle-in-cell code with a binary collision Monte-Carlo model, and use it to determine four kinetic factors commonly needed in fluid codes. These are the electron and ion heat flux limiting factors, α e and α i , the ion adiabatic index, γ A , and the electron and ion temperature anisotropy, T ‖ /T ⊥ . We survey these factors over a wide range of collisionalities and find that, as predicted, the conductive heat flux is accurately described by the Spitzer-Härm expression in the collisional limit and asymptotes to a constant value in the collisionless limit. However, unique behavior occurs in the weakly collisional regime when the ratio of the mean free path to connection length is 0.1 < λ mfp /L ‖ < 10, when the SOL is between the conduction- and sheath-limited regimes. We find that α e can peak, becoming larger than the collisionless limit, γ A is less than unity, and only the ions are anisotropic. The effects of electron energy radiation and Langevin heating are explored. Finally, the strong deviations of the energy distribution function from Maxwellian in the weakly collisional and collisionless regimes are explained. (author)

High-Mach number, laser-driven magnetized collisionless shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaeffer, Derek B.; Fox, W.; Haberberger, D.; Fiksel, G.; Bhattacharjee, A.

2017-01-01

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in space and astrophysical systems, and the class of supercritical shocks is of particular importance due to their role in accelerating particles to high energies. While these shocks have been traditionally studied by spacecraft and remote sensing observations, laboratory experiments can provide reproducible and multi-dimensional datasets that provide complementary understanding of the underlying microphysics. We present experiments undertaken on the OMEGA and OMEGA EP laser facilities that show the formation and evolution of high-Mach number collisionless shocks created through the interaction of a laser-driven magnetic piston and magnetized ambient plasma. Through time-resolved, 2-D imaging we observe large density and magnetic compressions that propagate at super-Alfvenic speeds and that occur over ion kinetic length scales. Electron density and temperature of the initial ambient plasma are characterized using optical Thomson scattering. Measurements of the piston laser-plasma are modeled with 2-D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations, which are used to initialize 2-D particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction between the piston and ambient plasmas. The numerical results show the formation of collisionless shocks, including the separate dynamics of the carbon and hydrogen ions that constitute the ambient plasma and their effect on the shock structure. Furthermore, the simulations also show the shock separating from the piston, which we observe in the data at late experimental times.

Accessing the Asymmetric Collisionless Reconnection Regime in the Terrestrial Reconnection Experiment (TREX)

Science.gov (United States)

Greess, S.; Egedal, J.; Olson, J.; Millet-Ayala, A.; Myers, R.; Wallace, J.; Clark, M.; Forest, C.

2017-12-01

Kinetic effects are expected to dominate the collisionless reconnection regime, where the mean free path is large enough that the anisotropic electron pressure can develop without being damped away by collisional pitch angle scattering. In simulations, the anisotropic pressure drives the formation of outflow jets [1]. These jets are expected to play a role in the reconnection layer at the Earth's magnetopause, which is currently being explored by Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) [2]. Until recently, this regime of anisotropic pressure was inaccessible by laboratory experiments, but new data from the Terrestrial Reconnection Experiment (TREX) shows that fully collisionless reconnection can now be achieved in the laboratory. Future runs at TREX will delve deeper into this collisionless regime in both the antiparallel and guide-field cases. [1] Le, A. et al. JPP, 81(1). doi: 10.1017/S0022377814000907. [2] Burch, J. L. et al. Space Sci. Rev. 199,5. doi: 10.1007/s11214-015-0164-9 Supported in part by NSF/DOE award DE-SC0013032.

Particle dynamics and current-free double layers in an expanding, collisionless, two-electron-population plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hairapetian, G.; Stenzel, R.L.

1991-01-01

The expansion of a two-electron-population, collisionless plasma into vacuum is investigated experimentally. Detailed in situ measurements of plasma density, plasma potential, electric field, and particle distribution functions are performed. At the source, the electron population consists of a high-density, cold (kT e congruent 4 eV) Maxwellian, and a sparse, energetic ( (1)/(2) mv 2 e congruent 80 eV) tail. During the expansion of plasma, space-charge effects self-consistently produce an ambipolar electric field whose amplitude is controlled by the energy of tail electrons. The ambipolar electric field accelerates a small number (∼1%) of ions to streaming energies which exceed and scale linearly with the energy of tail electrons. As the expansion proceeds, the energetic tail electrons electrostatically trap the colder Maxwellian electrons and prevent them from reaching the expansion front. A potential double layer develops at the position of the cold electron front. Upstream of the double layer both electron populations exist; but downstream, only the tail electrons do. Hence, the expansion front is dominated by retarded tail electrons. Initially, the double layer propagates away from the source with a speed approximately equal to the ion sound speed in the cold electron population. The propagation speed is independent of the tail electron energy. At later times, the propagating double layer slows down and eventually stagnates. The final position and amplitude of the double layer are controlled by the relative densities of the two electron populations in the source. The steady-state double layer persists till the end of the discharge (Δt congruent 1 msec), much longer than the ion transit time through the device (t congruent 150 μsec)

Plasma and energetic particle structure of a collisionless quasi-parallel shock

Science.gov (United States)

Kennel, C. F.; Scarf, F. L.; Coroniti, F. V.; Russell, C. T.; Smith, E. J.; Wenzel, K. P.; Reinhard, R.; Sanderson, T. R.; Feldman, W. C.; Parks, G. K.

1983-01-01

The quasi-parallel interplanetary shock of November 11-12, 1978 from both the collisionless shock and energetic particle points of view were studied using measurements of the interplanetary magnetic and electric fields, solar wind electrons, plasma and MHD waves, and intermediate and high energy ions obtained on ISEE-1, -2, and -3. The interplanetary environment through which the shock was propagating when it encountered the three spacecraft was characterized; the observations of this shock are documented and current theories of quasi-parallel shock structure and particle acceleration are tested. These observations tend to confirm present self consistent theories of first order Fermi acceleration by shocks and of collisionless shock dissipation involving firehouse instability.

Gyrokinetic particle-in-cell global simulations of ion-temperature-gradient and collisionless-trapped-electron-mode turbulence in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jolliet, S.

2009-02-01

-Maxwell system is solved in the electrostatic and collisionless limit with the Particle-In-Cell (PIC) ORB5 code in global tokamak geometry. This Monte-Carlo approach suffers from statistical noise which unavoidably degrades the quality of the simulation. Consequently, the first part of this work has been devoted to the optimization of the code with a view to reduce the numerical noise. The code has been rewritten in a new coordinate system which takes advantage of the anisotropy of turbulence, which is mostly aligned with the magnetic field lines. The overall result of the optimization is that for a given accuracy, the CPU time has been decreased by a factor two thousand, the total memory has been decreased by a factor ten and the numerical noise has been reduced by a factor two hundred. In addition, the scaling of the code with respect to plasma size is presently optimal, suggesting that ORB5 could compute heat transport for future fusion devices such as ITER. The second part of this thesis presents the validation of the code with numerical convergence tests, linear (including dispersion relations) and nonlinear benchmarks. Furthermore, the code has been applied to important issues in gyrokinetic theory. It is shown for the first time that a 5D global delta-f PIC code can achieve a thermodynamic steady state on the condition that some dissipation is present. This is a fundamental result as the main criticism against delta-f PIC codes is their inability to deal with long time simulations. Next, the role of the parallel nonlinearity is studied and it is demonstrated in this work that this term has no real influence on turbulence, provided the numerical noise is sufficiently low. This result should put an end to the controversy that recently occurred, in which gyrokinetic simulations using different numerical approaches yielded contradictory results. Finally, thanks to the optimization of the code, the gyrokinetic model has been extended to include the kinetic response of trapped-electrons

A closed set of conservation laws and the evolution of the electron magnetic moment in the collisionless solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander, P.

1993-01-01

A hydromagnetic equation system for the interplanetary collisionless solar wind is used to derive a set of conservation laws for that medium. It is found that every equation of the original system, including the closure relation, is related to one conservation law. The set that has been derived does not only include the traditional laws, but also a new one for the magnetic moment of the electrons. The conservation set is then used to obtain the space constants for the solar coronal expansion. The new law yields a constant that has not been predicted by other models

Anomalous plasma transport due to electron temperature gradient instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokuda, Sinji; Ito, Hiroshi; Kamimura, Tetsuo.

1979-01-01

The collisionless drift wave instability driven by an electron temperature inhomogeneity (electron temperature gradient instability) and the enhanced transport processes associated with it are studied using a two-and-a-half dimensional particle simulation code. The simulation results show that quasilinear diffusion in phase space is an important mechanism for the saturation of the electron temperature gradient instability. Also, the instability yields particle fluxes toward the hot plasma regions. The heat conductivity of the electron temperature perpendicular to the magnetic field, T sub(e'), is not reduced by magnetic shear but remains high, whereas the heat conductivity of the parallel temperature, T sub(e''), is effectively reduced, and the instability stabilized. (author)

An in situ Comparison of Electron Acceleration at Collisionless Shocks under Differing Upstream Magnetic Field Orientations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Masters, A.; Dougherty, M. K. [The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Sulaiman, A. H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States); Stawarz, Ł. [Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, ul. Orla 171, 30-244 Krakow (Poland); Reville, B. [School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Sergis, N. [Office of Space Research and Technology, Academy of Athens, Soranou Efesiou 4, 11527 Athens (Greece); Fujimoto, M. [Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan); Burgess, D. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS (United Kingdom); Coates, A. J., E-mail: a.masters@imperial.ac.uk [Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Department of Space and Climate Physics, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking RH5 6NT (United Kingdom)

2017-07-10

A leading explanation for the origin of Galactic cosmic rays is acceleration at high-Mach number shock waves in the collisionless plasma surrounding young supernova remnants. Evidence for this is provided by multi-wavelength non-thermal emission thought to be associated with ultrarelativistic electrons at these shocks. However, the dependence of the electron acceleration process on the orientation of the upstream magnetic field with respect to the local normal to the shock front (quasi-parallel/quasi-perpendicular) is debated. Cassini spacecraft observations at Saturn’s bow shock have revealed examples of electron acceleration under quasi-perpendicular conditions, and the first in situ evidence of electron acceleration at a quasi-parallel shock. Here we use Cassini data to make the first comparison between energy spectra of locally accelerated electrons under these differing upstream magnetic field regimes. We present data taken during a quasi-perpendicular shock crossing on 2008 March 8 and during a quasi-parallel shock crossing on 2007 February 3, highlighting that both were associated with electron acceleration to at least MeV energies. The magnetic signature of the quasi-perpendicular crossing has a relatively sharp upstream–downstream transition, and energetic electrons were detected close to the transition and immediately downstream. The magnetic transition at the quasi-parallel crossing is less clear, energetic electrons were encountered upstream and downstream, and the electron energy spectrum is harder above ∼100 keV. We discuss whether the acceleration is consistent with diffusive shock acceleration theory in each case, and suggest that the quasi-parallel spectral break is due to an energy-dependent interaction between the electrons and short, large-amplitude magnetic structures.

Transition from Collisionless to Collisional MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Prateek; Hammett, Gregory W.; Quataert, Eliot

2003-01-01

Recent calculations by Quataert et al. (2002) found that the growth rates of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in a collisionless plasma can differ significantly from those calculated using MHD. This can be important in hot accretion flows around compact objects. In this paper, we study the transition from the collisionless kinetic regime to the collisional MHD regime, mapping out the dependence of the MRI growth rate on collisionality. A kinetic closure scheme for a magnetized plasma is used that includes the effect of collisions via a BGK operator. The transition to MHD occurs as the mean free path becomes short compared to the parallel wavelength 2*/k(sub)||. In the weak magnetic field regime where the Alfven and MRI frequencies w are small compared to the sound wave frequency k(sub)||c(sub)0, the dynamics are still effectively collisionless even if omega << v, so long as the collision frequency v << k(sub)||c(sub)0; for an accretion flow this requires n less than or approximately equal to *(square root of b). The low collisionality regime not only modifies the MRI growth rate, but also introduces collisionless Landau or Barnes damping of long wavelength modes, which may be important for the nonlinear saturation of the MRI

A poloidal non-uniformity of the collisionless parallel current in a tokamak plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romannikov, A.; Fenzi-Bonizec, C

2005-07-01

The collisionless distortion of the ion (electron) distribution function at certain points on a magnetic surface is studied in the framework of a simple model of a large aspect ratio tokamak plasma. The flow velocity driven by this distortion is calculated. The possibility of an additional non-uniform collisionless parallel current density on a magnetic surface, other than the known neo-classical non-uniformity is shown. The difference between the parallel current density on the low and high field side of a magnetic surface is close to the neoclassical bootstrap current density. The first Tore-Supra experimental test indicates the possibility of the poloidal non-uniformity of the parallel current density. (authors)

Thermal electron heating rate: a derivation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoegy, W.R.

1983-11-01

The thermal electron heating rate is an important heat source term in the ionospheric electron energy balance equation, representing heating by photoelectrons or by precipitating higher energy electrons. A formula for the thermal electron heating rate is derived from the kinetic equation using the electron-electron collision operator as given by the unified theory of Kihara and Aono. This collision operator includes collective interactions to produce a finite collision operator with an exact Coulomb logarithm term. The derived heating rate O(e) is the sum of three terms, O(e) O(p) + S + O(int), which are respectively: (1) primary electron production term giving the heating from newly created electrons that have not yet suffered collisions with the ambient electrons, (2) a heating term evaluated on the energy surface m(e)/2 E(T) at the transition between Maxwellian and tail electrons at E(T), and (3) the integral term representing heating of Maxwellian electrons by energetic tail electrons at energies ET. Published ionospheric electron temperature studies used only the integral term O(int) with differing lower integration limits. Use of the incomplete heating rate could lead to erroneous conclusions regarding electron heat balance, since O(e) is greater than O(int) by as much as a factor of two

FRC collisionless resistivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajima, T.; Horton, W.

1990-01-01

Ions in the field reversed configuration (FRC) exhibit stochastic orbits due to the field null and the curvature of poloidal field lines. Velocity correlations of these particles decay in a power law fashion t -m where 1 ≤ m ≤ 2. This decay of the single particle correlation function is characteristic of the long tail correlations of strongly chaotic or nonlinear systems found in other problems of statistical physics. This decay of correlations gives rise to a collisionless resistivity that can far exceed the collisional resistivity in an FRC plasma. The finite correlation τ c of a single particle limits the acceleration in the electric field producing the finite resistivity. Maxwellian test particle distributions are integrated to find the measure of the set of stochastic ions that contribute to the collisionless resistivity. The computed conductivity is proportional to the square root of the characteristic ion gyroradius in both simulation and theory

On Collisionless Damping of Ion Acoustic Waves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Vagn Orla; Petersen, P.I.

1973-01-01

Exact theoretical treatments show that the damping of ion acoustic waves in collisionless plasmas does not vanish when the derivative of the undisturbed distribution function at the phase velocity equals zero.......Exact theoretical treatments show that the damping of ion acoustic waves in collisionless plasmas does not vanish when the derivative of the undisturbed distribution function at the phase velocity equals zero....

Equilibrium distribution function in collisionless systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pergamenshchik, V.M.

1988-01-01

Collisionless systems of a large number of N particles interacting by Coulomb forces are widely spread in cosmic and laboratory plasma. A statistical theory of equilibrium state of collisionless Coulomb systems which evolution obeys Vlasov equation is proposed. The developed formalism permits a sequential consideration of such distributed in one-particle six-dimensional phase space of a system and to obtain a simple result: equilibrium distribution function has the form of Fermi-Dirac distribution and doesn't depend on initial state factors

Excitation of THz hybrid modes in an elliptical dielectric rod waveguide with a cold collisionless unmagnetized plasma column by an annular electron beam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahmani, Z., E-mail: z.rahmani@kashanu.ac.ir; Safari, S. [Department of Laser and Photonics, Faculty of Physics, University of Kashan, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Heidari-Semiromi, E. [Department of Condense Matter, Faculty of Physics, University of Kashan, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2016-06-15

The dispersion relation of electromagnetic waves propagating in an elliptical plasma waveguide with a cold collisionless unmagnetized plasma column and a dielectric rod is studied analytically. The frequency spectrum of the hybrid waves and the growth rate for excitation of the waves by a thin annular relativistic elliptical electron beam (TAREEB) is obtained. The effects of relative permittivity constant of dielectric rod, geometrical dimensions, plasma frequency, accelerating voltage, and current density of TAREEB on the growth rate and frequency spectra of the waveguide will be investigated.

Self-Consistent System of Equations for a Kinetic Description of the Low-Pressure Discharges Accounting for the Nonlocal and Collisionless Electron Dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaganovich, Igor D.; Polomarov, Oleg

2003-01-01

In low-pressure discharges, when the electron mean free path is larger or comparable with the discharge length, the electron dynamics is essentially non-local. Moreover, the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) deviates considerably from a Maxwellian. Therefore, an accurate kinetic description of the low-pressure discharges requires knowledge of the non-local conductivity operator and calculation of the non-Maxwellian EEDF. The previous treatments made use of simplifying assumptions: a uniform density profile and a Maxwellian EEDF. In the present study a self-consistent system of equations for the kinetic description of nonlocal, non-uniform, nearly collisionless plasmas of low-pressure discharges is derived. It consists of the nonlocal conductivity operator and the averaged kinetic equation for calculation of the non-Maxwellian EEDF. The importance of accounting for the non-uniform plasma density profile on both the current density profile and the EEDF is demonstrated

Heat transfer between adsorbate and laser-heated hot electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueba, H; Persson, B N J

2008-01-01

Strong short laser pulses can give rise to a strong increase in the electronic temperature at metal surfaces. Energy transfer from the hot electrons to adsorbed molecules may result in adsorbate reactions, e.g. desorption or diffusion. We point out the limitations of an often used equation to describe the heat transfer process in terms of a friction coupling. We propose a simple theory for the energy transfer between the adsorbate and hot electrons using a newly introduced heat transfer coefficient, which depends on the adsorbate temperature. We calculate the transient adsorbate temperature and the reaction yield for a Morse potential as a function of the laser fluency. The results are compared to those obtained using a conventional heat transfer equation with temperature-independent friction. It is found that our equation of energy (heat) transfer gives a significantly lower adsorbate peak temperature, which results in a large modification of the reaction yield. We also consider the heat transfer between different vibrational modes excited by hot electrons. This mode coupling provides indirect heating of the vibrational temperature in addition to the direct heating by hot electrons. The formula of heat transfer through linear mode-mode coupling of two harmonic oscillators is applied to the recent time-resolved study of carbon monoxide and atomic oxygen hopping on an ultrafast laser-heated Pt(111) surface. It is found that the maximum temperature of the frustrated translation mode can reach high temperatures for hopping, even when direct friction coupling to the hot electrons is not strong enough

Transport scaling in the collisionless-detrapping regime in stellarators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crume, E.C. Jr.; Shaing, K.C.; Hirshman, S.P.; van Rij, W.I.

1987-09-01

Stellarator transport scalings with electric field, geometry, and collision frequency in the reactor-relevant collisionless-detrapping regime are determined from numerical solutions of the drift kinetic equation. A new geometrical scaling, proportional to ε/sub t/sup 3/2/ rather than ε/sub t/ε/sub h/sup 1/2/, is found, where ε/sub t/ is the inverse aspect ratio and ε/sub h/ is the helical ripple. With the new scaling, no reduction in energy confinement time is associated with large helical ripple, which provides design flexibility. Integral expressions for the particle and heat fluxes that are useful for transport simulations are given. 11 refs

New Measure of the Dissipation Region in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zenitani, Seiji; Hesse, Michael; Klimas, Alex; Kuznetsova, Masha

2011-01-01

A new measure to identify a small-scale dissipation region in collisionless magnetic reconnection is proposed. The energy transfer from the electromagnetic field to plasmas in the electron's rest frame is formulated as a Lorentz-invariant scalar quantity. The measure is tested by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations in typical configurations: symmetric and asymmetric reconnection, with and without the guide field. The innermost region surrounding the reconnection site is accurately located in all cases. We further discuss implications for nonideal MHD dissipation.

Collisionless Weibel shocks: Full formation mechanism and timing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bret, A. [ETSI Industriales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real (Spain); Instituto de Investigaciones Energéticas y Aplicaciones Industriales, Campus Universitario de Ciudad Real, 13071 Ciudad Real (Spain); Stockem, A. [GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon (Portugal); Institut für Theoretische Physik, Lehrstuhl IV: Weltraum- und Astrophysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Narayan, R. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, MS-51 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Silva, L. O. [GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon (Portugal)

2014-07-15

Collisionless shocks in plasmas play an important role in space physics (Earth's bow shock) and astrophysics (supernova remnants, relativistic jets, gamma-ray bursts, high energy cosmic rays). While the formation of a fluid shock through the steepening of a large amplitude sound wave has been understood for long, there is currently no detailed picture of the mechanism responsible for the formation of a collisionless shock. We unravel the physical mechanism at work and show that an electromagnetic Weibel shock always forms when two relativistic collisionless, initially unmagnetized, plasma shells encounter. The predicted shock formation time is in good agreement with 2D and 3D particle-in-cell simulations of counterstreaming pair plasmas. By predicting the shock formation time, experimental setups aiming at producing such shocks can be optimised to favourable conditions.

Collisionless shock formation and the prompt acceleration of solar flare ions

Science.gov (United States)

Cargill, P. J.; Goodrich, C. C.; Vlahos, L.

1988-01-01

The formation mechanisms of collisionless shocks in solar flare plasmas are investigated. The priamry flare energy release is assumed to arise in the coronal portion of a flare loop as many small regions or 'hot spots' where the plasma beta locally exceeds unity. One dimensional hybrid numerical simulations show that the expansion of these 'hot spots' in a direction either perpendicular or oblique to the ambient magnetic field gives rise to collisionless shocks in a few Omega(i), where Omega(i) is the local ion cyclotron frequency. For solar parameters, this is less than 1 second. The local shocks are then subsequently able to accelerate particles to 10 MeV in less than 1 second by a combined drift-diffusive process. The formation mechanism may also give rise to energetic ions of 100 keV in the shock vicinity. The presence of these energetic ions is due either to ion heating or ion beam instabilities and they may act as a seed population for further acceleration. The prompt acceleration of ions inferred from the Gamma Ray Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission can thus be explained by this mechanism.

Experimental observation of microwave absorption and electron heating due to the two plasmon decay instability and resonance absorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmussen, D.A.

1981-01-01

The interaction of intense microwaves with an inhomogeneous plasma is studied in two experimental devices. In the first device an investigation was made of microwave absorption and electron heating due to the parametric decay of microwaves into electron plasma waves (Two Plasmon Decay instability, TPDI), modeling a process which can occur near the quarter critical surface in laser driven pellets. P-polarized microwave (f = 1.2 GHz, P 0 less than or equal to 12 kW) are applied to an essentially collisionless, inhomogeneous plasma, in an oversized waveguide, in the U.C. Davis Prometheus III device. The initial density scale length near the quarter critical surface is quite long (L/lambda/sub De/ approx. = 3000 or k 0 L approx. = 15). The observed threshold power for the TPDI is quite low (P/sub T/approx. = 0.1 kW or v/sub os//v/sub e/ approx. = 0.1). Near the threshold the decay waves only occur near the quarter critical surface. As the incident power is increased above threshold, the decay waves spread to lower densities, and for P 0 greater than or equal to lkW, (v/sub os//v/sub e/ greater than or equal to 0.3) suprathermal electron heating is strong for high powers (T/sub H/ less than or equal to 12 T/sub e/ for P 0 less than or equal to 8 kW or v/sub os//v/sub e/ less than or equal to 0.9)

New Measure of the Dissipation Region in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Zenitani, Seiji; Hesse, Michael; Klimas, Alex; Kuznetsova, Masha

2012-01-01

A new measure to identify a small-scale dissipation region in collisionless magnetic reconnection is proposed. The energy transfer from the electromagnetic field to plasmas in the electron s rest frame is formulated as a Lorentz-invariant scalar quantity. The measure is tested by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations in typical configurations: symmetric and asymmetric reconnection, with and without the guide field. The innermost region surrounding the reconnection site is accurately located in all cases. We further discuss implications for nonideal MHD dissipation.

Nonlinear phenomena in collisionless plasmas. Progress report, September 1, 1974--August 31, 1975

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aamodt, R.E.

1975-01-01

The nonlinear evolution of unstable collective modes common to conventional mirror machines is being analyzed in order to evaluate measurable saturation amplitudes, spectrum properties, and concomitant particle loss rates. The nonlinear dispersion relation for the classic drift-cone mode, including nonlinear E x B VECTOR convective cells is presently being evaluated to find its self-saturation properties. Large amplitude rf heating mechanisms, localized mode nonlinearities, and propagation and amplification of transverse modes in collisionless inhomogeneous plasmas have also been partially evaluated. (U.S.)

Electron Fermi acceleration in collapsing magnetic traps: Computational and analytical models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gisler, G.; Lemons, D.

1990-01-01

The authors consider the heating and acceleration of electrons trapped on magnetic field lines between approaching magnetic mirrors. Such a collapsing magnetic trap and consequent electron energization can occur whenever a curved (or straight) flux tube drifts into a relatively straight (or curved) perpendicular shock. The relativistic, three-dimensional, collisionless test particle simulations show that an initial thermal electron distribution is bulk heated while a few individual electrons are accelerated to many times their original energy before they escape the trap. Upstream field-aligned beams and downstream pancake distributions perpendicular to the field are predicted. In the appropriate limit the simulation results agree well with a nonrelativistic analytic model of the distribution of escaping electrons which is based on the first adiabatic invariant and energy conservation between collisions with the mirrors. Space science and astrophysical applications are discussed

High-power laser experiments to study collisionless shock generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakawa Y.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available A collisionless Weibel-instability mediated shock in a self-generated magnetic field is studied using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation [Kato and Takabe, Astophys. J. Lett. 681, L93 (2008]. It is predicted that the generation of the Weibel shock requires to use NIF-class high-power laser system. Collisionless electrostatic shocks are produced in counter-streaming plasmas using Gekko XII laser system [Kuramitsu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 175002 (2011]. A NIF facility time proposal is approved to study the formation of the collisionless Weibel shock. OMEGA and OMEGA EP experiments have been started to study the plasma conditions of counter-streaming plasmas required for the NIF experiment using Thomson scattering and to develop proton radiography diagnostics.

Ion and electron heating in ICRF heating experiments on LHD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saito, K. [Nagoya Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Engineering; Kumazawa, R.; Mutoh, T. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)] [and others

2001-02-01

This paper reports on the Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency (ICRF) heating conducted in 1999 in the 3rd experimental campaign on the Large Helical Device (LHD) with an emphasis on the optimization of the heating regime. Specifically, an exhaustive study of seven different heating regimes was carried out by changing the RF frequency relative to the magnetic field intensity, and the dependence of the heating efficiency on H-minority concentration was investigated. It was found in the experiment that both ion and electron heating are attainable with the same experimental setup by properly choosing the frequency relative to the magnetic field intensity. In the cases of both electron heating and ion heating, the power absorption efficiency depends on the minority ion concentration. An optimum minority concentration exists in the ion heating case while, in the electron heating case, the efficiency increases with concentration monotonically. A simple model calculation is introduced to provide a heuristic understanding of these experimental results. Among the heating regimes examined in this experiment, one of the ion heating regimes was finally chosen as the optimized heating regime and various high performance discharges were realized with it. (author)

Nearly collisionless spherical accretion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Begelman, M.C.

1977-01-01

A fluid-like gas accretes much more efficiently than a collisionless gas. The ability of an accreting gas to behave like a fluid depends on the relationship of the mean free path of a gas particle at r → infinity lambdasub(infinity), to the typical length scales associated with the star-gas system. This relationship is examined in detail. For constant collision cross-section evidence is found for a rapid changeover from collisionless to fluid-like accretion flow when lambdasub(infinity) drops below a certain value, but for hard Coulomb collisions, the transition is more gradual, and is sensitive to the adiabatic index of the gas at r→ infinity. To these results must be added the effects of the substantial cusp of bound particles, which always develops in a system with arbitrarily small but non-zero cross-section. The density run in such a cusp depends on the collision properties of the particles. 'Loss-cone' accretion from the cusp may in some cases exceed the predicted accretion rate. (author)

Using Field-Particle Correlations to Diagnose the Collisionless Damping of Plasma Turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Howes, Gregory; Klein, Kristropher

2016-10-01

Plasma turbulence occurs ubiquitously throughout the heliosphere, yet our understanding of how turbulence governs energy transport and plasma heating remains incomplete, constituting a grand challenge problem in heliophysics. In weakly collisional heliospheric plasmas, such as the solar corona and solar wind, damping of the turbulent fluctuations occurs due to collisionless interactions between the electromagnetic fields and the individual plasma particles. A particular challenge in diagnosing this energy transfer is that spacecraft measurements are typically limited to a single point in space. Here we present an innovative field-particle correlation technique that can be used with single-point measurements to estimate the energization of the plasma particles due to the damping of the electromagnetic fields, providing vital new information about this how energy transfer is distributed as a function of particle velocity. This technique has the promise to transform our ability to diagnose the kinetic plasma physical mechanisms responsible for not only the damping of turbulence, but also the energy conversion in both collisionless magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration. The work has been supported by NSF CAREER Award AGS-1054061, NSF AGS-1331355, and DOE DE-SC0014599.

Numerical studies of electron dynamics in oblique quasi-perpendicular collisionless shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liewer, P.C.; Decyk, V.K.; Dawson, J.M.; Lembege, B.

1991-01-01

Linear and nonlinear electron damping of the whistler precursor wave train to low Mach number quasi-perpendicular oblique shocks is studied using a one-dimensional electromagnetic plasma simulation code with particle electrons and ions. In some parameter regimes, electrons are observed to trap along the magnetic field lines in the potential of the whistler precursor wave train. This trapping can lead to significant electron heating in front of the shock for β e (∼10% or less). Use of the 64-processor Caltech/JPL Mark IIIfp hypercube concurrent computer has enables us to make long runs using realistic mass ratios (m i /m e = 1,600) in the full particle in-cell code and thus simulate shock parameter regimes and phenomena not previously studied numerically

Stratified Simulations of Collisionless Accretion Disks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirabayashi, Kota; Hoshino, Masahiro, E-mail: hirabayashi-k@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033 (Japan)

2017-06-10

This paper presents a series of stratified-shearing-box simulations of collisionless accretion disks in the recently developed framework of kinetic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), which can handle finite non-gyrotropy of a pressure tensor. Although a fully kinetic simulation predicted a more efficient angular-momentum transport in collisionless disks than in the standard MHD regime, the enhanced transport has not been observed in past kinetic-MHD approaches to gyrotropic pressure anisotropy. For the purpose of investigating this missing link between the fully kinetic and MHD treatments, this paper explores the role of non-gyrotropic pressure and makes the first attempt to incorporate certain collisionless effects into disk-scale, stratified disk simulations. When the timescale of gyrotropization was longer than, or comparable to, the disk-rotation frequency of the orbit, we found that the finite non-gyrotropy selectively remaining in the vicinity of current sheets contributes to suppressing magnetic reconnection in the shearing-box system. This leads to increases both in the saturated amplitude of the MHD turbulence driven by magnetorotational instabilities and in the resultant efficiency of angular-momentum transport. Our results seem to favor the fast advection of magnetic fields toward the rotation axis of a central object, which is required to launch an ultra-relativistic jet from a black hole accretion system in, for example, a magnetically arrested disk state.

Compton harmonic resonances, stochastic instabilities, quasilinear diffusion, and collisionless damping with ultra-high intensity laser waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rax, J.M.

1992-04-01

The dynamics of electrons in two-dimensional, linearly or circularly polarized, ultra-high intensity (above 10 18 W/cm 2 ) laser waves, is investigated. The Compton harmonic resonances are identified as the source of various stochastic instabilities. Both Arnold diffusion and resonance overlap are considered. The quasilinear kinetic equation, describing the evolution of the electron distribution function, is derived, and the associated collisionless damping coefficient is calculated. The implications of these new processes are considered and discussed

Electrostatic effect for the collisionless tearing mode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshino, M.

1987-01-01

Electron dynamics has not been self-consistently considered in collisionless tearing mode theories to date because of the mathematical complexity of the Vlasov-Maxwell equations. We have found using computer simulations that electrostatic fields play an important role in the tearing mode. Vlasov theory, including the electrostatic field, is investigated for topologies with both antiparallel and nonantiparallel magnetic field lines. The electrostatic field influences the resonant current in the neutral sheet which is a non-MHD effect, and modifies the linear growth rate. At the magnetopause, where the field lines are not antiparallel, the electrostatic effect acts to raise the linear growth rate of the tearing mode. On the other hand, in the magnetotail, where magnetic field lines are antiparallel, the electrostatic effect reduces the tearing mode growth rate. copyright American Geophysical Union 1987

TEM heat transport and fluctuations in the HSX stellarator: experiments and comparison with gyrokinetic simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Smoniewski, J.; Faber, B. J.; Sánchez, E.; Calvo, I.; Pueschel, M. J.; Likin, K. M.; Deng, C. B.; Talmadge, J. N.

2017-10-01

The Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX) has demonstrated reduced neoclassical transport in the plasma core with quasi-symmetry [Lore Thesis 2010], while outside this region the electron thermal diffusivity is well above the neoclassical level, likely due to the Trapped Electron Mode (TEM) [Weir PoP 2015, Faber PoP 2015]. We compare gyrokinetic simulations of the TEM to experimental heat flux and density fluctuation measurements for two configurations: Quasi-Helical Symmetry (QHS) and broken symmetry (Mirror). Both experiment and simulation show that the heat flux for Mirror is larger than for QHS by about a factor of two. Initial interferometer measurements provide evidence that density-gradient-driven TEMs are driving turbulence. Calculations of the collisionless damping of zonal flows provide another perspective into the difference between geometries. Similar to other stellarators [Monreal PPCF 2016], the zonal flow residual goes to zero at long wavelengths in both configurations. Additionally, the very short time decay of the zonal flow due to neoclassical polarization is constant between configurations. However, the collisionless damping time is longer and the zonal flow oscillation frequency is smaller in QHS than Mirror, consistent with reduced radial particle drifts. Work supported by the US DOE under Grant DE-FG02-93ER54222.

Hybrid simulation of electron cyclotron resonance heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ropponen, T. [Department of Physics, University of Jyvaeskylae, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 (Finland)], E-mail: tommi.ropponen@phys.jyu.fi; Tarvainen, O. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Suominen, P. [CERN Geneve 23, CH-1211 (Switzerland); Koponen, T.K. [Department of Physics, University of Jyvaeskylae, Nanoscience Center, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 (Finland); Kalvas, T.; Koivisto, H. [Department of Physics, University of Jyvaeskylae, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 (Finland)

2008-03-11

Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) heating is a fundamentally important aspect in understanding the physics of Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources (ECRIS). Absorption of the radio frequency (RF) microwave power by electron heating in the resonance zone depends on many parameters including frequency and electric field strength of the microwave, magnetic field structure and electron and ion density profiles. ECR absorption has been studied in the past by e.g. modelling electric field behaviour in the resonance zone and its near proximity. This paper introduces a new ECR heating code that implements damping of the microwave power in the vicinity of the resonance zone, utilizes electron density profiles and uses right hand circularly polarized (RHCP) electromagnetic waves to simulate electron heating in ECRIS plasma.

Weibel instability mediated collisionless shocks using intense laser-driven plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Palaniyappan, Sasikumar; Fiuza, Federico; Huang, Chengkun; Gautier, Donald; Ma, Wenjun; Schreiber, Jorg; Raymer, Abel; Fernandez, Juan; Shimada, Tom; Johnson, Randall

2017-10-01

The origin of cosmic rays remains a long-standing challenge in astrophysics and continues to fascinate physicists. It is believed that ``collisionless shocks'' - where the particle Coulomb mean free path is much larger that the shock transition - are a dominant source of energetic cosmic rays. These shocks are ubiquitous in astrophysical environments such as gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebula and coronal mass ejections from the sun. A particular type of electromagnetic plasma instability known as Weibel instability is believed to be the dominant mechanism behind the formation of these collisionless shocks in the cosmos. The understanding of the microphysics behind collisionless shocks and their particle acceleration is tightly related with nonlinear basic plasma processes and remains a grand challenge. In this poster, we will present results from recent experiments at the LANL Trident laser facility studying collisionless shocks using intense ps laser (80J, 650 fs - peak intensity of 1020 W/cm2) driven near-critical plasmas using carbon nanotube foam targets. A second short pulse laser driven protons from few microns thick gold foil is used to radiograph the main laser-driven plasma. Work supported by the LDRD program at LANL.

Electron-cyclotron-resonant-heated electron distribution functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Y.; Nevins, W.M.; Cohen, R.H.

1981-01-01

Recent studies at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) with a bounce-averaged Fokker-Planck code indicate that the energetic electron tail formed by electron-cyclotron resonant heating (ECRH) at the second harmonic is not Maxwellian. We present the results of our bounce-averaged Fokker-Planck code along with some simple analytic models of hot-electron distribution functions

DC current in the collisionless limit induced by a travelling wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Midzuno, Yukio; Fukuda, Masaji.

1977-03-01

The DC current induced by a Travelling Wave is calculated on the basis of the assumption that the distribution function of electrons in the collisionless limit should be determined by a condition derived from the nature of the collision operator, as in the case of the calculation of the neoclassical transport in a torus. The resultant net current is found to have the same parameter dependence as the one derived in a previous analysis, in which we assumed the initial distribution of electrons to be uniform and isotropic Maxwellian. The numerical coefficient is found, however, to be a little different from the previous one. The importance of the accurate matching of the distribution function of untrapped particles to the Maxwellian one for large velocity is demonstrated. (auth.)

Diffusive and convective transport modelling from analysis of ECRH-stimulated electron heat wave propagation. [ECRH (Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erckmann, V; Gasparino, U; Giannone, L. (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany)) (and others)

1992-01-01

ECRH power modulation experiments in toroidal devices offer the chance to analyze the electron heat transport more conclusively: the electron heat wave propagation can be observed by ECE (or SX) leading to radial profiles of electron temperature modulation amplitude and time delay (phase shift). Taking also the stationary power balance into account, the local electron heat transport can be modelled by a combination of diffusive and convective transport terms. This method is applied to ECRH discharges in the W7-AS stellarator (B=2.5T, R=2m, a[<=]18 cm) where the ECRH power deposition is highly localized. In W7-AS, the T[sub e] modulation profiles measured by a high resolution ECE system are the basis for the local transport analysis. As experimental errors limit the separation of diffusive and convective terms in the electron heat transport for central power deposition, also ECRH power modulation experiments with off-axis deposition and inward heat wave propagation were performed (with 70 GHz o-mode as well as with 140 GHz x-mode for increased absorption). Because collisional electron-ion coupling and radiative losses are only small, low density ECRH discharges are best candidates for estimating the electron heat flux from power balance. (author) 2 refs., 3 figs.

Laser-driven, magnetized quasi-perpendicular collisionless shocks on the Large Plasma Device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaeffer, D. B.; Everson, E. T.; Bondarenko, A. S.; Clark, S. E.; Constantin, C. G.; Vincena, S.; Van Compernolle, B.; Tripathi, S. K. P.; Gekelman, W.; Niemann, C.; Winske, D.

2014-01-01

The interaction of a laser-driven super-Alfvénic magnetic piston with a large, preformed magnetized ambient plasma has been studied by utilizing a unique experimental platform that couples the Raptor kJ-class laser system [Niemann et al., J. Instrum. 7, P03010 (2012)] to the Large Plasma Device [Gekelman et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)] at the University of California, Los Angeles. This platform provides experimental conditions of relevance to space and astrophysical magnetic collisionless shocks and, in particular, allows a detailed study of the microphysics of shock formation, including piston-ambient ion collisionless coupling. An overview of the platform and its capabilities is given, and recent experimental results on the coupling of energy between piston and ambient ions and the formation of collisionless shocks are presented and compared to theoretical and computational work. In particular, a magnetosonic pulse consistent with a low-Mach number collisionless shock is observed in a quasi-perpendicular geometry in both experiments and simulations

Electronic specific heats in metal--hydrogen systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flotow, H.E.

1979-01-01

The electronic specific heats of metals and metal--hydrogen systems can in many cases be evaluated from the measured specific heats at constant pressure, C/sub p/, in the temperature range 1 to 10 K. For the simplest case, C/sub p/ = γT + βT 3 , where γT represents the specific heat contribution associated with the conduction electrons, and βT 3 represents lattice specific heat contribution. The electronic specific heat coefficient, γ, is important because it is proportional to electron density of states at the Fermi surface. A short description of a low temperature calorimetric cryostat employing a 3 He/ 4 He dilution refrigeration is given. Various considerations and complications encountered in the evaluation of γ from specific heat data are discussed. Finally, the experimental values of γ for the V--Cr--H system and for the Lu--H system are summarized and the variations of γ as function of alloy composition are discussed

Influence of a guide field on collisionless driven reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horiuchi, Ritoku; Usami, Shunsuke; Ohtani, Hiroaki

2014-01-01

The influence of a guide field on collisionless driven reconnection is investigated by means of two-dimensional electromagnetic particle simulation in an open system. In a quasi-steady state when reconnection electric field evolves fully, a current layer evolves locally in a narrow kinetic region and its scale decreases in proportion to an electron meandering scale as the guide field is intensified. Here, the meandering scale stands for an average spatial scale of nongyrotropic motions in the vicinity of the reconnection point. Force terms associated with off-diagonal components of electron and ion pressure tensors, which are originating from nongyrotropic motions of charged particles, becomes dominant at the reconnection point and sustain the reconnection electric field even when the guide field is strong. It is also found that thermalization of both ions and electrons is suppressed by the guide field. For the weak guide field, an electron nonthermal component is significantly created through a fast outburst from the kinetic region, while for the strong guide field, an ion nonthermal component is generated through the acceleration by an in-plane electric field near the magnetic separatrix. (author)

Heating efficiency of high-power perpendicular neutral-beam injection in PDX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawryluk, R.J.; Arunasalam, V.; Bell, M.

1982-03-01

The heating efficiency of high power (up to 7.2 MW) near-perpendicular neutral beam injection in the PDX tokamak is comparable to that of tangential injection in PLT. Collisionless plasmas with central ion temperatures up to 6.5 keV and central electron temperatures greater than 2.5 keV have been obtained. The plasma pressure, including the contribution from the beam particles, increases with increasing beam power and does not appear to saturate, although the parametric dependence of the energy confinement time is different from that observed in ohmic discharges

A new formulation of theta pinch implosions - a collisionless wave model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsui, K.H.

Previous work in theta pinch implosions is characterized by anomalous resistivity owing its origin to plasma instabilities. A diametrically opposite collisionless model is proposed here that consists of an inhomogeneous wave equation. The electron velocities are solved by guiding center approximation. This model offers qualitative explanations to various effects like experimental Alfven scaling law, Alfven penetration time, sheath thickness, shock formation, shock width, piston thickness, Alfven Mach number. Although collision is not essential, the plasma has an apparent resistivity with an effective collision frequency of roughly the same as those anomalous ones used in turbulent model. (Author) [pt

Microstructure in two- and three-dimensional hybrid simulations of perpendicular collisionless shocks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Burgess, D.; Hellinger, Petr; Gingell, I.; Trávníček, Pavel M.

2016-01-01

Roč. 82, č. 4 (2016), 905820401/1-905820401/23 ISSN 0022-3778 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : ion-acceleration * numerical simulations * bow shock * electron acceleration * cluster observations * self-reformation * magnetic-field * whistler waves * injection * nonstationarity Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.160, year: 2016 https://www.cambridge.org/core/ journals /journal-of-plasma-physics/article/microstructure-in-two-and-three-dimensional-hybrid-simulations-of-perpendicular-collisionless-shocks/F964EF89FB14A6504A49CFAD54970E2B

The microphysics of collisionless shock waves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marcowith, Alexandre; Bret, Antoine; Bykov, Andrei

2016-01-01

Collisionless shocks, that is shocks mediated by electromagnetic processes, are customary in space physics and in astrophysics. They are to be found in a great variety of objects and environments: magnetospheric and heliospheric shocks, supernova remnants, pulsar winds and their nebulæ, active ga...

Collisionless microinstabilities in stellarators. II. Numerical simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proll, J. H. E.; Xanthopoulos, P.; Helander, P.

2013-01-01

Microinstabilities exhibit a rich variety of behavior in stellarators due to the many degrees of freedom in the magnetic geometry. It has recently been found that certain stellarators (quasi-isodynamic ones with maximum-J geometry) are partly resilient to trapped-particle instabilities, because fast-bouncing particles tend to extract energy from these modes near marginal stability. In reality, stellarators are never perfectly quasi-isodynamic, and the question thus arises whether they still benefit from enhanced stability. Here, the stability properties of Wendelstein 7-X and a more quasi-isodynamic configuration, QIPC, are investigated numerically and compared with the National Compact Stellarator Experiment and the DIII-D tokamak. In gyrokinetic simulations, performed with the gyrokinetic code GENE in the electrostatic and collisionless approximation, ion-temperature-gradient modes, trapped-electron modes, and mixed-type instabilities are studied. Wendelstein 7-X and QIPC exhibit significantly reduced growth rates for all simulations that include kinetic electrons, and the latter are indeed found to be stabilizing in the energy budget. These results suggest that imperfectly optimized stellarators can retain most of the stabilizing properties predicted for perfect maximum-J configurations

Heated electron distributions from resonant absorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeGroot, J.S.; Tull, J.E.

1975-01-01

A simplified model of resonant absorption of obliquely incident laser light has been developed. Using a 1.5 dimensional electrostatic simulation computer code, it is shown that the inclusion of ion motion is critically important in determining the heated electron distributions from resonant absorption. The electromagnetic wave drives up an electron plasma wave. For long density scale lengths (Lapprox. =10 3 lambda/subD//sube/), the phase velocity of this wave is very large (ω/kapproximately-greater-than10V/sub th/) so that if heating does occur, a suprathermal tail of very energetic electrons is produced. However, the pressure due to this wave steepens the density profile until the density gradient scale length near the critical density (where the local plasma frequency equals the laser frequency) is of order 20lambda/subD//sube/. The electrostatic wave is thus forced to have a much lower phase velocity (ω/kapprox. =2.5V/sub th/). In this case, more electrons are heated to much lower velocities. The heated electron distributions are exponential in velocity space. Using a simple theory it is shown that this property of profile steepening applies to most of a typical laser fusion pulse. This steepening raises the threshold for parametric instabilities near the critical surface. Thus, the extensive suprathermal electron distributions typically produced by these parametric instabilities can be drastically reduced

Lessons on collisionless reconnection from quantum fluids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasuhito eNarita

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Magnetic reconnection in space plasmas remains a challenge in physics in that the phenomenon is associated with the breakdown of frozen-in magnetic field in a collisionless medium. Such a topology change can also be found in superfluidity, known as the quantum vortex reconnection. We give a plasma physicists' view of superfluidity to obtain insights on essential processes in collisionless reconnection, including discussion of the kinetic and fluid pictures, wave dynamics, and time reversal asymmetry. The most important lesson from the quantum fluid is the scenario that reconnection is controlled by the physics of topological defects on the microscopic scale, and by the physics of turbulence on the macroscopic scale. Quantum vortex reconnection is accompanied by wave emission in the form of Kelvin waves and sound waves, which imprints the time reversal asymmetry.

Effects of a Guide Field on the Larmor Electric Field and Upstream Electron Temperature Anisotropy in Collisionless Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ek-In, Surapat; Ruffolo, David [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok (Thailand); Malakit, Kittipat [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Techonology, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani (Thailand); Shay, Michael A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States); Cassak, Paul A., E-mail: kmalakit@gmail.com [Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV (United States)

2017-08-20

We perform the first study of the properties of the Larmor electric field (LEF) in collisionless asymmetric magnetic reconnection in the presence of an out-of-plane (guide) magnetic field for different sets of representative upstream parameters at Earth’s dayside magnetopause with an ion temperature greater than the electron temperature (the ion-to-electron temperature ratio fixed at 2) using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. We show that the LEF does persist in the presence of a guide field. We study how the LEF thickness and strength change as a function of guide field and the magnetospheric temperature and reconnecting magnetic field strength. We find that the thickness of the LEF structure decreases, while its magnitude increases when a guide field is added to the reconnecting magnetic field. The added guide field makes the Larmor radius smaller, so the scaling with the magnetospheric ion Larmor radius is similar to that reported for the case without a guide field. Note, however, that the physics causing the LEF is not well understood, so future work in other parameter regimes is needed to fully predict the LEF for arbitrary conditions. We also find that a previously reported upstream electron temperature anisotropy arises in the vicinity of the LEF region both with and without a guide field. We argue that the generation of the anisotropy is linked to the existence of the LEF. The LEF can be used in combination with the electron temperature anisotropy as a signature to effectively identify dayside reconnection sites in observations.

Effects of a Guide Field on the Larmor Electric Field and Upstream Electron Temperature Anisotropy in Collisionless Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ek-In, Surapat; Ruffolo, David; Malakit, Kittipat; Shay, Michael A.; Cassak, Paul A.

2017-01-01

We perform the first study of the properties of the Larmor electric field (LEF) in collisionless asymmetric magnetic reconnection in the presence of an out-of-plane (guide) magnetic field for different sets of representative upstream parameters at Earth’s dayside magnetopause with an ion temperature greater than the electron temperature (the ion-to-electron temperature ratio fixed at 2) using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. We show that the LEF does persist in the presence of a guide field. We study how the LEF thickness and strength change as a function of guide field and the magnetospheric temperature and reconnecting magnetic field strength. We find that the thickness of the LEF structure decreases, while its magnitude increases when a guide field is added to the reconnecting magnetic field. The added guide field makes the Larmor radius smaller, so the scaling with the magnetospheric ion Larmor radius is similar to that reported for the case without a guide field. Note, however, that the physics causing the LEF is not well understood, so future work in other parameter regimes is needed to fully predict the LEF for arbitrary conditions. We also find that a previously reported upstream electron temperature anisotropy arises in the vicinity of the LEF region both with and without a guide field. We argue that the generation of the anisotropy is linked to the existence of the LEF. The LEF can be used in combination with the electron temperature anisotropy as a signature to effectively identify dayside reconnection sites in observations.

Confinement of hot, hard x-ray producing electrons in solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.F.; Lilliequist, C.G.

1979-01-01

Possible thermal models for solar, hard X-ray emission, consisting of small volumes in which the electrons are rapidly heated to 4 x 10 8 K, are examined to determine under what conditions such models can be more efficient than nonthermal models. The primary energy-loss mechanism in these models is source expansion due to heat conduction which deviates from its classical value by mechanisms which are reviewed and systematized. One such mechanism is saturation of the heat flux at its maximum possible value, corresponding to direct convection by electrons. Another mechanism is anomalous limitation of the heat flux due to instability of the return current which must compensate the electron current carrying the heat. A simple, one-dimensional model in which a section of the flux tube of constant density is heated to 4 x 10 8 K is analyzed. A conduction front, determined by the above collisionless process, moves along the flux tube at the head of the expanding source. A more realistic, one-dimensional, one-fluid, two-temperature model with a spatially and temporally varying energy source which delivers energy to the electrons at a finite rate is formulated and solved numerically. This results in some ion heating and mass motions which, by themselves, represent only a small energy loss. However, because of changes in the anomalous limitation of the heat flux with higher ion temperature, the expansion losses increase considerably

Collisionless two-fluid theory of toroidal ηi stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mondt, J.; Weiland, J.

1989-01-01

A collisionless two-fluid theory based on a fourteen-moment generalization of the 'double-adiabatic' equations is developed to lowest order in the Larmor radius parameter, and applied to derive the toroidal η i stability boundary for all values of the ratio of the density gradient scale length divided by the field curvature length. The present model is an improvement over existing collisional two-fluid models in view of the collisionless nature of the η i instability, while retaining the advantage over kinetic theory of the practability of mode-coupling simulations. The linear stability boundary, linear growth rate and real frequency agree fairly accurately with draft-kinetic theory

Collisionless Reconnection in Magnetohydrodynamic and Kinetic Turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Loureiro, Nuno F.; Boldyrev, Stanislav

2017-12-01

It has recently been proposed that the inertial interval in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is terminated at small scales not by a Kolmogorov-like dissipation region, but rather by a new sub-inertial interval mediated by tearing instability. However, many astrophysical plasmas are nearly collisionless so the MHD approximation is not applicable to turbulence at small scales. In this paper, we propose an extension of the theory of reconnection-mediated turbulence to plasmas which are so weakly collisional that the reconnection occurring in the turbulent eddies is caused by electron inertia rather than by resistivity. We find that the transition scale to reconnection-mediated turbulence depends on the plasma beta and on the assumptions of the plasma turbulence model. However, in all of the cases analyzed, the energy spectra in the reconnection-mediated interval range from E({k}\\perp ){{dk}}\\perp \\propto {k}\\perp -8/3{{dk}}\\perp to E({k}\\perp ){{dk}}\\perp \\propto {k}\\perp -3{{dk}}\\perp .

Influence of high energy electrons on ECRH in LHD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ogasawara S.

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The central bulk electron temperature of more than 20 keV is achieved in LHD as a result of increasing the injection power and the lowering the electron density near 2 × 1018 m−3. Such collision-less regime is important from the aspect of the neoclassical transport and also the potential structure formation. The presences of appreciable amount of high energy electrons are indicated from hard X-ray PHA, and the discrepancy between the stored energy and kinetic energy estimated from Thomson scattering. ECE spectrum are also sensitive to the presence of high energy electrons and discussed by solving the radiation transfer equation. The ECRH power absorption to the bulk and the high energy electrons are dramatically affected by the acceleration and the confinement of high energy electrons. The heating mechanisms and the acceleration process of high energy electrons are discussed by comparing the experimental results and the ray tracing calculation under assumed various density and mean energy of high energy electrons.

Electron Scale Structures and Magnetic Reconnection Signatures in the Turbulent Magnetosheath

Science.gov (United States)

Yordanova, E.; Voros, Z.; Varsani, A.; Graham, D. B.; Norgren, C.; Khotyaintsev, Yu. V.; Vaivads, A.; Eriksson, E.; Nakamura, R.; Lindqvist, P.-A.;

Development of laser heated high current DC electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banerjee, Srutarshi; Bhattacharjee, Dhruva; Kandaswamy, E.; Ghodke, S.R.; Tiwari, Rajnish; Bakhtsingh, R.I.

2015-01-01

The paper deals with the development of a Laser heated cathode for Electron Accelerator. The electron gun is meant for Megawatt-class DC Accelerator for Electron Beam Flue Gas Treatment applications. Conventionally, LaB 6 cathode is indirectly heated by tungsten filaments whereas in the newly proposed gun, Laser is utilized for heating. A Nd:YAG Laser is used to heat the LaB 6 cathode to emission temperatures. The characterization of cathode heating at various Laser powers has been carried out. In initial trials, it has been observed that with 125 W of Laser power, the LaB 6 pellet was heated to 1315 ° C. Based on these experimental results, an electron gun rated for 30 kV, 350 mA CW has been designed. The optimization of gun electrode geometry has been done using CST Particle Studio in order to tune the various electron gun parameters. The beam diameter obtained in simulation is 8 mm at 100 mm from the LaB 6 cathode. The perveance obtained is 7.1 x 10 -8 A/V 3/2 . The Laser heated cathode has the advantages of eliminating the magnetic field effects of filament on the electron beam, electrical isolation needed for gun filament power supplies and better electron beam emittances. (author)

Evolution of velocity dispersion along cold collisionless flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banik, Nilanjan; Sikivie, Pierre

2016-01-01

We found that the infall of cold dark matter onto a galaxy produces cold collisionless flows and caustics in its halo. If a signal is found in the cavity detector of dark matter axions, the flows will be readily apparent as peaks in the energy spectrum of photons from axion conversion, allowing the densities, velocity vectors and velocity dispersions of the flows to be determined. We also discuss the evolution of velocity dispersion along cold collisionless flows in one and two dimensions. A technique is presented for obtaining the leading behaviour of the velocity dispersion near caustics. The results are used to derive an upper limit on the energy dispersion of the Big Flow from the sharpness of its nearby caustic, and a prediction for the dispersions in its velocity components

Formation of stable, high-beta, relativistic-electron plasmas using electron cyclotron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guest, G.E.; Miller, R.L.

1988-01-01

A one-dimensional, steady-state, relativistic Fokker-Planck model of electron cyclotron heating (ECH) is used to analyse the heating kinetics underlying the formation of the two-component hot-electron plasmas characteristic of ECH in magnetic mirror configurations. The model is first applied to the well diagnosed plasmas obtained in SM-1 and is then used to simulate the effective generation of relativistic electrons by upper off-resonant heating (UORH), as demonstrated empirically in ELMO. The characteristics of unstable whistler modes and cyclotron maser modes are then determined for two-component hot-electron plasmas sustained by UORH. Cyclotron maser modes are shown to be strongly suppressed by the colder background electron species, while the growth rates of whistler modes are reduced by relativistic effects to levels that may render them unobservable, provided the hot-electron pressure anisotropy is below an energy dependent threshold. (author). 29 refs, 10 figs, 1 tab

Neoclassical electron heat conduction in tokamaks performed by the ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A.A.

1987-07-01

The increment to neoclassical ion heat conduction caused by electron collisions is shown to act like electron heat conduction since the energy is taken from and given back to the electrons at each diffusion step length. It can exceed electron neoclassical heat conduction by an order of magnitude

Ion acoustic eigenmodes in a collisionless bounded plasma:

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuhn, S.; Schupfer, N.; Santiago, M.A.M.; Assis, A.S. de

1990-01-01

This paper is based on an integral-equation method developed for solving the general linearized perturbation problem for a one-dimensional, uniform collisionless plasma with thin sheats, bounded by two planar electrodes. The underlying system of equations consists of a) the Vlasov equations for all particle species involved; b) Poisson's equation; c) the equation of total-current conservation; d) the particle boundary conditions at the left and right hand electrodes and e) the external-circuit equation. The method allows for very general equilibrium, boundary and external-circuit conditions. Using Laplace transformations in both time and space, it is set up to handle the complete initial value problem but also yields, as a by-product, the solution to the eigenmode problem. The only application to date of this method was to the Pierce Diode with a non-trivial external circuit, in which case the equation determining the complex eigenfrequencies ω n was found in analytic form. The said method is applied to ion-acoustic eigenmodes in a one-dimensional, collisionless bounded plasma consisting of non-drifting thermal electrons and a cold ion beam propagating through them. In this case, which is of relevance in the context of both Q- and DP-machines, the eigenfrequencies can no longer be obtained as solutions of an analytically explicit homogeneous system of linear integral equations. Via appropriate basis- set expansions of all perturbation functions involved, this system is transformed into a system of linear algebraic equations for the ω-dependent expansion coefficients, from which the eigenfrequencies can be obtained as the zeros of the'system determinant'. The results include studies on how the eigenfrequencies depend on plasma, boundary, as well as a comparison between these bounded-system ion-acoustic eigenmodes and their infinite-plasma counter-parts. (Author)

Nanoflare heating model for collisionless solar corona

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Magnetic reconnection plays a significant role in heating the solar corona. When two oppositely directed magnetic fields come closer to form a current sheet, the current density of the plasma increases due to which magnetic reconnection and conversion of magnetic energy into thermal energy takes place. The present ...

Parallel transport of long mean-free-path plasma along open magnetic field lines: Parallel heat flux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Zehua; Tang Xianzhu

2012-01-01

In a long mean-free-path plasma where temperature anisotropy can be sustained, the parallel heat flux has two components with one associated with the parallel thermal energy and the other the perpendicular thermal energy. Due to the large deviation of the distribution function from local Maxwellian in an open field line plasma with low collisionality, the conventional perturbative calculation of the parallel heat flux closure in its local or non-local form is no longer applicable. Here, a non-perturbative calculation is presented for a collisionless plasma in a two-dimensional flux expander bounded by absorbing walls. Specifically, closures of previously unfamiliar form are obtained for ions and electrons, which relate two distinct components of the species parallel heat flux to the lower order fluid moments such as density, parallel flow, parallel and perpendicular temperatures, and the field quantities such as the magnetic field strength and the electrostatic potential. The plasma source and boundary condition at the absorbing wall enter explicitly in the closure calculation. Although the closure calculation does not take into account wave-particle interactions, the results based on passing orbits from steady-state collisionless drift-kinetic equation show remarkable agreement with fully kinetic-Maxwell simulations. As an example of the physical implications of the theory, the parallel heat flux closures are found to predict a surprising observation in the kinetic-Maxwell simulation of the 2D magnetic flux expander problem, where the parallel heat flux of the parallel thermal energy flows from low to high parallel temperature region.

Beam heating in solar flares - Electrons or protons?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.C.; Karlicky, M.; Mackinnon, A.L.; Van Den Oord, G.H.J.

1990-01-01

The current status of electron and proton beam models as candidates for the impulsive phase heating of solar flares is discussed in relation to observational constants and theoretical difficulties. It is concluded that, while the electron beam model for flare heating still faces theoretical and observational problems, the problems faced by low and high energy proton beam models are no less serious, and there are facets of proton models which have not yet been studied. At the present, the electron beam model remains the most viable and best developed of heating model candidates. 58 refs

Adiabatic energy change of plasma electrons and the frame dependence of the cross-shock potential at collisionless magnetosonic shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodrich, C.C.; Scudder, J.D.

1984-01-01

In collisionless magnetosonic shock waves, ions are commonly thought to be decelerated by dc electrostatic cross-shock electric field along the shock normal n. In a frame where ions are normally incident to the shock the change in the potential energy [qphi/sup N/] in the quasi-perpendicular geommetry is of the order of the change of the energy of normal ion flow: [qphi/sup N/]roughly-equal[1/2m/sub i/(V/sub i//sup N/xn) 2 ], which is approximately 200-500 eV at the earth's bow shock. We show that the electron energy gain, typically 1/10 this number, is consistent with such a large potential jump in this geometry. Key facts are the different paths taken by electrons an ions through the shock wave and the frame dependence of the potential jump in the geometry. In the normal incidence frame, electrons lose energy by doing work against the solar wind motional electric field E/sub M//sup N/, which partially offsets the energy gain from the cross-shock electrostatic potential energy [ephi/sub asterisk//sup N/]. In the de Hoffman-Teller frame the motional electric field vanishes; the elctrons gain the full electrostatic potential energy jump e[phi/sub asterisk//sup H//sup T/] of that frame, which is not, however, equal to the electrostatic potential energy jump e[phi/sub asterisk//sup N/] of that frame, which is not, however, equal to the electrostatic potential energy jump e[phi/sub asterisk//sup N/] in the normal incidence frame

Electron distribution function in laser heated plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fourkal, E.; Bychenkov, V. Yu.; Rozmus, W.; Sydora, R.; Kirkby, C.; Capjack, C. E.; Glenzer, S. H.; Baldis, H. A.

2001-01-01

A new electron distribution function has been found in laser heated homogeneous plasmas by an analytical solution to the kinetic equation and by particle simulations. The basic kinetic model describes inverse bremsstrahlung absorption and electron--electron collisions. The non-Maxwellian distribution function is comprised of a super-Gaussian bulk of slow electrons and a Maxwellian tail of energetic particles. The tails are heated due to electron--electron collisions and energy redistribution between superthermal particles and light absorbing slow electrons from the bulk of the distribution function. A practical fit is proposed to the new electron distribution function. Changes to the linear Landau damping of electron plasma waves are discussed. The first evidence for the existence of non-Maxwellian distribution functions has been found in the interpretation, which includes the new distribution function, of the Thomson scattering spectra in gold plasmas [Glenzer , Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 97 (1999)

Collisionless reconnection: magnetic field line interaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. A. Treumann

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Magnetic field lines are quantum objects carrying one quantum Φ0 = 2πh/e of magnetic flux and have finite radius λm. Here we argue that they possess a very specific dynamical interaction. Parallel field lines reject each other. When confined to a certain area they form two-dimensional lattices of hexagonal structure. We estimate the filling factor of such an area. Anti-parallel field lines, on the other hand, attract each other. We identify the physical mechanism as being due to the action of the gauge potential field, which we determine quantum mechanically for two parallel and two anti-parallel field lines. The distortion of the quantum electrodynamic vacuum causes a cloud of virtual pairs. We calculate the virtual pair production rate from quantum electrodynamics and estimate the virtual pair cloud density, pair current and Lorentz force density acting on the field lines via the pair cloud. These properties of field line dynamics become important in collisionless reconnection, consistently explaining why and how reconnection can spontaneously set on in the field-free centre of a current sheet below the electron-inertial scale.

Nonlinear electron-acoustic rogue waves in electron-beam plasma system with non-thermal hot electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Elwakil, S. A.; El-hanbaly, A. M.; Elgarayh, A.; El-Shewy, E. K.; Kassem, A. I.

2014-11-01

The properties of nonlinear electron-acoustic rogue waves have been investigated in an unmagnetized collisionless four-component plasma system consisting of a cold electron fluid, non-thermal hot electrons obeying a non-thermal distribution, an electron beam and stationary ions. It is found that the basic set of fluid equations is reduced to a nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The dependence of rogue wave profiles on the electron beam and energetic population parameter are discussed. The results of the present investigation may be applicable in auroral zone plasma.

Low Mach-number collisionless electrostatic shocks and associated ion acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Pusztai, I.; TenBarge, J. M.; Csapó, A. N.; Juno, J.; Hakim, A.; Yi, L.; Fülöp, T.

2018-03-01

The existence and properties of low Mach-number (M≳ 1) electrostatic collisionless shocks are investigated with a semi-analytical solution for the shock structure. We show that the properties of the shock obtained in the semi-analytical model can be well reproduced in fully kinetic Eulerian Vlasov-Poisson simulations, where the shock is generated by the decay of an initial density discontinuity. Using this semi-analytical model, we study the effect of the electron-to-ion temperature ratio and the presence of impurities on both the maximum shock potential and the Mach number. We find that even a small amount of impurities can influence the shock properties significantly, including the reflected light ion fraction, which can change several orders of magnitude. Electrostatic shocks in heavy ion plasmas reflect most of the hydrogen impurity ions.

Heat- and radiation-resistant scintillator for electron microscopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosov, A.V.; Petrov, S.A.; Puzyr', A.P.; Chetvergov, N.A.

1987-01-01

The use of a scintillator consisting of a single crystal of bismuth orthogermanate, which has high heat and radiation resistance, in REM-100, REM-200, and REM-100U electron microscopes is described. A study of the heat and radiation stabilities of single crystals of bismuth orthogermanate (Bi 4 Ge 3 O 12 ) has shown that they withstood multiple electron-beam heating redness (T ∼ 800 0 C) without changes in their properties

Formation and Coalescence of Electron Solitary Holes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saeki, K.; Michelsen, Poul; Pécseli, H. L.

1979-01-01

Electron solitary holes were observed in a magnetized collisionless plasma. These holes were identified as Bernstein-Green-Kruskal equilibria, thus being purely kinetic phenomena. The electron hole does not damp even though its velocity is close to the electron thermal velocity. Two holes attract...

Electron Heating at Kinetic Scales in Magnetosheath Turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chasapis, Alexandros; Matthaeus, W. H.; Parashar, T. N.; LeContel, O.; Retinò, A.; Breuillard, H.; Khotyaintsev, Y.; Vaivads, A.; Eriksson, E.; Lavraud, B.; Moore, T. E.; Burch, J. L.; Torbert, R. B.; Chutter, M.; Needell, J.; Lindqvist, P.-A.; Marklund, G.; Ergun, R. E.; Goodrich, K. A.; Wilder, F. D.

2017-01-01

We present a statistical study of coherent structures at kinetic scales, using data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the Earth’s magnetosheath. We implemented the multi-spacecraft partial variance of increments (PVI) technique to detect these structures, which are associated with intermittency at kinetic scales. We examine the properties of the electron heating occurring within such structures. We find that, statistically, structures with a high PVI index are regions of significant electron heating. We also focus on one such structure, a current sheet, which shows some signatures consistent with magnetic reconnection. Strong parallel electron heating coincides with whistler emissions at the edges of the current sheet.

Electron precipitation in solar flares - Collisionless effects

Science.gov (United States)

Vlahos, L.; Rowland, H. L.

1984-01-01

A large fraction of the electrons which are accelerated during the impulsive phase of solar flares stream towards the chromosphere and are unstable to the growth of plasma waves. The linear and nonlinear evolution of plasma waves as a function of time is analyzed with a set of rate equations that follows, in time, the nonlinearly coupled system of plasma waves-ion fluctuations. As an outcome of the fast transfer of wave energy from the beam to the ambient plasma, nonthermal electron tails are formed which can stabilize the anomalous Doppler resonance instability responsible for the pitch angle scattering of the beam electrons. The non-collisional losses of the precipitating electrons are estimated, and the observational implication of these results are discussed.

THE ELECTRONIC COURSE OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander P. Solodov

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The Electronic course of heat and mass transfer in power engineering is presented containing the full Electronic book as the structured hypertext document, the full set of Mathcad-documents with the whole set of educative computer models of heat and mass transfer, the computer labs, and selected educational presentations. 

Preferential acceleration in collisionless supernova shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hainebach, K.; Eichler, D.; Schramm, D.

1979-01-01

The preferential acceleration and resulting cosmic ray abundance enhancements of heavy elements (relative to protons) are calculated in the collisionless supernova shock acceleration model described by Eichler in earlier work. Rapidly increasing enhancements up to several tens times solar ratios are obtained as a function of atomic weight over charge at the time of acceleration. For material typical of hot phase interstellar medium, good agreement is obtained with the observed abundance enhancements

Analysis of core plasma heating and ignition by relativistic electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakao, Y.

2002-01-01

Clarification of the pre-compressed plasma heating by fast electrons produced by relativistic laser-plasma interaction is one of the most important issues of the fast ignition scheme in ICF. On the basis of overall calculations including the heating process, both by relativistic hot electrons and alpha-particles, and the hydrodynamic evolution of bulk plasma, we examine the feature of core plasma heating and the possibility of ignition. The deposition of the electron energy via long-range collective mode, i.e. Langmuir wave excitation, is shown to be comparable to that through binary electron-electron collisions; the calculation neglecting the wave excitation considerably underestimates the core plasma heating. The ignition condition is also shown in terms of the intensity I(h) and temperature T(h) of hot electrons. It is found that I(h) required for ignition increases in proportion to T(h). For efficiently achieving the fast ignition, electron beams with relatively 'low' energy (e.g.T(h) below 1 MeV) are desirable. (author)

Distortions of the distribution function of collisionless particles by high-frequency gravitational waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vainer, B.V.; Nasel'skii, P.D.

1983-01-01

Equations for the correlation functions of fluctuations in the spectra of relativistic collisionless particles are obtained from the combined system of Einstein's equations and the Vlasov equation. It is shown that the interaction of high-frequency gravitational waves with collisionless particles leads to diffusion of their spectrum in the momentum space. The distortions in the spectrum of the microwave background radiation in a cosmological model with high-frequency gravitational waves are discussed. Bounds are obtained on the spectral characteristics of background gravitational waves

Electron/electron acoustic instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gary, S.P.

1987-01-01

The electron acoustic wave becomes a normal mode of an unmagnetized collisionless plasma in the presence of two electron components with similar densities, but strongly disparate temperatures. The characteristic frequency of this mode is the plasma frequency of the cooler electron component. If these two electron components have a relative drift speed several times the thermal speed of the cooler component, the electron/electron acoustic instability may arise. This paper describes the parametric dependences of the threshold drift speed and maximum growth rate of this instability, and compares these with the same properties of the electron/ion acoustic instability. Under the condition of zero current, the electron/ion acoustic instability typically has the lower threshold drift speed, so that observation of the electron/electron acoustic instability is a strong indication of the presence of an electrical current in the plasma

Investigation of electron heating in laser-plasma interaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Parvazian

2013-03-01

Full Text Available  In this paper, stimulated Raman scattering (SRS and electron heating in laser plasma propagating along the plasma fusion is investigated by particle-in cell simulation. Applying an external magnetic field to plasma, production of whistler waves and electron heating associated with whistler waves in the direction perpendicular to external magnetic field was observed in this simulation. The plasma waves with low phase velocities, generated in backward-SRS and dominateing initially in time and space, accelerated the backward electrons by trapping them. Then these electrons promoted to higher energies by the forward-SRS plasma waves with high phase velocities. This tow-stage electron acceleration is more efficient due to the coexistence of these two instabilities.

Investigation of electron heating in laser-plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parvazian, A.; Haji Sharifi, K.

2013-01-01

In this paper, stimulated Raman scattering and electron heating in laser plasma propagating along the plasma fusion is investigated by particle-in cell simulation. Applying an external magnetic field to plasma, production of whistler waves and electron heating associated with whistler waves in the direction perpendicular to external magnetic field was observed in this simulation. The plasma waves with low phase velocities, generated in backward-stimulated Raman scattering and dominating initially in time and space, accelerated the backward electrons by trapping them. Then these electrons promoted to higher energies by the forward-stimulated Raman scattering plasma waves with high phase velocities. This two-stage electron acceleration is more efficient due to the coexistence of these two instabilities.

Kinetic instabilities in plasmas: from electromagnetic fluctuations to collisionless shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruyer, Charles

2014-01-01

-in-cell (PIC) simulations of the ion Weibel instability in uniform geometries, as well as shock-relevant non-uniform configurations. Moreover, they are found in correct agreement with a recent laser-driven plasma collision experiment. Along with this comparison, we pinpoint the important role of electron screening on the ion-Weibel dynamics, which may affect the results of simulations with artificially high electron mass. We subsequently address the shock propagation resulting from the magnetic Weibel turbulence generated in the upstream region. Generalizing the previous symmetric-beam model to the upstream region of the shock, the role of the magnetic turbulence in the shock-front has been analytically and self-consistently characterized. Comparison with simulations validates the model. The interaction of high-energy, ultra-high intensity lasers with dense plasmas is known to produce copious amounts of suprathermal particles. Their acceleration and subsequent transport trigger a variety of Weibel-like electromagnetic instabilities, acting as additional sources of slowing down and scattering. Their understanding is important for the many applications based upon the energy deposition and/or field generation of laser-driven particles. We investigate the ability of relativistic-intensity laser pulses to induce Weibel instability-mediated shocks in overdense plasma targets, as first proposed by Fiuza in 2012. By means of both linear theory and 2D PIC simulations, we demonstrated that in contrast to the standard astrophysical scenario previously addressed, the early-time magnetic fluctuations (Weibel instability) generated by the suprathermal electrons (and not ions) are strong enough to isotropize the target ions and, therefore, induce a collisionless electromagnetic shock. (author) [fr

Electron Heating of LHCD Plasma in HT-7 Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Yonghua; Wan Baonian; Lin Shiyao; Chen Zhongyong; Hu Xiwei; Shi Yuejiang; Hu Liqun; Kong Wei; Zhang Xiaoqing

2006-01-01

Electron heating via lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) has been investigated in HT-7 superconducting tokamak. Experiments show that the central electron temperature T e0 , the volume averaged electron temperature e > and the peaking factor of the electron temperature Q Te = T e0 / e > increase with the lower hybrid wave (LHW) power. Simultaneously the electron heating efficiency and the electron temperature as the function of the central line-averaged electron density (n e ) and the plasma current (I p ) have also been investigated. The experimental results are in a good agreement with those of the classical collision theory and the LHW power deposition theory

Superdiffusion revisited in view of collisionless reconnection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. A. Treumann

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The concept of diffusion in collisionless space plasmas like those near the magnetopause and in the geomagnetic tail during reconnection is reexamined making use of the division of particle orbits into waiting orbits and break-outs into ballistic motion lying at the bottom, for instance, of Lévy flights. The rms average displacement in this case increases with time, describing superdiffusion, though faster than classical, is still a weak process, being however strong enough to support fast reconnection. Referring to two kinds of numerical particle-in-cell simulations we determine the anomalous diffusion coefficient, the anomalous collision frequency on which the diffusion process is based, and construct a relation between the diffusion coefficients and the resistive scale. The anomalous collision frequency from electron pseudo-viscosity in reconnection turns out to be of the order of the lower-hybrid frequency with the latter providing a lower limit, thus making similar assumptions physically meaningful. Tentative though not completely justified use of the κ distribution yields κ ≈ 6 in the reconnection diffusion region and, for the anomalous diffusion coefficient, the order of several times Bohm diffusivity.

Bulk ion acceleration and particle heating during magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, Jongsoo; Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, Hantao; Jara-Almonte, Jonathan; Myers, Clayton E. [Center for Magnetic Self-Organization, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)

2014-05-15

Bulk ion acceleration and particle heating during magnetic reconnection are studied in the collisionless plasma of the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX). The plasma is in the two-fluid regime, where the motion of the ions is decoupled from that of the electrons within the ion diffusion region. The reconnection process studied here is quasi-symmetric since plasma parameters such as the magnitude of the reconnecting magnetic field, the plasma density, and temperature are compatible on each side of the current sheet. Our experimental data show that the in-plane (Hall) electric field plays a key role in ion heating and acceleration. The electrostatic potential that produces the in-plane electric field is established by electrons that are accelerated near the electron diffusion region. The in-plane profile of this electrostatic potential shows a “well” structure along the direction normal to the reconnection current sheet. This well becomes deeper and wider downstream as its boundary expands along the separatrices where the in-plane electric field is strongest. Since the in-plane electric field is 3–4 times larger than the out-of-plane reconnection electric field, it is the primary source of energy for the unmagnetized ions. With regard to ion acceleration, the Hall electric field causes ions near separatrices to be ballistically accelerated toward the outflow direction. Ion heating occurs as the accelerated ions travel into the high pressure downstream region. This downstream ion heating cannot be explained by classical, unmagnetized transport theory; instead, we conclude that ions are heated by re-magnetization of ions in the reconnection exhaust and collisions. Two-dimensional (2-D) simulations with the global geometry similar to MRX demonstrate downstream ion thermalization by the above mechanisms. Electrons are also significantly heated during reconnection. The electron temperature sharply increases across the separatrices and peaks just outside of the

ENTROPY PRODUCTION IN COLLISIONLESS SYSTEMS. I. LARGE PHASE-SPACE OCCUPATION NUMBERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, Eric I.; Williams, Liliya L. R.

2011-01-01

Certain thermal non-equilibrium situations, outside of the astrophysical realm, suggest that entropy production extrema, instead of entropy extrema, are related to stationary states. In an effort to better understand the evolution of collisionless self-gravitating systems, we investigate the role of entropy production and develop expressions for the entropy production rate in two particular statistical families that describe self-gravitating systems. From these entropy production descriptions, we derive the requirements for extremizing the entropy production rate in terms of specific forms for the relaxation function in the Boltzmann equation. We discuss some implications of these relaxation functions and point to future work that will further test this novel thermodynamic viewpoint of collisionless relaxation.

Anomalous Behavior of Electronic Heat Capacity of Strongly Correlated Iron Monosilicide

Science.gov (United States)

Povzner, A. A.; Volkov, A. G.; Nogovitsyna, T. A.

2018-04-01

The paper deals with the electronic heat capacity of iron monosilicide FeSi subjected to semiconductor-metal thermal transition during which the formation of its spintronic properties is observed. The proposed model which considers pd-hybridization of strongly correlated d-electrons with non-correlated p-electrons, demonstrates a connection of their contribution to heat capacity in the insulator phase with paramagnon effects and fluctuations of occupation numbers for p- and d-states. In a slitless state, the temperature curve of heat capacity is characterized by a maximum appeared due to normalization of the electron density of states using fluctuating exchange fields. At higher temperatures, a linear growth in heat capacity occurs due to paramagnon effects. The correlation between the model parameters and the first-principles calculation provides the electron contribution to heat capacity, which is obtained from the experimental results on phonon heat capacity. Anharmonicity of phonons is connected merely with the thermal expansion of the crystal lattice.

Collisionless shocks and upstream waves and particles: Introductory remarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennel, C.F.

1981-01-01

We discuss more aspects of collisionless shock theory that might be pertinent to the problem of upstream waves and particles. It is hoped that our qualititive remarks may be a useful guide for the general reader as he goes through the detailed papers to come

Computer simulations of upper-hybrid and electron cyclotron resonance heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, A.T.; Lin, C.C.

1983-01-01

A 2 1/2 -dimensional relativistic electromagnetic particle code is used to investigate the dynamic behavior of electron heating around the electron cyclotron and upper-hybrid layers when an extraordinary wave is obliquely launched from the high-field side into a magnetized plasma. With a large angle of incidence most of the radiation wave energy converts into electrostatic electron Bernstein waves at the upper-hybrid layer. These mode-converted waves propagate back to the cyclotron layer and deposit their energy in the electrons through resonant interactions dominated first by the Doppler broadening and later by the relativistic mass correction. The line shape for both mechanisms has been observed in the simulations. At a later stage, the relativistic resonance effects shift the peak of the temperature profile to the high-field side. The heating ultimately causes the extraordinary wave to be substantially absorbed by the high-energy electrons. The steep temperature gradient created by the electron cyclotron heating eventually reflects a substantial part of the incident wave energy. The diamagnetic effects due to the gradient of the mode-converted Bernstein wave pressure enhance the spreading of the electron heating from the original electron cyclotron layer

Effect of re-heating on the hot electron temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Estabrook, K.; Rosen, M.

1980-01-01

Resonant absorption is the direct conversion of the transverse laser light to longitudinal electron plasma waves (epw) at the critical density [10 21 (1.06 μm/lambda 0 ) 2 cm -3 ]. The oscillating longitudinal electric field of the epw heats the electrons by accelerating them down the density gradient to a temperature of approximately 21T/sub e/ 0 25 ([I(W/cm 2 )/10 16 ](lambda 0 /1.06 μm) 2 ) 0 4 . This section extends the previous work by studying the effects of magnetic fields and collisions (albedo) which return the heated electrons for further heating. A magnetic field increases their temperature and collisions do not

MMS observation of energy conversion and collisionless plasma dissipation channels in the turbulent magnetosheath

Science.gov (United States)

Parashar, T.; Yang, Y.; Chasapis, A.; Matthaeus, W. H.

2017-12-01

High resolution Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) plasma and magnetic field data obtained in the inhomogeneous turbulent magnetosheath directly reveals the exchanges of energy between electromagnetic, flow and random kinetic energy. The parameters that quantify these exchanges are based on standard manipulations of the collisionless Vlasov model of plasma dynamics [1], without appeal to viscous or other closures. No analysis of heat transport or heat conduction is carried out. Several intervals of burst mode data in the magnetosheath are considered. Time series of the work done by the electromagnetic field, and the pressure-stress interaction enable description of the pathways to dissipation in this low collisionality plasma. Using these examples we demonstrate that the pressure-stress interaction provides important information not readily revealed in other diagnostics concerning the physical processes that are observed. This method does not require any specific mechanism for its application such as reconnection or a selected mode, although with increased experience it will be useful in distinguishing among proposed possibilities. [1] Y. Yang et al, Phys. Plasmas 24, 072306 (2017); doi: 10.1063/1.4990421.

Final report for the NSF/DOE partnership in basic plasma science grant DE-FG02-06ER54906 'Laser-driven collisionless shocks in the Large Plasma Device'™

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niemann, Christoph; Gekelman, W.; Winske, D.; Larsen, D.

2012-01-01

We have performed several thousand high-energy laser shots in the LAPD to investigate the dynamics of an exploding laser-produced plasma in a large ambient magneto-plasma. Debris-ions expanding at super-Alfvenic velocity (up to MA=1.5) expel the ambient magnetic field, creating a large (> 20 cm) diamagnetic cavity. We observed field compressions of up to B/B 0 = 1.5 at the edge of the bubble, consistent with the MHD jump conditions, as well as localized electron heating at the edge of the bubble. Two-dimensional hybrid simulations reproduce these measurements well and show that the majority of the ambient ions are energized by the magnetic piston to super-Alfvenic speeds and swept outside the bubble volume. Nonlinear shear-Alfven waves (δB/B 0 > 25%) are radiated from the cavity with a coupling efficiency of 70% from magnetic energy in the bubble to the wave. While the data is consistent with a weak magneto-sonic shock, the experiments were severely limited by the low ambient plasma densities (10 12 cm -3 ). 2D hybrid simulations indicate that future experiments with the new LAPD plasma source and densities in excess of 10 13 cm -3 will drive full-blown collisionless shocks with MA>10 over several c/wpi and shocked Larmor radii. In a separate experiment at the LANL Trident laser facility we have performed a proof-of-principle experiment at higher densities to demonstrate key elements of collisionless shocks in laser-produced magnetized plasmas with important implications to NIF. Simultaneously we have upgraded the UCLA glass-laser system by adding two large amplitude disk amplifiers from the NOVA laser and boost the on-target energy from 30 J to up to 1 kJ, making this one of the world's largest university-scale laser systems. We now have the infrastructure in place to perform novel and unique high-impact experiments on collision-less shocks at the LAPD

Modelling of ion thermal transport in ergodic region of collisionless toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanno, Ryutaro; Nunami, Masanori; Satake, Shinsuke; Ohyabu, Nobuyoshi; Takamaru, Hisanori; Okamoto, Masao

2009-09-01

In recent tokamak experiments it has been found that so-called diffusion theory based on the 'diffusion of magnetic field lines' overestimates the radial energy transport in the ergodic region of the collisionless plasma affected by resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs), though the RMPs induce chaotic behavior of the magnetic field lines. The result implies that the modelling of the transport should be reconsidered for low collisionality cases. A computer simulation study of transport in the ergodic region is required for understanding fundamental properties of collisionless ergodized-plasmas, estimating the transport coefficients, and reconstructing the modelling of the transport. In this paper, we report the simulation study of thermal transport in the ergodic region under the assumption of neglecting effects of an electric field, impurities and neutrals. Because of the simulations neglecting interactions with different particle-species and saving the computational time, we treat ions (protons) in our numerical-study of the transport. We find that the thermal diffusivity in the ergodic region is extremely small compared to the one predicted by the theory of field-line diffusion and that the diffusivity depends on both the collision frequency and the strength of RMPs even for the collisionless ergodized-plasma. (author)

Electron and ion heat transport with lower hybrid current drive and neutral beam injection heating in ASDEX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soeldner, F.X.; Pereverzev, G.V.; Bartiromo, R.; Fahrbach, H.U.; Leuterer, F.; Murmann, H.D.; Staebler, A.; Steuer, K.H.

1993-01-01

Transport code calculations were made for experiments with the combined operation of lower hybrid current drive and heating and of neutral beam injection heating on ASDEX. Peaking or flattening of the electron temperature profile are mainly explained by modifications of the MHD induced electron heat transport. They originate from current profile changes due to lower hybrid and neutral beam current drive and to contributions from the bootstrap current. Ion heat transport cannot be described by one single model for all heating scenarios. The ion heat conductivity is reduced during lower hybrid heated phases with respect to Ohmic and neutral beam heating. (author). 13 refs, 5 figs

The Current-Driven, Ion-Acoustic Instability in a Collisionless Plasma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Poul; Pécseli, Hans; Juul Rasmussen, Jens

1979-01-01

The current-driven, ion-acoustic instability was investigated by means of an experiment performed in a collisionless plasma produced in a single-ended Q-machine. Reflections at the ends of the plasma column gave rise to a standing wave. Parameters of the instability were investigated, and it was ......, and it was demonstrated that the fluctuations in the plasma column behave as a classical Van der Pol oscillator. Accurate measurements of the growth rate of the instability can be performed by making explicit use of the particular properties of such a system.......The current-driven, ion-acoustic instability was investigated by means of an experiment performed in a collisionless plasma produced in a single-ended Q-machine. Reflections at the ends of the plasma column gave rise to a standing wave. Parameters of the instability were investigated...

Electron cyclotron heating and associated parallel cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rapozo, C. da C.; Assis, A.S. de; Busnardo Neto, J.

1990-01-01

It has been experimentally observed that during the electron-cyclotron heating the electron longitudinal temperature drops as the perpendicular temperature increases. The experiment was carried in a linear mirror machine with a low density (10 10 cm -3 ) weakly ionized (< 1.0 %) plasma. (Author)

Simultaneous Propagation of Heat Waves Induced by Sawteeth and Electron-Cyclotron Heating Power Modulation in the Rtp Tokamak

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gorini, G.; Mantica, P.; Hogeweij, G. M. D.; De Luca, F.; Jacchia, A.; Konings, J. A.; Cardozo, N. J. L.; Peters, M.

1993-01-01

The incremental electron heat diffusivity chi(inc) is determined in Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project plasmas by measurements of simultaneous heat pulses due to (1) the sawtooth instability and (2) modulated electron cyclotron heating. No systematic difference is observed between the two measured chi(inc)

Electron heating in JET by ICRH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cordey, J.G.; Christiansen, J.P.; Core, W.G.F.; Cotrell, G.A.; Eriksson, L.G.; Kovanen, M.A.; Lomas, P.; Start, D.F.H.; Taroni, A.; Tibone, F.

1991-01-01

Several ICRH experiments carried out on JET during the period 1988-90 have been directed specifically at raising the electron temperature to a high value by maximizing the total input power per particle (P tot /n). It has been found that the electron temperature saturates around 12-14 keV in sharp contrast to NBI ion heating experiments in which ion temperatures exceed 25 keV. Initial calculations suggested that this saturation was due to strongly enhanced transport in the central region. It is shown in this paper that the saturation is due to a lack of heating in the plasma center. The power input to electrons in an ICRF minority heating scheme is mainly via collisional transfer from the minority fast ions and a main problem is to maintain a peaked profile of fast ions. In the present experiments the highest fast ion energy content 4MJ has been achieved with a He 3 minority scheme, the equivalent fast ion toroidal β is 8%; electron temperatures in the range 11-14 keV are attained in these pulses. There are several possible physical effects that can give rise to the broadening of the fast ion radial profile: sawteeth, fishbones, fast ion finite orbit effects and Alfven or drift wave turbulence driven by the large gradients of fast ion pressure (discussed in section IV). The existence of such phenomena in many JET pulses means that the calculation of the power input profile by codes which contain purely classical collisional processes can be misleading. Hence an alternative approach is developed in section II; the measured fast ion energy is used directly to evaluate the power input to the central region; the scaling of the electron temperature with the actual power per particle can therefore be determined (section III). (author) 6 refs., 5 figs

Production of accelerated electrons near an electron source in the plasma resonance region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fedorov, V.A.

1989-01-01

Conditions of generation of plasma electrons accelerated and their characteristics in the vicinity of an electron source are determined. The electron source isolated electrically with infinitely conducting surface, being in unrestricted collisionless plasma ω 0 >>ν, where ω 0 - plasma frequency of nonperturbated plasma, ν - frequency of plasma electron collisions with other plasma particles, is considered. Spherically symmetric injection of electrons, which rates are simulated by ω frequency, occurs from the source surface. When describing phenomena in the vicinity of the electron source, one proceeds from the quasihydrodynamic equation set

Final report for the NSF/DOE partnership in basic plasma science grant DE-FG02-06ER54906 'Laser-driven collisionless shocks in the Large Plasma Device'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Niemann, Christoph [UCLA, CA (United States); Gekelman, W. [UCLA, CA (United States); Winske, D. [LANL, NM (United States); Larsen, D. [LLNL, CA (United States)

2012-12-14

We have performed several thousand high-energy laser shots in the LAPD to investigate the dynamics of an exploding laser-produced plasma in a large ambient magneto-plasma. Debris-ions expanding at super-Alfvenic velocity (up to MA=1.5) expel the ambient magnetic field, creating a large (> 20 cm) diamagnetic cavity. We observed field compressions of up to B/B{sub 0} = 1.5 at the edge of the bubble, consistent with the MHD jump conditions, as well as localized electron heating at the edge of the bubble. Two-dimensional hybrid simulations reproduce these measurements well and show that the majority of the ambient ions are energized by the magnetic piston to super-Alfvenic speeds and swept outside the bubble volume. Nonlinear shear-Alfven waves ({delta}B/B{sub 0} > 25%) are radiated from the cavity with a coupling efficiency of 70% from magnetic energy in the bubble to the wave. While the data is consistent with a weak magneto-sonic shock, the experiments were severely limited by the low ambient plasma densities (10{sup 12} cm{sup -3}). 2D hybrid simulations indicate that future experiments with the new LAPD plasma source and densities in excess of 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3} will drive full-blown collisionless shocks with MA>10 over several c/wpi and shocked Larmor radii. In a separate experiment at the LANL Trident laser facility we have performed a proof-of-principle experiment at higher densities to demonstrate key elements of collisionless shocks in laser-produced magnetized plasmas with important implications to NIF. Simultaneously we have upgraded the UCLA glass-laser system by adding two large amplitude disk amplifiers from the NOVA laser and boost the on-target energy from 30 J to up to 1 kJ, making this one of the world’s largest university-scale laser systems. We now have the infrastructure in place to perform novel and unique high-impact experiments on collision-less shocks at the LAPD.

Effect of electron beam on the properties of electron-acoustic rogue waves

Science.gov (United States)

El-Shewy, E. K.; Elwakil, S. A.; El-Hanbaly, A. M.; Kassem, A. I.

2015-04-01

The properties of nonlinear electron-acoustic rogue waves have been investigated in an unmagnetized collisionless four-component plasma system consisting of a cold electron fluid, Maxwellian hot electrons, an electron beam and stationary ions. It is found that the basic set of fluid equations is reduced to a nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The dependence of rogue wave profiles and the associated electric field on the carrier wave number, normalized density of hot electron and electron beam, relative cold electron temperature and relative beam temperature are discussed. The results of the present investigation may be applicable in auroral zone plasma.

Species Entropies in the Kinetic Range of Collisionless Plasma Turbulence: Particle-in-cell Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Gary, S. Peter; Zhao, Yinjian; Hughes, R. Scott; Wang, Joseph; Parashar, Tulasi N.

2018-06-01

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the forward cascade of decaying turbulence in the relatively short-wavelength kinetic range have been carried out as initial-value problems on collisionless, homogeneous, magnetized electron-ion plasma models. The simulations have addressed both whistler turbulence at β i = β e = 0.25 and kinetic Alfvén turbulence at β i = β e = 0.50, computing the species energy dissipation rates as well as the increase of the Boltzmann entropies for both ions and electrons as functions of the initial dimensionless fluctuating magnetic field energy density ε o in the range 0 ≤ ε o ≤ 0.50. This study shows that electron and ion entropies display similar rates of increase and that all four entropy rates increase approximately as ε o , consistent with the assumption that the quasilinear premise is valid for the initial conditions assumed for these simulations. The simulations further predict that the time rates of ion entropy increase should be substantially greater for kinetic Alfvén turbulence than for whistler turbulence.

Electron-confinement studies on EBT-S using soft-x-ray techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillis, D.L.; Haste, G.R.; Berry, L.A.

1982-08-01

Soft x-ray bremsstrahlung measurements have been performed on the ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT-S) plasma to determine the electron temperature T/sub e/ and electron density n/sub e/ using a calibrated Si(Li) detector over a wide range of operating conditions. The purpose of this paper is to outline the necessary assumptions and essential x-ray techniques that are inherent in soft x-ray measurements in order to investigate the electron heating and confinement properties of EBT-S. In addition, by utilizing the electron density as determined by the soft x-ray measurements, the previous EBT-S confinement analyses have been extended. The steady-state plasma of EBT-S is heated by microwaves using a cw gyrotron that can operate up to power levels of 200 kW. From the soft x-ray measurements, both the electron temperature and density are found to increase at higher microwave power levels. For operation at microwave power levels of 200 kW, T/sub e/ approaches 1 keV while n/sub e/ approaches 1.2 x 10 12 cm -3 . In general, confinement properties are found to improve with increased microwave power. The data are compared with neoclassical transport scaling and the electron transport is found to be collisionless (nu/Ω < 1) as well as neoclassical

Propagation of waves in a gravitating and rotating anisotropic heat ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An inviscid, unbounded, collisionless, gravitating, rotating and heat conducting anisotropic plasma medium which is drifting is considered. The medium is assumed to be embedded in a strong magnetic field. A general dispersion relation is derived using normal mode analysis and its various limiting cases are discussed, ...

Magnetic field amplification in interstellar collisionless shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevalier, R.A.

1977-01-01

It is stated that it is commonly assumed that a simple compression of the magnetic field occurs in interstellar shock waves. Recent space observations of the Earth's bow shock have shown that turbulent amplification of the magnetic field can occur in a collisionless shock. It is shown here that radio observations of Tycho's supernova remnant indicate the presence of a shock wave with such magnetic field amplification. There is at present no theory for the microinstabilities that give rise to turbulent amplification of the magnetic field. Despite the lack of theoretical understanding the possibility of field amplification in interstellar shock waves is here considered. In Tycho's supernova remnant there is evidence for the presence of a collisionless shock, and this is discussed. On the basis of observations of the Earth's bow shock, it is expected that turbulent magnetic field amplification occurs in the shock wave of this remnant, and this is supported by radio observations of the remnant. Consideration is given as to what extent the magnetic field is amplified in the shock wave on the basis of the non-thermal radio flux. (U.K.)

Heat pipe with PCM for electronic cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weng, Ying-Che; Cho, Hung-Pin; Chang, Chih-Chung; Chen, Sih-Li

2011-01-01

This article experimentally investigates the thermal performances of a heat pipe with phase change material for electronic cooling. The adiabatic section of heat pipe is covered by a storage container with phase change material (PCM), which can store and release thermal energy depending upon the heating powers of evaporator and fan speeds of condenser. Experimental investigations are conducted to obtain the system temperature distributions from the charge, discharge and simultaneous charge/discharge performance tests. The parameters in this study include three kinds of PCMs, different filling PCM volumes, fan speeds, and heating powers in the PCM cooling module. The cooling module with tricosane as PCM can save 46% of the fan power consumption compared with the traditional heat pipe.

Electron heating caused by parametrically driven turbulence near the critical density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizuno, K.; DeGroot, J.S.; Estabrook, K.G.

1986-01-01

Microwave-driven experiments and particle simulation calculations are presented that model s-polarized laser light incident on a pellet. In the microwave experiments, the incident microwaves are observed to decay into ion and electron waves near the critical density if the microwave power is above a well-defined threshold. Significant absorption, thermal electron heating, and hot electron generation are observed for microwave powers above a few times threshold. Strong absorption, strong profile modification, strongly heated hot electrons with a Maxwellian distribution, a hot-electron temperature that increases slowly with power, and a hot-electron density that is almost constant, are all observed in both the microwave experiments and simulation calculations for high powers. In addition, the thermal electrons are strongly heated for high powers in the microwave experiments

X-ray analysis of electron Bernstein wave heating in MST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seltzman, A. H., E-mail: seltzman@wisc.edu; Anderson, J. K.; DuBois, A. M.; Almagri, A.; Forest, C. B. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

2016-11-15

A pulse height analyzing x-ray tomography system has been developed to detect x-rays from electron Bernstein wave heated electrons in the Madison symmetric torus reversed field pinch (RFP). Cadmium zinc telluride detectors are arranged in a parallel beam array with two orthogonal multi-chord detectors that may be used for tomography. In addition a repositionable 16 channel fan beam camera with a 55° field of view is used to augment data collected with the Hard X-ray array. The chord integrated signals identify target emission from RF heated electrons striking a limiter located 12° toroidally away from the RF injection port. This provides information on heated electron spectrum, transport, and diffusion. RF induced x-ray emission from absorption on harmonic electron cyclotron resonances in low current (<250 kA) RFP discharges has been observed.

A generalized two-fluid picture of non-driven collisionless reconnection and its relation to whistler waves

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Young Dae

2017-10-01

A generalized, intuitive two-fluid picture of 2D non-driven collisionless magnetic reconnection is described using results from a full-3D numerical simulation. The relevant two-fluid equations simplify to the condition that the flux associated with canonical circulation Q =me ∇ ×ue +qe B is perfectly frozen into the electron fluid. Q is the curl of P =meue +qe A , which is the electron canonical momenrum. Since ∇ . Q = 0 , the Q flux tubes are incompressible and so have a fixed volume. Because they are perfectly frozen into the electron fluid, the Q flux tubes cannot reconnect. Following the behavior of these Q flux tubes provides an intuitive insight into 2D collisionless reconnection of B . In the reconnection geometry, a small perturbation to the central electron current sheet effectively brings a localized segment of a Q flux tube towards the X-point. This flux tube segment is convected downwards with the central electron current, effectively stretching the flux tube, decreasing its cross-section to maintain a fixed volume and so increasing the magnitude of Q . Also, because Q is the sum of the electron vorticity and the magnetic field, the two terms may change in such a way that one term becomes smaller while the other becomes larger while preserving constant Q flux. This allows magnetic reconnection, which is a conversion of magnetic field into particle velocity, to occur without any dissipation mechanism. The entire process has positive feedback with no restoring mechanism and therefore is an instability. The Q motion provides an interpretation for other phenomena as well, such as spiked central electron current filaments. The simulated reconnection rate was found to agree with a previous analytical calculation having the same geometry. Energy analysis shows that the magnetic energy is converted and propagated mainly in the form of the Poynting flux, while helicity analysis shows that the canonical helicity ∫ P . QdV as a whole must be considered when

Thermal insulation of high confinement mode with dominant electron heating in comparison to dominant ion heating and corresponding changes of torque input

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sommer, Fabian H.D.

2013-01-01

The ratio of heating power going to electrons and ions will undergo a transition from mixed electron and ion heating as it is in current fusion experiments to dominant electron heating in future experiments and reactors. In order to make valid projections towards future devices the connected changes in plasma response and performance are important to be study and understand: Do electron heated plasmas behave systematically different or is the change of heated species fully compensated by heat exchange from electrons to ions? How does particle transport influence the density profile? Is the energy confinement and the H-mode pedestal reduced with reduced torque input? Does the turbulent transport regime change fundamentally? The unique capabilities of the ECRH system at ASDEX Upgrade enable this change of heated species by replacing NBI with ECRH power and thereby offer the possibility to discuss these and other questions. For low heating powers corresponding to high collisionalities the transition from mixed electron and ion heating to pure electron heating showed next to no degradation of the global plasma parameters and no change of the edge values of kinetic profiles. The electron density shows an increased central peaking with increased ECRH power. The central electron temperature stays constant while the ion temperature decreases slightly. The toroidal rotation decreases with reduced NBI fraction, but does not influence the profile stability. The power balance analysis shows a large energy transfer from electrons to ions, so that the electron heat flux approaches zero at the edge whereas the ion heat flux is independent of heating mix. The ion heat diffusivity exceeds the electron one. For high power, low collisionality discharges global plasma parameters show a slight degradation with increasing electron heating. The density profile shows a strong peaking which remains unchanged when modifying the heating mix. The electron temperature profile is unchanged

Electron-cyclotron heating in the Constance 2 mirror experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mauel, Michael E.

1982-09-01

Electron cyclotron heating of a highly-ionized plasma in mirror geometry is investigated. The experimental diagnosis of the electron energy distribution and the comparison of the results of this diagnosis with a two dimensional, time-dependent Fokker-Planck simulation are accomplished in four steps. (1) First, the power balance of the heated and unheated Constance 2 plasma is analyzed experimentally. It is concluded that the heated electrons escape the mirror at a rate dominated by a combination of the influx of cool electrons from outside the mirror and the increased loss rate of the ions. (2) The microwave parameters at the resonance zones are then calculated by cold-plasma ray tracing. High N/sub parallel/ waves are launched and for these waves, strong first-pass absorption is predicted. The absorption strength is qualitatively checked in the experiment by surrounding the plasma with non-reflecting liners. (3) A simplified quasilinear theory including the effect of N/sub parallel/ is developed to model the electrons. An analytic expression is derived for the RF-induced pump-out of the magnetically-confined warm electrons. Results of the Fokker-Planck simulations show the development of the electron energy distribution for several plasma conditions and verify the scaling of the analytic expression for RF-induced diffusion into the loss cone. (4) Sample x-ray and endloss data are presented, and the overall comparison between the simulation and experiment is discussed. The x-ray signals indicate that, for greater RF power, the hot electrondensity increases more rapidly than its temperature. The time history of the endloss data, illustrating RF-enhancement, suggests the predicted scaling for warm-electron pump-out. Finally, a comparison between the measured and predicted energy distribution shows that the bulk, warm and hot components of the heated Constance 2 electrons are indeed reproduced by the simulation.

Electron-cyclotron heating in the Constance 2 mirror experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mauel, M.E.

1982-09-01

Electron cyclotron heating of a highly-ionized plasma in mirror geometry is investigated. The experimental diagnosis of the electron energy distribution and the comparison of the results of this diagnosis with a two dimensional, time-dependent Fokker-Planck simulation are accomplished in four steps. (1) First, the power balance of the heated and unheated Constance 2 plasma is analyzed experimentally. It is concluded that the heated electrons escape the mirror at a rate dominated by a combination of the influx of cool electrons from outside the mirror and the increased loss rate of the ions. (2) The microwave parameters at the resonance zones are then calculated by cold-plasma ray tracing. High N/sub parallel/ waves are launched and for these waves, strong first-pass absorption is predicted. The absorption strength is qualitatively checked in the experiment by surrounding the plasma with non-reflecting liners. (3) A simplified quasilinear theory including the effect of N/sub parallel/ is developed to model the electrons. An analytic expression is derived for the RF-induced pump-out of the magnetically-confined warm electrons. Results of the Fokker-Planck simulations show the development of the electron energy distribution for several plasma conditions and verify the scaling of the analytic expression for RF-induced diffusion into the loss cone. (4) Sample x-ray and endloss data are presented, and the overall comparison between the simulation and experiment is discussed. The x-ray signals indicate that, for greater RF power, the hot electrondensity increases more rapidly than its temperature. The time history of the endloss data, illustrating RF-enhancement, suggests the predicted scaling for warm-electron pump-out. Finally, a comparison between the measured and predicted energy distribution shows that the bulk, warm and hot components of the heated Constance 2 electrons are indeed reproduced by the simulation

Direct electronic measurement of Peltier cooling and heating in graphene.

Science.gov (United States)

Vera-Marun, I J; van den Berg, J J; Dejene, F K; van Wees, B J

2016-05-10

Thermoelectric effects allow the generation of electrical power from waste heat and the electrical control of cooling and heating. Remarkably, these effects are also highly sensitive to the asymmetry in the density of states around the Fermi energy and can therefore be exploited as probes of distortions in the electronic structure at the nanoscale. Here we consider two-dimensional graphene as an excellent nanoscale carbon material for exploring the interaction between electronic and thermal transport phenomena, by presenting a direct and quantitative measurement of the Peltier component to electronic cooling and heating in graphene. Thanks to an architecture including nanoscale thermometers, we detected Peltier component modulation of up to 15 mK for currents of 20 μA at room temperature and observed a full reversal between Peltier cooling and heating for electron and hole regimes. This fundamental thermodynamic property is a complementary tool for the study of nanoscale thermoelectric transport in two-dimensional materials.

Progress on Electron Cyclotron Heating Experiments in LHD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimozuma, T.; Kubo, S.; Yoshimura, Y.; Igami, H.; Nagasaki, K.; Notake, T.; Inagaki, S.; Ito, S.; Kobayashi, S.; Mizuno, Y.; Takita, Y.; Ohkubo, K.; Saito, K.; Seki, T.; Kumazawa, R.; Watari, T.; Mutoh, T.

2005-01-01

Electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) is a powerful heating method because of its well-controlled local heating and high deposition power density. Together with the development of high power long pulse gyrotrons, ECH becomes one of the major heating scenarios to control electron temperature and current profiles for the improved plasma confinement and suppression of some magneto-hydro-dainamic (MHD) instabilities in both tokamaks and stellarators [1]. In the Large Helical Device (LHD), ECH has been worked as a method of plasma initiation and electron heating. The ECH system has been improved with respect to each experimental campaign. In the recent campaign, nine gyrotrons were operated reliably and steadily. As a diagnostic objective, a modulated ECH (MECH) was injected together with main ECH power. A Fourier analysis of the induced heat wave gave useful information of not only the heat transport in the plasmas but also precise power deposition layer [2]. Several kinds of ECH experiment were performed by using this flexible ECH system. In LHD, electron ITB formation have been observed by using strongly focused ECH in the plasma core [3].Two different kinds of improved confinement were realized depending on the direction of tangentially injected NBI. NBI beam driven currents modify the profiles of the rotational transform 2 ro and the existence low order rational surfaces, 2 = 0.5 in special, affects the difference of appearance of the improved confinement states. The MECH method was used to investigate the internal structure of the thermal diffusion in such plasmas [4]. Another important role of the MECH is the precise determination of the ECH power deposition. Shift of the deposition location by changing an injection polarization in the electron Bernstein wave (EBW) heating was clearly demonstrated by the MECH method. Electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) experiments were proceeded by using a flexible antenna system, which had wide scanning range in both

Electron energy confinement in ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiroe, S.; Haste, G.R.; Dandl, R.A.

1979-06-01

Using a calibrated, solid-state, soft x-ray detector, the electron temperature and density have been measured over a wide range of operating conditions of ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT). The empirical relations of the temperature or the density to the microwave power and the ambient pressure have been determined. The toroidally stored energy has been observed to increase as the stored energy of the hot electron annulus increases. The energy confinement time has been obtained for various plasma parameters and has been found to agree with the neoclassical theory. The advantages of EBT collisionless scaling for fusion plasma confinement have been noted, i.e., n/sub e/tau/sub E/ increases as T/sub e/ 1 5 in the collisionless regime

Laser heating of large noble gas clusters: from the resonant to the relativistic interaction regimes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gumbrell, E T; Moore, A S; Clark, E L; Garbett, W J; Comley, A J; Edwards, R D; Eagleton, R E [Plasma Physics Division, AWE Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR (United Kingdom); Lazarus, J A; Nilson, P M; Robinson, J S; Hohenberger, M; Symes, D R; Smith, R A [Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ (United Kingdom); Clarke, R J [Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton OX11 0QX (United Kingdom)], E-mail: edward.gumbrell@awe.co.uk, E-mail: r.a.smith@imperial.ac.uk

2008-12-15

Wide-ranging measurements of sub-picosecond laser interactions with large noble gas cluster targets have been conducted in order to help clarify the nature and extent of the underlying laser-plasma heating. Within the sub-relativistic vacuum irradiance range of 10{sup 16}-10{sup 17} W cm{sup -2}, we find that electron temperatures measured with continuum x-ray spectroscopy exhibit a pronounced multi-keV enhancement. Analysis indicates this behaviour to be consistent with collisional or collisionless resonant heating mechanisms. We also present the first measurements of laser-to-cluster energy deposition at relativistic vacuum irradiances, our data demonstrating absorption fractions of 90% or more. Optical probing was used to resolve the onset of a supersonic ionization front resulting from this very high absorption, and shows that despite significant pre-focus heating, the greatest plasma energy densities can be generated about the vacuum focus position. Electron energy spectra measurements confirm that laser-plasma super-heating occurs, and together with ion data establish that relativistic laser-plasma coupling in atomic clusters can take place without significant MeV particle beam production. In conjunction with optical self-emission data, the optical probing also indicates laser pre-pulse effects at peak vacuum irradiance of 5 x 10{sup 19} W cm{sup -2}. Laser absorption, plasma heating and energy transport data are supported throughout with analytical and numerical modelling.

Studies of electron and proton isochoric heating for fast ignition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mackinnon, A; Key, M; Akli, K; Beg, F; Clarke, R; Clarke, D; Chen, M; Chung, H; Chen, S; Freeman, R; Green, J; Gu, P; Gregori, G; Highbarger, K; Habara, H; Hatchett, S; Hey, D; Heathcote, R; Hill, J; King, J; Kodama, R; Koch, J; Lancaster, K; Langdon, B; Murphy, C; Norreys, P; Neely, D; Nakatsutsumi, M; Nakamura, H; Patel, N; Patel, P; Pasley, J; Snavley, R; Stephens, R; Stoeckl, C; Foord, M; Tabak, M; Theobald, W; Storm, M; Tanaka, K; Tempo, M; Toley, M; Town, R; Wilks, S; VanWoerkom, L; Weber, R; Yabuuchi, T; Zhang, B

2006-01-01

Isochoric heating of inertially confined fusion plasmas by laser driven MeV electrons or protons is an area of great topical interest in the inertial confinement fusion community, particularly with respect to the fast ignition (FI) proposal to use this technique to initiate burn in a fusion capsule. Experiments designed to investigate electron isochoric heating have measured heating in two limiting cases of interest to fast ignition, small planar foils and hollow cones. Data from Cu Kα fluorescence, crystal x-ray spectroscopy of Cu K shell emission, and XUV imaging at 68eV and 256 eV are used to test PIC and Hybrid PIC modeling of the interaction. Isochoric heating by focused proton beams generated at the concave inside surface of a hemi-shell and from a sub hemi-shell inside a cone have been studied with the same diagnostic methods plus imaging of proton induced Kα. Conversion efficiency to protons has also been measured and modeled. Conclusions from the proton and electron heating experiments will be presented. Recent advances in modeling electron transport and innovative target designs for reducing igniter energy and increasing gain curves will also be discussed

Plasma heating via electron Bernstein wave heating using ordinary and extraodinary mode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Parvazian

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Magnetically confined plasma can be heated with high power microwave sources. In spherical torus the electron plasma frequency exeeds the electron cyclotron frequency (EC and, as a consequence, electromagnetic waves at fundamental and low harmonic EC cannot propagate within the plasma. In contrast, electron Bernstein waves (EBWs readily propagate in spherical torus plasma and are absorbed strongly at the electron cyclotron resonances. In order to proagate EBWs beyond the upper hybrid resonance (UHR, that surrounds the plasma, the EBWs must convert via one of two processes to either ordinary (O-mode or extraordinary (X-mode electromagnetic waves. O-mode and X-mode electromagnetic waves lunched at the plasma edge can convert to the electron Bernstein waves (EBWs which can propagate without and cut-off into the core of the plasma and damp on electrons. Since the electron Bernstein wave (EBW has no cut-off limits, it is well suited to heat an over-dense plasma by resonant absorption. An important problem is to calculate mode conversion coefficient that is very sensitive to density. Mode conversion coefficient depends on Budden parameter ( ñ and density scale length (Ln in upper hybrid resonance (UHR. In Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST, the optimized conversion efficiency approached 72.5% when Ln was 4.94 cm and the magnetic field was 0.475 Tesla in the core of the plasma.

Collisionless tearing mode reconnection at the dayside magnetopause of the earth's magnetosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quest, K.B.

1982-01-01

The purpose of this thesis was to determine if the collisionless tearing mode, a plasma instability, is a viable mechanism for interconnecting field lines at the dayside magnetopause. More generally, it was wished to test theoretically the assertion that collisionless tearing is a probable first step in cosmical reconnection. The procedure was to model the magnetopause as a local one-dimensional Vlasov equilibrium, and then calculate the linear and nonlinear stability properties of tearing and tearing-like oscillations. Quantitative estimates of the range of plasma parameter space over which significant growth occurs were obtained. Assuming that significant tearing mode growth implies significant reconnection, conditions were determined for which tearing will be important to dayside reconnection. Linearly it was found that the growth rate is relatively insensitive to the temperature of the species, but depends sensitively on (1) the thickness of the magnetopause current, (2) the number density at the location of the singular layer, and (3) the magnitude of the magnetic shear. For significant linear growth the magnetopause half-sheet thickness was required to be on the order of or less than a thermal ion gyroradius, the number density was required to be no more than 100 cm - 3 , and the magnetosheath field was required to be locally antialigned with the magnetospheric field. If the above conditions are met, which are stringent but not impossible, the mode will linearly amplify. Another topic examined is the question of the structure of the tearing eigenmodes at the dayside magnetopause. By considering finite transit time effects on electron Landau resonance it was concluded that magnetopause tearing turbulence probably occurs in spatially bounded wave packets

Collisionless shock experiments with lasers and observation of Weibel instabilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, H.-S., E-mail: park1@llnl.gov; Huntington, C. M.; Fiuza, F.; Levy, M. C.; Pollock, B. B.; Remington, B. A.; Ross, J. S.; Ryutov, D. D.; Turnbull, D. P.; Weber, S. V. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States); Drake, R. P.; Kuranz, C. C. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States); Froula, D. H.; Rosenberg, M. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14636 (United States); Gregori, G.; Meinecke, J. [University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom); Koenig, M. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau (France); Kugland, N. L. [Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, California 94538 (United States); Lamb, D. Q.; Tzeferacos, P. [University of Chicago, Chicago, California 94538 (United States); and others

2015-05-15

Astrophysical collisionless shocks are common in the universe, occurring in supernova remnants, gamma ray bursts, and protostellar jets. They appear in colliding plasma flows when the mean free path for ion-ion collisions is much larger than the system size. It is believed that such shocks could be mediated via the electromagnetic Weibel instability in astrophysical environments without pre-existing magnetic fields. Here, we present laboratory experiments using high-power lasers and investigate the dynamics of high-Mach-number collisionless shock formation in two interpenetrating plasma streams. Our recent proton-probe experiments on Omega show the characteristic filamentary structures of the Weibel instability that are electromagnetic in nature with an inferred magnetization level as high as ∼1% [C. M. Huntington et al., “Observation of magnetic field generation via the weibel instability in interpenetrating plasma flows,” Nat. Phys. 11, 173–176 (2015)]. These results imply that electromagnetic instabilities are significant in the interaction of astrophysical conditions.

Observations of rotation in JET plasmas with electron heating by ion cyclotron resonance heating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hellsten, T.; Johnson, T. J.; Van Eester, D.

2012-01-01

The rotation of L-mode plasmas in the JET tokamak heated by waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) damped on electrons, is reported. The plasma in the core is found to rotate in the counter-current direction with a high shear and in the outer part of the plasma with an almost......, electron absorption of the fast magnetosonic wave by transit time magnetic pumping and electron Landau damping (TTMP/ELD) is the dominating absorption mechanism. Inverted mode conversion is done in (He-3)-H plasmas where the mode converted waves are essentially absorbed by electron Landau damping. Similar...... rotation profiles are seen when heating at the second harmonic cyclotron frequency of He-3 and with mode conversion at high concentrations of He-3. The magnitude of the counter-rotation is found to decrease with an increasing plasma current. The correlation of the rotation with the electron temperature...

Electron cyclotron heating calculations for ATF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldfinger, R.C.; Batchelor, D.B.

1986-03-01

The RAYS geometrical optics code has been used to calculate electron cyclotron wave propagation and heating in the Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) device under construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The intent of this work is to predict the outcome of various heating scenarios and to give guidance in designing an optimum heating system. Particular attention is paid to the effects of wave polarization and antenna location. We investigate first and second harmonic cyclotron heating with the parameters predicted for steady-state ATF operation. We also simulate the effect of wall reflections by calculating a uniform, isotropic flux of power radiating from the wall. These results, combined with the first-pass calculations, give a qualitative picture of the heat deposition profiles. From these results we identify the compromises that represent the optimum heating strategies for the ATF model considered here. Our basic conclusions are that second harmonic heating with the extraordinary mode (X-mode) gives the best result, with fundamental ordinary mode (O-mode) heating being slightly less efficient. Assuming the antenna location is restricted to the low magnetic field side, the antenna should be placed at phi = 0 0 (the toroidal angle where the helical coils are at the sides) for fundamental heating and at phi = 15 0 (where the helical coils are at the top and bottom) for second harmonic heating. These recommendations come directly from the ray tracing results as well as from a theoretical identification of the relevant factors affecting the heating

Excitation of an ion-acoustic wave by two whistlers in a collisionless magnetoplasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sodha, M.S.; Singh, T.; Singh, D.P.; Sharma, R.P.

1981-01-01

An investigation is made into the excitation of an ion-acoustic wave in a collisionless hot magnetoplasma by two whistlers. On account of the interaction of the two whistlers, of frequencies ω 1 and ω 2 , ponderomotive force at frequency Δω(=ω 1 -ω 2 ) leads to the generation of an ion-acoustic wave. When the two whistlers have initially Gaussian intensity distributions, a d.c. component of the ponderomotive force leads to the redistribution of the background electron/ion density, and cross-focusing of the whistlers occurs. The power of the generated ion-acoustic wave, being dependent on the background ion density and powers of the whistlers, is further modified. The ion-acoustic wave power also changes drastically with the strength of the static magnetic field. (author)

A (2 d,3 v) cylindrical, kinetic model of a time-independent, collisionless bounded plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedit, H.; Kuhn, S.

1994-01-01

A (2 d,3 v) cylindrical, electrostatic, collisionless kinetic model for a wide class of negative-bias de states of the single-ended Q machine is developed. Based on the method presented recently by the authors for an analogous cartesian model, the self-consistent plasma state is found by means of an iterative scheme in which the charge-density and potential distributions are alternately advanced. The electron an ion velocity distribution functions are calculated via trajectory integration, which ensures high accuracy and resolution in both configuration and velocity space. The main differences between cartesian and cylindrical geometry are discussed, and typical macroscopic as well as microscopic quantities for an exemplary special case are presented. (author). 3 refs, 5 figs

Electron temperature measurements during electron cyclotron heating on PDX using a ten channel grating polychromator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavallo, A.; Hsuan, H.; Boyd, D.; Grek, B.; Johnson, D.; Kritz, A.; Mikkelsen, D.; LeBlanc, B.; Takahashi, H.

1984-10-01

During first harmonic electron cyclotron heating (ECH) on the Princeton Divertor Experiment (PDX) (R 0 = 137 cm, a = 40 cm), electron temperature was monitored using a grating polychromator which measured second harmonic electron cyclotron emission from the low field side of the tokamak. Interference from the high power heating pulse on the broadband detectors in the grating instrument was eliminated by using a waveguide filter in the transmission line which brought the emission signal to the grating instrument. Off-axis (approx. 4 cm) location of the resonance zone resulted in heating without sawtooth or m = 1 activity. However, heating with the resonance zone at the plasma center caused very large amplitude sawteeth accompanied by strong m = 1 activity: ΔT/T/sub MAX/ approx. = 0.41, sawtooth period approx. = 4 msec, m = 1 period approx. = 90 μ sec, (11 kHz). This is the first time such intense MHD activity driven by ECH has been observed. (For both cases there was no sawtooth activity in the ohmic phase of the discharge before ECH.) At very low densities there is a clear indication that a superthermal electron population is created during ECH

COLLISIONLESS ELECTRON–ION SHOCKS IN RELATIVISTIC UNMAGNETIZED JET–AMBIENT INTERACTIONS: NON-THERMAL ELECTRON INJECTION BY DOUBLE LAYER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ardaneh, Kazem; Cai, Dongsheng; Nishikawa, Ken-Ichi

2016-01-01

The course of non-thermal electron ejection in relativistic unmagnetized electron–ion shocks is investigated by performing self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations. The shocks are excited through the injection of a relativistic jet into ambient plasma, leading to two distinct shocks (referred to as the trailing shock and leading shock) and a contact discontinuity. The Weibel-like instabilities heat the electrons up to approximately half of the ion kinetic energy. The double layers formed in the trailing and leading edges then accelerate the electrons up to the ion kinetic energy. The electron distribution function in the leading edge shows a clear, non-thermal power-law tail which contains ∼1% of electrons and ∼8% of the electron energy. Its power-law index is −2.6. The acceleration efficiency is ∼23% by number and ∼50% by energy, and the power-law index is −1.8 for the electron distribution function in the trailing edge. The effect of the dimensionality is examined by comparing the results of three-dimensional simulations with those of two-dimensional simulations. The comparison demonstrates that electron acceleration is more efficient in two dimensions.

Self-similar variables and the problem of nonlocal electron heat conductivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krasheninnikov, S.I.; Bakunin, O.G.

1993-10-01

Self-similar solutions of the collisional electron kinetic equation are obtained for the plasmas with one (1D) and three (3D) dimensional plasma parameter inhomogeneities and arbitrary Z eff . For the plasma parameter profiles characterized by the ratio of the mean free path of thermal electrons with respect to electron-electron collisions, γ T , to the scale length of electron temperature variation, L, one obtains a criterion for determining the effect that tail particles with motion of the non-diffusive type have on the electron heat conductivity. For these conditions it is shown that the use of a open-quotes symmetrizedclose quotes kinetic equation for the investigation of the strong nonlocal effect of suprathermal electrons on the electron heat conductivity is only possible at sufficiently high Z eff (Z eff ≥ (L/γ T ) 1/2 ). In the case of 3D inhomogeneous plasma (spherical symmetry), the effect of the tail electrons on the heat transport is less pronounced since they are spread across the radius r

Ion-acoustic solitons in a plasma with electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esfandyari, A. R.; Khorram, S.

2001-01-01

Ion-acoustic solitons in a collisionless plasma consisting of warm ions, hot isothermal electrons and a electron beam are studied by using the reductive perturbation method. The basic set of fluid equations is reduced to Korteweg-de Vries and modified Korteweg-de Vries temperature and electron beam on ion acoustic equations. The effect of ion solitons are investigated

Tokamak startup with electron cyclotron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holly, D.J.; Prager, S.C.; Shepard, D.A.; Sprott, J.C.

1980-04-01

Experiments are described in which the startup voltage in a tokamak is reduced by approx. 60% by the use of a modest amount of electron cyclotron resonance heating power for preionization. A 50% reduction in volt-second requirement and impurity reflux are also observed

Tokamak startup with electron cyclotron heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holly, D J; Prager, S C; Shepard, D A; Sprott, J C

1980-04-01

Experiments are described in which the startup voltage in a tokamak is reduced by approx. 60% by the use of a modest amount of electron cyclotron resonance heating power for preionization. A 50% reduction in volt-second requirement and impurity reflux are also observed.

Electron cyclotron emission measurements during 28 GHz electron cyclotron resonance heating in Wendelstein WVII-A stellarator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartfuss, H.J.; Gasparino, U.; Tutter, M.; Brakel, R.; Cattanei, G.; Dorst, D.; Elsner, A.; Engelhardt, K.; Erckmann, V.; Grieger, G.; Grigull, P.; Hacker, H.; Jaeckel, H.; Jaenicke, R.; Junker, J.; Kick, M.; Kroiss, H.; Kuehner, G.; Maassberg, H.; Mahn, C.; Mueller, G.; Ohlendorf, W.; Rau, F.; Renner, H.; Ringler, H.; Sardei, F.; Weller, A.; Wobig, H.; Wuersching, E.; Zippe, M.; Kasparek, W.; Mueller, G.A.; Raeuchle, E.; Schueller, P.G.; Schwoerer, K.; Thumm, M.

1987-11-01

Electron cyclotron emission measurements have been carried out on electron cyclotron resonance heated plasmas in the WENDELSTEIN VII-A Stellarator. Blackbody radiation from the thermalized plasma main body as well as radiation from a small amount of weakly relativistic suprathermal electrons has been detected. In addition sideband emission has been observed near the second harmonic of the heating line source. Harmonic generation and parametric wave decay at the upper hybrid layer may be a reasonable explanation. (orig.)

Instability, Turbulence, and Enhanced Transport in Collisionless Black-Hole Accretion Flows

Science.gov (United States)

Kunz, Matthew

simulation of the magnetorotational dynamo (publication in preparation). For the first time, global kinetic simulations of magnetorotational turbulence will be also performed, spanning more than two orders of magnitude in radius. These simulations will allow the global structure of collisionless accretion flows to be computed from first principles, and compared and contrasted with that found in prior MHD models. Special attention will be paid to whether vertical stratification results in the formation of a hot magnetized corona and to whether significant non-thermal particle acceleration occurs (as implied by non-thermal spectra observed in many systems). Finally, to make comparisons to existing and upcoming submillimeter and X-ray astronomical observations, the electron thermodynamics and emission will be modeled. This work compliments ongoing numerical studies using MHD in strong-field general relativity, which seek to directly connect the properties of simulated black-hole accretion flows in curved spacetime with the observed mm/sub-mm emission. What makes this ambitious proposal tenable is the widespread availability of HPC resources, the vast improvement in numerical algorithms for plasma kinetics, and the emerging consensus that the detailed plasma physics of the Universe must be understood in order to advance research in many frontier areas of theoretical astrophysics. The themes that this proposal tackles are broad and far-reaching: the nature of black-hole accretion, the material properties of high-beta magnetized plasmas, the acceleration of particles by turbulence, the efficiency of magnetic dynamo in a collisionless plasma, the interplay between fluid and kinetic scales, and the impact all of this physics has on the observed emission. But we believe that they are also addressable if a single physical process encapsulating these themes - namely, kinetic magnetorotational turbulence - is considered. This is what we propose to do.

Diamond-based heat spreaders for power electronic packaging applications

Science.gov (United States)

Guillemet, Thomas

As any semiconductor-based devices, power electronic packages are driven by the constant increase of operating speed (higher frequency), integration level (higher power), and decrease in feature size (higher packing density). Although research and innovation efforts have kept these trends continuous for now more than fifty years, the electronic packaging technology is currently facing a challenge that must be addressed in order to move toward any further improvements in terms of performances or miniaturization: thermal management. Thermal issues in high-power packages strongly affect their reliability and lifetime and have now become one of the major limiting factors of power modules development. Thus, there is a strong need for materials that can sustain higher heat flux levels while safely integrating into the electronic package architecture. In such context, diamond is an attractive candidate because of its outstanding thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion, and high electrical resistivity. Its low heat capacity relative to metals such as aluminum or copper makes it however preferable for heat spreading applications (as a heat-spreader) rather than for dissipating the heat flux itself (as a heat sink). In this study, a dual diamond-based heat-spreading solution is proposed. Polycrystalline diamond films were grown through laser-assisted combustion synthesis on electronic substrates (in the U.S) while, in parallel, diamond-reinforced copper-matrix composite films were fabricated through tape casting and hot pressing (in France). These two types of diamond-based heat-spreading films were characterized and their microstructure and chemical composition were related to their thermal performances. Particular emphasize was put on the influence of interfaces on the thermal properties of the materials, either inside a single material (grain boundaries) or between dissimilar materials (film/substrate interface, matrix/reinforcement interface). Finally, the packaging

First-principles calculations of heat capacities of ultrafast laser-excited electrons in metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bévillon, E.; Colombier, J.P.; Recoules, V.; Stoian, R.

2015-01-01

Ultrafast laser excitation can induce fast increases of the electronic subsystem temperature. The subsequent electronic evolutions in terms of band structure and energy distribution can determine the change of several thermodynamic properties, including one essential for energy deposition; the electronic heat capacity. Using density functional calculations performed at finite electronic temperatures, the electronic heat capacities dependent on electronic temperatures are obtained for a series of metals, including free electron like, transition and noble metals. The effect of exchange and correlation functionals and the presence of semicore electrons on electronic heat capacities are first evaluated and found to be negligible in most cases. Then, we tested the validity of the free electron approaches, varying the number of free electrons per atom. This shows that only simple metals can be correctly fitted with these approaches. For transition metals, the presence of localized d electrons produces a strong deviation toward high energies of the electronic heat capacities, implying that more energy is needed to thermally excite them, compared to free sp electrons. This is attributed to collective excitation effects strengthened by a change of the electronic screening at high temperature

Electron Heating and Saturation of Self-regulating Magnetorotational Instability in Protoplanetary Disks

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Shoji; Muranushi, Takayuki; Okuzumi, Satoshi; Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro

2017-11-01

Magnetorotational instability (MRI) has the potential to generatevigorous turbulence in protoplanetary disks, although its turbulence strength and accretion stress remain debatable because of the uncertainty of MRI with a low ionization fraction. We focus on the heating of electrons by strong electric fields, which amplifies nonideal magnetohydrodynamic effects. The heated electrons frequently collide with and stick to dust grains, which in turn decreases the ionization fraction and is expected to weaken the turbulent motion driven by MRI. In order to quantitatively investigate the nonlinear evolution of MRI, including the electron heating, we perform magnetohydrodynamical simulation with the unstratified shearing box. We introduce a simple analytic resistivity model depending on the current density by mimicking the resistivity given by the calculation of ionization. Our simulation confirms that the electron heating suppresses magnetic turbulence when the electron heating occurs with low current density. We find a clear correlation between magnetic stress and current density, which means that the magnetic stress is proportional to the squared current density. When the turbulent motion is completely suppressed, laminar accretion flow is caused by an ordered magnetic field. We give an analytical description of the laminar stateusing a solution of linear perturbation equations with resistivity. We also propose a formula that successfully predicts the accretion stress in the presence of the electron heating.

Hydromagnetic waves, turbulence, and collisionless processes in the interplanetary medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, A.

1983-01-01

The solar wind does not flow quietly. It seethes and undulates, fluctuating on time scales that range from the solar rotation period down to fractions of milliseconds. Most of the power in interplanetary waves and turbulence lies at hydromagnetic scales. These fluctuations are normally of large amplitude, containing enough energy to affect solar and galactic cosmic rays, and may be the remnants of a coronal turbulence field powerful enough to play a major role in accelerating the solar wind itself. The origin and evolution of interplanetary hydromagnetic waves and turbulence, and their influence on the large-scale dynamics of the solar wind are among the most fundamental questions of solar-terrestrial physics. First hydrodynamic waves and turbulences in the interplanetary medium are discussed in two sections, respectively. Because the length and time scales for hydromagnetic fluctuations are very much smaller than the corresponding Coulomb collision scales of the plasma ions and electrons, the interplanetary variations are modelled as fluctuations in a magnetohydrodynamic fluid. In the last section, collisionless phenomena are discussed. They are of qualitative significance. (Auth.)

Rapid plasma heating by collective interactions, using strong turbulence and relativistic electron beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wharton, C.B.

1977-01-01

A multi-kilovolt, moderate density plasma was generated in a magnetic mirror confinement system by two methods: turbulent heating and relativistic electron beam. Extensive diagnostic development permitted the measurement of important plasma characteristics, leading to interesting and novel conclusions regarding heating and loss mechanisms. Electron and ion heating mechanisms were categorized, and parameter studies made to establish ranges of importance. Nonthermal ion and electron energy distributions were measured. Beam propagation and energy deposition studies yielded the spatial dependence of plasma heating

Damping of electron center-of-mass oscillation in ultracold plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wei-Ting; Witte, Craig; Roberts, Jacob L.

2016-01-01

Applying a short electric field pulse to an ultracold plasma induces an electron plasma oscillation. This manifests itself as an oscillation of the electron center of mass around the ion center of mass in the ultracold plasma. In general, the oscillation can damp due to either collisionless or collisional mechanisms, or a combination of the both. To investigate the nature of oscillation damping in ultracold plasmas, we developed a molecular dynamics model of the ultracold plasma electrons. Through this model, we found that depending on the neutrality of the ultracold plasma and the size of an applied DC electric field, there are some parameter ranges where the damping is primarily collisional and some primarily collisionless. We conducted experiments to compare the measured damping rate with theory predictions and found them to be in good agreement. Extension of our measurements to different parameter ranges should enable studies for strong-coupling influence on electron-ion collision rates.

The influence of ion temperature on solitary waves in collisionless weak relativistic plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cerepaniuc, Adina

2004-01-01

Korteweg-de Vries equation is used to study the influence of the ion temperature, on the ion acoustic waves in the frame of collisionless plasma's weak relativistic effect. In the literature it is discussed the influence of ion temperature on the ion acoustic wave in a relativistic plasma for a ratio of the ion flow velocity to the light velocity between 0 and 1. In this paper, the dependence of the phase velocity on the relativistic effect for different values of the ratio of the ion temperature to the electron temperature is studied. In case of weak relativistic effect (ratio of the ion flow velocity to the light velocity is 10 -6 and the step of the representation is 10 -6 ) we noticed the occurrence of an antisoliton within soliton amplitude graphical representation as function of the relativistic effect and the temperature ratio. The novelty of this article consists in the fact that a much smaller interval is considered for velocity ratio (size) and we studied the influence of ion temperature on ion acoustic wave in a collisionless relativistic plasma. We performed the numerical calculation of equations and we plotted the phase velocity and the amplitude of soliton wave as a function of velocity ratio and the temperature ratio. We considered the step of velocity ratio variation equal with 10 -6 and the step of temperature ratio variation 10 -2 . The observation made in this paper refines the results of other authors who studied these equations for velocity ratio variation of 10 -1 . In herein chosen interval we observed new phenomena that were not noticed in the case of choosing larger intervals. (author)

Unequilibrium kinetic of collisionless boundary layers in binary plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotelnikov, V.A.; Nikolaev, F.A.; Cherepanov, V.V.

1985-01-01

Relaxation processes of kinetic nonequilibrium collisionless boundary layers near spherical charged full absorbing surfaces in binary low-temperature plasmas are investigated. The effect of magnetic field on relaxation processes was neglected. The dynamics of components of the ionized gas was treated near the boundary layer. The potential distribution and the space dependence of concentration were calculated numerically. These results agree well with the experimental data. (D.Gy.)

Numerical simulation of electron behavior and beam heating on a material surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shioda, K.; Hashidate, Y.; Kumagai, M.

1991-01-01

A method of numerical analysis is investigated for the manufacturing processes employing electron beam heating, such as hardening, cutting, and welding. High-energy electrons (10 ∼ 50 keV) impinge upon the surface of a material and diffuse by multiple elastic/nonelastic scattering caused by atoms. Although the electron collisions with atomic nuclei can be treated approximately as elastic, collisions with orbital electrons of atoms are nonelastic. Fast electrons are decelerated in the course of atomic excitation or X-ray radiation, transferring their kinetic energy to the lattice system as thermal energy. In this paper, the difference between the heat-generating density and the electron density is clarified numerically, as well as the penetration depth and the reflection ratio of the electron beam. Calculated results for these quantities show good agreement with the referenced data. In addition, the difference between the penetration depth of the electrons and that of the heat, which has never been discussed in detail before, is clarified

Electron confinement studies on the EBT-S Bumpy Torus Experiment using soft x-ray techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillis, D.L.; Haste, G.R.; Berry, L.A.

1983-01-01

Soft x-ray bremsstrahlung measurements have been performed on the ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT-S) plasma to determine the electron temperature T/sub e/ and electron density density n/sub e/ using a calibrated Si(Li) detector over a wide range of operating conditions. The purpose of this paper is to outline the necessary assumptions and essential x-ray techniques that are inherent in soft x-ray measurements in order to investigate the electron heating and confinement properties of EBT-S. In addition, by utilizing the electron density as determined by the soft x-ray measurements, the previous EBT-S confinement analyses have been extended. The steady-state plasma of EBT-S is heated by microwaves using a continuous wave (cw) gyrotron that can operate up to power levels of 200 kW. From the soft x-ray measurements, both the electron temperature and density are found to increase at higher microwave power levels. For operation at microwave power levels of 200 kW, T/sub e/ approaches 1 keV while n/sub e/ approaches 1.2 x 10 12 cm - 3 . In general, confinement properties are found to improve with increased microwave power. The data are compared with neoclassical transport scaling and the electron transport is found to be collisionless (#betta#/Ω<1) as well as neoclassical

Density response to central electron heating: theoretical investigations and experimental observations in ASDEX Upgrade

Science.gov (United States)

Angioni, C.; Peeters, A. G.; Garbet, X.; Manini, A.; Ryter, F.; ASDEX Upgrade Team

2004-08-01

Theory of ion temperature gradient (ITG) and trapped electron modes (TEMs) is applied to the study of particle transport in experimental conditions with central electron heating. It is shown that in the unstable domain of TEMs, the electron thermodiffusive flux is directed outwards. By means of such a flux, a mechanism is identified likely to account for density flattening with central electron heating. Theoretical predictions are compared with experimental observations in ASDEX Upgrade. A parameter domain (including L- and H-mode plasmas) is identified, in which flattening with central electron heating is observed in the experiments. In general, this domain turns out to be the same domain in which the dominant plasma instability is a TEM. On the contrary, the dominant instability is an ITG in plasmas whose density profile is not affected significantly by central electron heating. The flattening predicted by quasi-linear theory for low density L-mode plasmas is too small compared to the experimental observations. At very high density, even when the dominant instability is an ITG, electron heating can provide density flattening, via the coupling with the ion heat channel. In these conditions the anomalous diffusivity increases in response to the increased ion heat flux, while the large collisionality makes the anomalous pinch small and the Ware pinch important.

Large power electron tubes for high frequency heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okamoto, Tadashi; Sato, Hisaaki.

1988-01-01

On the large power electron tubes used for electron cyclotron heating, lower hybrid resonance frequency heating, and ion cyclotron range of frequency heating, namely gyrotron, klystron and quadrupole tube, the features, the present status of development, the construction, the principle and so on are explained. The research and development of gyrotrons are most advanced in USSR, the inventor. The course of the development of gyrotrons in foreign countries and in Japan is described. There are many variants of gyrotrons, for example whispering gallery mode, klystron type, backward wave oscillator type, gyro-peniotron and others. The principle of gyrotrons is explained, and about the examples of the developed gyrotrons, the design parameters are shown. For the purpose of using for the LHRF heating in JT-60, a superlarge power klystron of 1 MW output at 2 GHz frequency, which is the largest class in the world, has been developed. Its total length is 2.7 m, and weight is 1.5 t. It features, construction, function and performance are reported. The trend of large power quadrupole tubes is toward stable action with large power in VHF zone, and the typical products in USA and Europe are shown. (Kako, I.)

Electron beam welding of iridium heat source capsules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustaleski, T.M.; Yearwood, J.C.; Burgan, C.E.; Green, L.A.

1991-01-01

The development of the welding procedures for the production of DOP-26 iridium alloy cups for heat source encapsulation is described. All the final assembly welds were made using the electron beam welding process. The welding of the 0.13-mm weld shield required the use of computer controlled X-Y table and a run-off tab. Welding of the frit vent to the cup required that a laser weld be made to hold the frit assembly edges together for the final electron beam weld. Great care is required in tooling design and beam placement to achieve acceptable results. Unsuccessful attempts to use laser beam welding for heat shield butt weld are discussed

Electron heat conduction and suprathermal particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakunin, O.G.; Krasheninnikov, S.I.

1991-01-01

As recognized at present, the applicability of Spitzer-Harm's theory on electron heat conduction along the magnetic field is limited by comparatively small values of the thermal electron mean free path ratio, λ to the characteristic length of changes in plasma parameters, L: γ=λ/L≤10 -2 . The stationary kinetic equation for the electron distribution function inhomogeneous along the x-axis f e (v,x) allows one to have solutions in the self-similar variables. The objective of a given study is to generalize the solutions for the case of arbitrary Z eff , that will allow one to compare approximate solutions to the kinetic equation with the precise ones in a wide range of parameters. (author) 8 refs., 2 figs

Landau fluid models of collisionless magnetohydrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snyder, P.B.; Hammett, G.W.; Dorland, W.

1997-01-01

A closed set of fluid moment equations including models of kinetic Landau damping is developed which describes the evolution of collisionless plasmas in the magnetohydrodynamic parameter regime. The model is fully electromagnetic and describes the dynamics of both compressional and shear Alfven waves, as well as ion acoustic waves. The model allows for separate parallel and perpendicular pressures p parallel and p perpendicular , and, unlike previous models such as Chew-Goldberger-Low theory, correctly predicts the instability threshold for the mirror instability. Both a simple 3 + 1 moment model and a more accurate 4 + 2 moment model are developed, and both could be useful for numerical simulations of astrophysical and fusion plasmas

Electron Currents and Heating in the Ion Diffusion Region of Asymmetric Reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, D. B.; Khotyaintsev, Yu. V.; Norgren, C.; Vaivads, A.; Andre, M.; Lindqvist, P. A.; Marklund, G. T.; Ergun, R. E.; Paterson, W. R.; Gershman, D. J.;

Solar heating for an electronics manufacturing plant--Blue Earth, Minnesota

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

Partial space heating for 97,000 square foot plant is supplied by 360 flat plate solar collectors; energy is sorted as heat in indoor 20,000 gallon water tank. System includes all necessary control electronics for year round operation. During December 1978, solar energy supplied 24.4 percent of building's space heating load.

Major results of the electron cyclotron heating experiment in the PDX tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsuan, H.; Bol, K.; Bowen, N.

1984-07-01

Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) experiments on PDX have been carried out with two 60 GHz pulsed gyrotrons each yielding up to approximately 100 kW. The ECH system used two waveguide runs each about 30 meters long. One run included 5 bends and the other, 7 bends. Predetermined waveguide modes were transmitted. The electron cyclotron waves were launched in narrow beams from both the high field and the low field sides of the plasma torus. The major new physics results are: (1) efficient central electron heating for both ohmic and neutral beam heated target plasmas; (2) alteration of MHD behavior using ECH; (3) identification of the trapped electron population with ECH; and (4) signature of velocity-space time evolution during ECH. In the best heating results obtained, Thomson scattering data indicated a central temperature increase from less than or equal to 1.5 keV to greater than or equal to 2.5 keV. This occurred with an average density of about 10 13 cm -3 and approximately 80 kW outside-launch ordinary-mode heating

Electron-phonon heat exchange in quasi-two-dimensional nanolayers

Science.gov (United States)

Anghel, Dragos-Victor; Cojocaru, Sergiu

2017-12-01

We study the heat power P transferred between electrons and phonons in thin metallic films deposited on free-standing dielectric membranes. The temperature range is typically below 1 K, such that the wavelengths of the excited phonon modes in the system is large enough so that the picture of a quasi-two-dimensional phonon gas is applicable. Moreover, due to the quantization of the components of the electron wavevectors perpendicular to the metal film's surface, the electrons spectrum forms also quasi two-dimensional sub-bands, as in a quantum well (QW). We describe in detail the contribution to the electron-phonon energy exchange of different electron scattering channels, as well as of different types of phonon modes. We find that heat flux oscillates strongly with thickness of the film d while having a much smoother variation with temperature (Te for the electrons temperature and Tph for the phonons temperature), so that one obtains a ridge-like landscape in the two coordinates, (d, Te) or (d, Tph), with crests and valleys aligned roughly parallel to the temperature axis. For the valley regions we find P ∝ Te3.5 - Tph3.5. From valley to crest, P increases by more than one order of magnitude and on the crests P cannot be represented by a simple power law. The strong dependence of P on d is indicative of the formation of the QW state and can be useful in controlling the heat transfer between electrons and crystal lattice in nano-electronic devices. Nevertheless, due to the small value of the Fermi wavelength in metals, the surface imperfections of the metallic films can reduce the magnitude of the oscillations of P vs. d, so this effect might be easier to observe experimentally in doped semiconductors.

Development of Thermal Design Program for an Electronic Telecommunication System Using Heat Sink

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jung Hwan; Kim, Jong Man; Chun, Ji Hwan; Bae, Chul Ho; Suh, Myung Won

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the cooling performance of heat sinks for an electronic telecommunication system by adequate natural convection. Heat generation rates of electronic components and the temperature distributions of heat sinks and surrounding air are analyzed experimentally and numerically. In order to perform the heat transfer analysis for the thermal design of telecommunication system, a program is developed. The program used the graphic user interface environment to determine the arrangement of heat sources, interior fan capacity, and heat sink configuration. The simulation results showed that the heat sinks were able to achieve a cooling capacity of up to 230W at the maximum temperature difference of 19 .deg. C. To verify the results from the numerical simulation, an experiment was conducted under the same condition as the numerical simulation, and their results were compared. The design program gave good prediction of the effects of various parameters involved in the design of a heat sinks for an electronic telecommunication system

Nonlinear charge transport in bipolar semiconductors due to electron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molina-Valdovinos, S.; Gurevich, Yu.G.

2016-01-01

It is known that when strong electric field is applied to a semiconductor sample, the current voltage characteristic deviates from the linear response. In this letter, we propose a new point of view of nonlinearity in semiconductors which is associated with the electron temperature dependence on the recombination rate. The heating of the charge carriers breaks the balance between generation and recombination, giving rise to nonequilibrium charge carriers concentration and nonlinearity. - Highlights: • A new mechanism of nonlinearity of current-voltage characteristic (CVC) is proposed. • The hot electron temperature violates the equilibrium between electrons and holes. • This violation gives rise to nonequilibrium concentration of electrons and holes. • This leads to nonlinear CVC (along with the heating nonlinearity).

Nonlinear charge transport in bipolar semiconductors due to electron heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Molina-Valdovinos, S., E-mail: sergiom@fisica.uaz.edu.mx [Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Académica de Física, Calzada Solidaridad esq. Paseo, La Bufa s/n, CP 98060, Zacatecas, Zac, México (Mexico); Gurevich, Yu.G. [Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Departamento de Física, Av. IPN 2508, México D.F., CP 07360, México (Mexico)

2016-05-27

It is known that when strong electric field is applied to a semiconductor sample, the current voltage characteristic deviates from the linear response. In this letter, we propose a new point of view of nonlinearity in semiconductors which is associated with the electron temperature dependence on the recombination rate. The heating of the charge carriers breaks the balance between generation and recombination, giving rise to nonequilibrium charge carriers concentration and nonlinearity. - Highlights: • A new mechanism of nonlinearity of current-voltage characteristic (CVC) is proposed. • The hot electron temperature violates the equilibrium between electrons and holes. • This violation gives rise to nonequilibrium concentration of electrons and holes. • This leads to nonlinear CVC (along with the heating nonlinearity).

Modelling hot electron generation in short pulse target heating experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sircombe N.J.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Target heating experiments planned for the Orion laser facility, and electron beam driven fast ignition schemes, rely on the interaction of a short pulse high intensity laser with dense material to generate a flux of energetic electrons. It is essential that the characteristics of this electron source are well known in order to inform transport models in radiation hydrodynamics codes and allow effective evaluation of experimental results and forward modelling of future campaigns. We present results obtained with the particle in cell (PIC code EPOCH for realistic target and laser parameters, including first and second harmonic light. The hot electron distributions are characterised and their implications for onward transport and target heating are considered with the aid of the Monte-Carlo transport code THOR.

Particle injection and cosmic ray acceleration at collisionless parallel shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quest, K.B.

1987-01-01

The structure of collisionless parallel shocks is studied using one-dimensional hybrid simulations, with emphasis on particle injection into the first-order Fermi acceleration process. It is argued that for sufficiently high Mach number shocks, and in the absence of wave turbulence, the fluid firehose marginal stability condition will be exceeded at the interface between the upstream, unshocked, plasma and the heated plasma downstream. As a consequence, nonlinear, low-frequency, electromagnetic waves are generated and act to slow the plasma and provide dissipation for the shock. It is shown that large amplitude waves at the shock ramp scatter a small fraction of the upstream ions back into the upstream medium. These ions, in turn, resonantly generate the electromagnetic waves that are swept back into the shock. As these waves propagate through the shock they are compressed and amplified, allowing them to non-resonantly scatter the bulk of the plasma. Moreover, the compressed waves back-scatter a small fraction of the upstream ions, maintaining the shock structure in a quasi-steady state. The back-scattered ions are accelerated during the wave generation process to 2 to 4 times the ram energy and provide a likely seed population for cosmic rays. 49 refs., 7 figs

Study of the electron heat transport in Tore-Supra tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harauchamps, E.

2004-01-01

This work presents analytical solutions to the electron heat transport equation involving a damping term and a convection term in a cylindrical geometry. These solutions, processed by Matlab, allow the determination of the evolution of the radial profile of electron temperature in tokamaks during heating. The modulated injection of waves around the electron cyclotron frequency is an efficient tool to study heat transport experimentally in tokamaks. The comparison of these analytical solutions with experimental results from Tore-Supra during 2 discharges (30550 and 31165) shows the presence of a sudden change for the diffusion and damping coefficients. The hypothesis of the presence of a pinch spread all along the plasma might explain the shape of the experimental temperature profiles. These analytical solutions could be used to determine the time evolution of plasma density as well or of any parameter whose evolution is governed by a diffusion-convection equation. (A.C.)

Numerical treatment of linearized equations describing inhomogeneous collisionless plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, H.R.

1979-01-01

The equations governing the small-signal response of spatially inhomogeneous collisionless plasmas have practical significance in physics, for example in controlled thermonuclear fusion research. Although the solutions are very complicated and the equations are different to solve numerically, effective methods for them are being developed which are applicable when the equilibrium involves only one nonignorable coordinate. The general theoretical framework probably will provide a basis for progress when there are two or three nonignorable coordinates

An electron-beam-heating model for the Gamble II rod pinch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosher, David; Schumer, Joseph; Hinshelwood, David; Weber, Bruce; Stephanakis, Stavros; Swanekamp, Stephen; Young, Frank

2002-01-01

The rod-pinch diode concentrates electron deposition onto the tip of a high-atomic-number, mm-dia. anode rod to create an ultra-bright x-ray source for multi-MV radiography. Here, a technique is presented whereby line-spread functions acquired on-axis and at 90 deg. to the rod are used to determine the electron-deposition distribution. Results show that the smaller measured on-axis spot size for heated rods on Gamble II is due to pinching closer to the tapered tip. For a diode power of 6x1010 W, peak electron heating of 1x1014 W/cm 3 is calculated. MHD calculations of the e-beam-heated rod response agree with Schlieren measurements of plasma expansion

Disruption of Alfvénic turbulence by magnetic reconnection in a collisionless plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Mallet, Alfred; Schekochihin, Alexander A.; Chandran, Benjamin D. G.

2017-12-01

We calculate the disruption scale \\text{D}$ at which sheet-like structures in dynamically aligned Alfvénic turbulence are destroyed by the onset of magnetic reconnection in a low- collisionless plasma. The scaling of \\text{D}$ depends on the order of the statistics being considered, with more intense structures being disrupted at larger scales. The disruption scale for the structures that dominate the energy spectrum is \\text{D}\\sim L\\bot 1/9(de\\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}s)4/9$ , where e$ is the electron inertial scale, s$ is the ion sound scale and \\bot $ is the outer scale of the turbulence. When e$ and s/L\\bot $ are sufficiently small, the scale \\text{D}$ is larger than s$ and there is a break in the energy spectrum at \\text{D}$ , rather than at s$ . We propose that the fluctuations produced by the disruption are circularised flux ropes, which may have already been observed in the solar wind. We predict the relationship between the amplitude and radius of these structures and quantify the importance of the disruption process to the cascade in terms of the filling fraction of undisrupted structures and the fractional reduction of the energy contained in them at the ion sound scale s$ . Both of these fractions depend strongly on e$ , with the disrupted structures becoming more important at lower e$ . Finally, we predict that the energy spectrum between \\text{D}$ and s$ is steeper than \\bot -3$ , when this range exists. Such a steep `transition range' is sometimes observed in short intervals of solar-wind turbulence. The onset of collisionless magnetic reconnection may therefore significantly affect the nature of plasma turbulence around the ion gyroscale.

Electron heat flux instabilities in the solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gary, S.P.; Feldman, W.C.; Forslund, D.W.; Montgomery, M.D.

1975-01-01

There are at least three plasma instabilities associated with the electron heat flux in the solar wind. This letter reports the study of the unstable fast magnetosonic, Alfven and whistler modes via a computer code which solves the full electromagnetic, linear, Vlasov dispersion relation. Linear theory demonstrates that both the magnetosonic and Alfven instabilities are candidates for turbulent limitation of the heat flux in the solar wind at 1 A.U

Saturation regime of the collisionless drift instability in a hydrogen plasma column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boissier, R.

1982-09-01

The saturation regime of the collisionless drift instability is observed in a steady state hydrogen column. The steady state parameters are observed to relax around the average values. A quasilinear model is proposed to describe the dynamics of wave growth and density gradient decay

Diffusive and convective transport modelling from analysis of ECRH-stimulated electron heat wave propagation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erckmann, V.; Gasparino, U.; Giannone, L.

1992-01-01

ECRH power modulation experiments in toroidal devices offer the chance to analyze the electron heat transport more conclusively: the electron heat wave propagation can be observed by ECE (or SX) leading to radial profiles of electron temperature modulation amplitude and time delay (phase shift). Taking also the stationary power balance into account, the local electron heat transport can be modelled by a combination of diffusive and convective transport terms. This method is applied to ECRH discharges in the W7-AS stellarator (B=2.5T, R=2m, a≤18 cm) where the ECRH power deposition is highly localized. In W7-AS, the T e modulation profiles measured by a high resolution ECE system are the basis for the local transport analysis. As experimental errors limit the separation of diffusive and convective terms in the electron heat transport for central power deposition, also ECRH power modulation experiments with off-axis deposition and inward heat wave propagation were performed (with 70 GHz o-mode as well as with 140 GHz x-mode for increased absorption). Because collisional electron-ion coupling and radiative losses are only small, low density ECRH discharges are best candidates for estimating the electron heat flux from power balance. (author) 2 refs., 3 figs

Cooling of high-density and power electronics by means of heat pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubbeling, L.

1980-06-01

This report describes how heat pipes can be used for cooling modern electronic equipment, with numerous advantages over air-cooled systems. A brief review of heat-pipe properties is given, with a detailed description of a functioning prototype. This is a single-width CAMAC unit containing high-density electronic circuits cooled by three heat pipes, and allowing a dissipation of over 120 W instead of the normal maximum of 20 W. (orig.)

The ion polytropic coefficient in a collisionless sheath containing hot ions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Binbin; Xiang, Nong, E-mail: xiangn@ipp.ac.cn; Ou, Jing [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Center for Magnetic Fusion Theory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China)

2016-08-15

The fluid approach has been widely used to study plasma sheath dynamics. For a sheath containing hot ions whose temperature is greater than the electron's, how to truncate the fluid hierarchy chain equations while retaining to the fullest extent of the kinetic effects is always a difficult problem. In this paper, a one-dimensional, collisionless sheath containing hot ions is studied via particle-in-cell simulations. By analyzing the ion energy equation and taking the kinetic effects into account, we have shown that the ion polytropic coefficient in the vicinity of the sheath edge is approximately constant so that the state equation with the modified polytropic coefficient can be used to close the hierarchy chain of the ion fluid equations. The value of the polytropic coefficient strongly depends on the hot ion temperature and its concentration in the plasma. The semi-analytical model is given to interpret the simulation results. As an application, the kinetic effects on the ion saturation current density in the probe theory are discussed.

The role of electron heat flux in guide-field magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hesse, Michael; Kuznetsova, Masha; Birn, Joachim

2004-01-01

A combination of analytical theory and particle-in-cell simulations are employed in order to investigate the electron dynamics near and at the site of guide field magnetic reconnection. A detailed analysis of the contributions to the reconnection electric field shows that both bulk inertia and pressure-based quasiviscous processes are important for the electrons. Analytic scaling demonstrates that conventional approximations for the electron pressure tensor behavior in the dissipation region fail, and that heat flux contributions need to be accounted for. Based on the evolution equation of the heat flux three tensor, which is derived in this paper, an approximate form of the relevant heat flux contributions to the pressure tensor is developed, which reproduces the numerical modeling result reasonably well. Based on this approximation, it is possible to develop a scaling of the electron current layer in the central dissipation region. It is shown that the pressure tensor contributions become important at the scale length defined by the electron Larmor radius in the guide magnetic field

Electron cyclotron heating for current profile control of non-circular plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, V.S.; Davidson, R.; Guest, G.; Hacker, M.; Miller, L.

1981-01-01

Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) offers a promising approach to modifying the radial profiles of electron temperature and plasma current in tokamaks to increase the ideal MHD beta limits and permit experimental access to particular noncircular cross-section tokamaks that cannot be achieved with the peaked current profiles characteristic of ohmically heated tokamaks. We use a one-and-one-half-dimensional, time-dependent transport model that incorporates a self-consistent model of electron cyclotron power absorption to study the temporal evolution of electron temperature and plasma current profiles and the resulting noncircular equilibria. Startup scenarios for high-beta dees and doublets are investigated with this transport modeling

Demonstration of Electron Bernstein Wave Heating in a Reversed Field Pinch

Science.gov (United States)

Seltzman, Andrew H.

The Electron Bernstein wave (EBW) presents an alternative to conventional electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive in overdense plasmas, where electromagnetic waves are inaccessible. The first observation of rf heating in a reversed field pinch (RFP) using the EBW has been demonstrated on Madison Symmetric Torus (MST). The EBW propagates radially inward through a magnetic field that is either stochastic or has broken flux surfaces, before absorption on a substantially Doppler-shifted cyclotron resonance (? = n*?_ce - k_parallel*v_parallel), where n is the harmonic number. Deposition depth is controllable with plasma current on a broad range (n=1-7) of harmonics. Novel techniques were required to measure the suprathermal electron tail generated by EBW heating in the presence of intense Ohmic heating. In the thick-shelled MST RFP, the radial accessibility of the EBW is limited to r/a > 0.8 ( 10 cm), where a=52cm is the minor radius, by magnetic field error induced by the porthole necessary for the antenna; accessibility in a thin-shelled device with actively controlled saddle coils (without the burden of substantial porthole field error) is likely to be r/a> 0.5 in agreement with ray tracing studies. Measured electron loss rates with falloff time constants in the 10s of micros imply a large, non-collisional radial diffusivity; collisional times with background particles are on the order of one millisecond. EBW-heated test electrons are used as a probe of edge (r/a > 0.9) radial transport, showing a modest transition from 'standard' to reduced-tearing RFP operation.

Laser ablation under different electron heat conduction models in inertial confinement fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shuanggui; Ren, Guoli; Huo, Wen Yi

2018-06-01

In this paper, we study the influence of three different electron heat conduction models on the laser ablation of gold plane target. Different from previous studies, we concentrate on the plasma conditions, the conversion efficiency from laser into soft x rays and the scaling relation of mass ablation, which are relevant to hohlraum physics study in indirect drive inertial confinement fusion. We find that the simulated electron temperature in corona region is sensitive to the electron heat conduction models. For different electron heat conduction models, there are obvious differences in magnitude and spatial profile of electron temperature. For the flux limit model, the calculated conversion efficiency is sensitive to flux limiters. In the laser ablation of gold, most of the laser energies are converted into x rays. So the scaling relation of mass ablation rate is quite different from that of low Z materials.

Stable solutions of nonlocal electron heat transport equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, M.K.; Kershaw, D.S.

1991-01-01

Electron heat transport equations with a nonlocal heat flux are in general ill-posed and intrinsically unstable, as proved by the present authors [Phys. Fluids B 1, 2430 (1989)]. A straightforward numerical solution of these equations will therefore lead to absurd results. It is shown here that by imposing a minimal set of constraints on the problem it is possible to arrive at a globally stable, consistent, and energy conserving numerical solution

Electronic specific heat of transition metal carbides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conte, R.

1964-07-01

The experimental results that make it possible to define the band structure of transition metal carbides having an NaCI structure are still very few. We have measured the electronic specific heat of some of these carbides of varying electronic concentration (TiC, either stoichiometric or non-stoichiometric, TaC and mixed (Ti, Ta) - C). We give the main characteristics (metallography, resistivity, X-rays) of our samples and we describe the low temperature specific heat apparatus which has been built. In one of these we use helium as the exchange gas. The other is set up with a mechanical contact. The two use a germanium probe for thermometer. The measurement of the temperature using this probe is described, as well as the various measurement devices. The results are presented in the form of a rigid band model and show that the density of the states at the Fermi level has a minimum in the neighbourhood of the group IV carbides. (author) [fr

Microwave heating and diagnostic of suprathermal electrons in an overdense stellarator plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stange, Torsten

2014-01-01

The resonant coupling of microwaves into a magnetically confined plasma is one of the fundamental methods for the heating of such plasmas. Identifying and understanding the processes of the heating of overdense plasmas, in which the wave propagation is generally not possible because the wave frequency is below the plasma frequency, is becoming increasingly important for high density fusion plasmas. This work focuses on the heating of overdense plasmas in the WEGA stellarator. The excitation of electron Bernstein waves, utilizing the OXB-conversion process, provides a mechanism for the wave to reach the otherwise not accessible resonant absorption layer. In WEGA these OXB-heated plasmas exhibit a suprathermal electron component with energies up to 80 keV. The fast electrons are located in the plasma center and have a Maxwellian energy distribution function within the soft X-ray related energy range. The corresponding averaged energy is a few keV. The OXB-discharges are accompanied by a broadband microwave radiation spectrum with radiation temperatures of the order of keV. Its source was identified as a parametric decay of the heating wave and has no connection to the suprathermal electron component. For the detailed investigation of the microwave emission, a quasioptical mirror system, optimized for the OX-conversion, has been installed. Based on the measurement of the broadband microwave stray radiation of the decay process, the OX-conversion efficiency has been determined to 0.56 being in good agreement with full-wave calculations. In plasmas without an electron cyclotron resonance, corresponding to the wave frequency used, non-resonant heating mechanisms have been identified in the overdense plasma regions. Whistler waves or R-like waves are the only propagable wave types within the overdense plasmas. The analysis of the heating efficiency in dependence on the magnetic flux density leads to tunneling as the most probable coupling mechanism. For the determination

The Impact of Geometrical Constraints on Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Hesse, Michael; Aunai, Nico; Kuznetsova, Masha; Frolov, Rebekah; Black, Carrrie

2012-01-01

One of the most often cited features associated with collisionless magnetic reconnection is a Hall-type magnetic field, which leads, in antiparallel geometries, to a quadrupolar magnetic field signature. The combination of this out of plane magnetic field with the reconnection in-plane magnetic field leads to angling of magnetic flux tubes out of the plane defined by the incoming magnetic flux. Because it is propagated by Whistler waves, the quadrupolar field can extend over large distances in relatively short amounts of time - in fact, it will extend to the boundary of any modeling domain. In reality, however, the surrounding plasma and magnetic field geometry, defined, for example, by the overall solar wind flow, will in practice limit the extend over which a flux tube can be angled out of the main plain. This poses the question to what extent geometric constraints limit or control the reconnection process and this is the question investigated in this presentation. The investigation will involve a comparison of calculations, where open boundary conditions are set up to mimic either free or constrained geometries. We will compare momentum transport, the geometry of the reconnection regions, and the acceleration if ions and electrons to provide the current sheet in the outflow jet.

High power electron cyclotron heating in ISX and ORMAK Upgrade at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

England, A.C.; Eldridge, O.C.; Marcus, F.B.; Sprott, J.C.; Namkung, W.; Wilgen, J.B.

1976-05-01

A phased program of plasma heating at the electron cyclotron frequency is proposed for the Oak Ridge tokamaks ISX and ORMAK Upgrade. The past history of the program of electron cyclotron heating (ECH) at ORNL on mirrors and in the ELMO Bumpy Torus has been successful. Future technological developments in the production of high power high frequency microwave tubes look promising at this time. The physics of wave propagation and particle heating are fairly well understood and indicate the viability of this technique. Studies on breakdown and on runaway electron reduction will provide useful information for larger machines. Recent experiments in the USSR on small tokamaks have shown that ECH is a viable heating technique. Providing that the microwave tubes become available, the engineering considerations suggest that the technique is practical and workable, based on present day technology

Electron plasma waves and plasma resonances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franklin, R N; Braithwaite, N St J

2009-01-01

In 1929 Tonks and Langmuir predicted of the existence of electron plasma waves in an infinite, uniform plasma. The more realistic laboratory environment of non-uniform and bounded plasmas frustrated early experiments. Meanwhile Landau predicted that electron plasma waves in a uniform collisionless plasma would appear to be damped. Subsequent experimental work verified this and revealed the curious phenomenon of plasma wave echoes. Electron plasma wave theory, extended to finite plasmas, has been confirmed by various experiments. Nonlinear phenomena, such as particle trapping, emerge at large amplitude. The use of electron plasma waves to determine electron density and electron temperature has not proved as convenient as other methods.

Anomalous heat evolution of deuteron implanted Al on electron bombardment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamada, K.; Kinoshita, H.; Takahashi, H.

1994-05-01

Anomalous heat evolution was observed in deuteron implanted Al foils on 175 keV electron bombardment. Local regions with linear dimension of several 100nm showed simultaneous transformation from single crystalline to polycrystalline structure instantaneously on the electron bombardment, indicating the temperature rise up to more than melting point of Al from room temperature. The amount of energy evolved was more than 180 MeV for each transformed region. The transformation was never observed in proton implanted Al foils. The heat evolution was considered due to a nuclear reaction in D 2 molecular collections. (author)

Erratum: A Simple, Analytical Model of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection in a Pair Plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Hesse, Michael; Zenitani, Seiji; Kuznetsova, Masha; Klimas, Alex

2011-01-01

The following describes a list of errata in our paper, "A simple, analytical model of collisionless magnetic reconnection in a pair plasma." It supersedes an earlier erratum. We recently discovered an error in the derivation of the outflow-to-inflow density ratio.

Saturation of drift instabilities by ExB advection of resonant electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dimits, A.M.

1990-01-01

Saturation of the collisionless and weakly collisional drift instabilities by nonlinear ExB advection of resonant electrons is considered. The nonlinear ExB advection of the resonant electrons around the O points and X points of the potential shuts off the linear phase shift between the electron density and the potential, and hence the linear growth, and produces residual oscillations at the ExB-trapping frequency. Two analytical solutions of a three-mode model of Lee et al. [Phys. Fluids 27, 2652 (1984)], which describes the saturation of drift waves by this mechanism, are found. The first is an exact solution in the form of a steadily propagating wave of constant amplitude, and is relevant when electron pitch-angle scattering is present. The second is an approximate time-dependent analytical solution, obtained using the method of O'Neil [Phys. Fluids 8, 2255 (1965)], and is relevant to the collisionless case. The predictions that follow from this solution for the saturation level and for the amplitude oscillation frequency are in excellent agreement with the direct numerical solutions of the three-mode system

Adiabatic theory of nonlinear electron cyclotron resonance heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotel'nikov, I.A.; Stupakov, G.V.

1989-01-01

Plasma heating at electron frequency by an ordinary wave propagating at right angle to unidirectional magnetic field is treated. Injected microwave power is assumed to be so large that relativistic change of electron gyrofrequency during one flight thorugh the wave beam is much greater than inverse time of flight. The electron motion in the wave field is described using Hamiltonian formalism in adiabatic approximation. It is shown that energy coupling from the wave to electrons is due to a bifurcation of electron trajectory which results in a jumpm of the adiabatic invariant. The probability of bifurcational transition from one trajectory to another is calculated analytically and is used for the estimation of the beam power absorbed in plasma. 6 refs.; 2 figs

Microwave free-electron laser applications for electron cyclotron heating of plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomassen, K.

1990-01-01

Millimeter wave power may be the ideal source of heat for the plasma, but advances in technology are needed to meet requirements of next generation fusion devices. Free electron lasers (FEL) are one candidate for such sources, and this paper reviews the progress, issues of physics and technology, and potential benefits for fusion from these devices

Investigation of Heat Sink Efficiency for Electronic Component Cooling Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staliulionis, Ž.; Zhang, Zhe; Pittini, Riccardo

2014-01-01

Research and optimisation of cooling of electronic components using heat sinks becomes increasingly important in modern industry. Numerical methods with experimental real-world verification are the main tools to evaluate efficiency of heat sinks or heat sink systems. Here the investigation...... of relatively simple heat sink application is performed using modeling based on finite element method, and also the potential of such analysis was demonstrated by real-world measurements and comparing obtained results. Thermal modeling was accomplished using finite element analysis software COMSOL and thermo...

Diffusion induced by cyclotron resonance heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riyopoulos, S.; Tajima, T.; Hatori, T.; Pfirsch, D.

1985-09-01

The wave induced particle transport during the ion cyclotron resonance heating is studied in collisionless toroidal plasmas. It is shown that the previously neglected non-conservation of the toroidal angular momentum IP/sub phi/ caused by the toroidal wave component E/sub phi/ is necessary to allow particle diffusion and yields the leading diffusive contribution. While the induced ion transport for the rf power in contemporary experiments is of the order of the neoclassical value, that of fast alpha particles is quite large if resonance is present

Stochastic heating in the cyclotron resonance of electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutierrez T, C.; Hernandez A, O.

1999-01-01

The study of the different schemes of plasma heating by radiofrequency waves is a very actual problem related with the plasma heating in different machines and the particle acceleration mechanisms. In this work, it is obtained the expression for the temporal evolution of the energy absorbed in the cyclotron resonance of electrons where it is showed the stochastic character of the energy absorption. It is obtained the stochastic criteria in a magnetic configuration of an Ecr type plasma source. (Author)

Entropy in Collisionless Self-gravitating Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Eric; Williams, L.

2010-01-01

Collisionless systems, like simulated dark matter halos or gas-less elliptical galaxies, often times have properties suggesting that a common physical principle controls their evolution. For example, N-body simulations of dark matter halos present nearly scale-free density/velocity-cubed profiles. In an attempt to understand the origins of such relationships, we adopt a thermodynamics approach. While it is well-known that self-gravitating systems do not have physically realizable thermal equilibrium configurations, we are interested in the behavior of entropy as mechanical equilibrium is acheived. We will discuss entropy production in these systems from a kinetic theory point of view. This material is based upon work supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under grant NNX07AG86G issued through the Science Mission Directorate.

Impact of plasma triangularity and collisionality on electron heat transport in TCV L-mode plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camenen, Y.; Pochelon, A.; Behn, R.; Bottino, A.; Bortolon, A.; Coda, S.; Karpushov, A.; Sauter, O.; Zhuang, G.

2007-01-01

The impact of plasma shaping on electron heat transport is investigated in TCV L-mode plasmas. The study is motivated by the observation of an increase in the energy confinement time with decreasing plasma triangularity which may not be explained by a change in the temperature gradient induced by changes in the geometry of the flux surfaces. The plasma triangularity is varied over a wide range, from positive to negative values, and various plasmas conditions are explored by changing the total electron cyclotron (EC) heating power and the plasma density. The mid-radius electron heat diffusivity is shown to significantly decrease with decreasing triangularity and, for similar plasma conditions, only half of the EC power is required at a triangularity of -0.4 compared with +0.4 to obtain the same temperature profile. Besides, the observed dependence of the electron heat diffusivity on the electron temperature, electron density and effective charge can be grouped in a unique dependence on the plasma effective collisionality. In summary, the electron heat transport level exhibits a continuous decrease with decreasing triangularity and increasing collisionality. Local gyro-fluid and global gyro-kinetic simulations predict that trapped electron modes are the most unstable modes in these EC heated plasmas with an effective collisionality ranging from 0.2 to 1. The modes stability dependence on the plasma triangularity is investigated

Collisionless damping of dust-acoustic waves in a charge varying dusty plasma with nonextensive ions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amour, Rabia; Tribeche, Mouloud [Faculty of Physics, Theoretical Physics Laboratory (TPL), Plasma Physics Group (PPG), University of Bab-Ezzouar, USTHB, B.P. 32, El Alia, Algiers 16111 (Algeria)

2014-12-15

The charge variation induced nonlinear dust-acoustic wave damping in a charge varying dusty plasma with nonextensive ions is considered. It is shown that the collisionless damping due to dust charge fluctuation causes the nonlinear dust acoustic wave propagation to be described by a damped Korteweg-de Vries (dK-dV) equation the coefficients of which depend sensitively on the nonextensive parameter q. The damping term, solely due to the dust charge variation, is affected by the ion nonextensivity. For the sake of completeness, the possible effects of nonextensivity and collisionless damping on weakly nonlinear wave packets described by the dK-dV equation are succinctly outlined by deriving a nonlinear Schrödinger-like equation with a complex nonlinear coefficient.

Collisionless damping of dust-acoustic waves in a charge varying dusty plasma with nonextensive ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amour, Rabia; Tribeche, Mouloud

2014-01-01

The charge variation induced nonlinear dust-acoustic wave damping in a charge varying dusty plasma with nonextensive ions is considered. It is shown that the collisionless damping due to dust charge fluctuation causes the nonlinear dust acoustic wave propagation to be described by a damped Korteweg-de Vries (dK-dV) equation the coefficients of which depend sensitively on the nonextensive parameter q. The damping term, solely due to the dust charge variation, is affected by the ion nonextensivity. For the sake of completeness, the possible effects of nonextensivity and collisionless damping on weakly nonlinear wave packets described by the dK-dV equation are succinctly outlined by deriving a nonlinear Schrödinger-like equation with a complex nonlinear coefficient

Particle Demagnetization in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Hesse, Michael

2006-01-01

The dissipation mechanism of magnetic reconnection remains a subject of intense scientific interest. On one hand, one set of recent studies have shown that particle inertia-based processes, which include thermal and bulk inertial effects, provide the reconnection electric field in the diffusion region. In this presentation, we present analytical theory results, as well as 2.5 and three-dimensional PIC simulations of guide field magnetic reconnection. We will show that diffusion region scale sizes in moderate and large guide field cases are determined by electron Larmor radii, and that analytical estimates of diffusion region dimensions need to include description of the heat flux tensor. The dominant electron dissipation process appears to be based on thermal electron inertia, expressed through nongyrotropic electron pressure tensors. We will argue that this process remains viable in three dimensions by means of a detailed comparison of high resolution particle-in-cell simulations.

Induced magnetic-field effects in inductively coupled plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, R.H.; Rognlien, T.D.

1995-01-01

In inductive plasma sources, the rapid spatial decay of the electric field arising from the skin effect produces a large radio frequency (RF) magnetic field via Faraday's law. We previously determined that this magnetic field leads to a reduction of the electron density in the skin region, as well as a reduction in the collisionless heating rate. The electron deficit leads to the formation of an electrostatic potential which pulls electrons in to restore quasineutrality. Here we calculate the electron density including both the induced and electrostatic fields. If the wave frequency is not too low, the ions respond only to the averaged fields, and hence the electrostatic field is oscillatory, predominantly at the second harmonic of the applied field. We calculate the potential required to establish a constant electron density, and compare with numerical orbit-code calculations. For times short compared to ion transit times, the quasineutral density is just the initial ion density. For timescales long enough that the ions can relax, the density profile can be found from the solution of fluid equations with an effective (ponderomotive-like) potential added. Although the time-varying electrostatic potential is an extra source of heating, the net effect of the induced magnetic and electrostatic fields through trapping, early turning, and direct heating is a significant reduction in collisionless heating for parameters of interest

Improved theory of collisionless particle motion in stellarators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mynick, H.E.

1983-01-01

A theory of particle motion in stellarators is developed which, in contrast to previous work, is both realistic enough to account for collisionless detrapping, yet simple enough that most features of the orbits can be expressed in analytic, reasonably simple formulas. From the study of detrapping, a systematic, complete classification of possible orbit types emerges. The theory is valid for a class of stellarator configurations which contains the standard model traditionally envisaged, as well as somewhat more complex configurations recently found to have favorable transport properties. The reasons for the differences in transport between configurations are elucidated

Preferential heating of oxygen 5{sup +} ions by finite-amplitude oblique Alfvén waves

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maneva, Yana G.; Poedts, Stefaan [Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, KU Leuven, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium); Viñas, Adolfo [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, Greenbelt, 20771 MD (United States); Araneda, Jaime [Departamento de Física, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160 - C, Concepción (Chile)

2016-03-25

Minor ions in the fast solar wind are known to have higher temperatures and to flow faster than protons in the interplanetary space. In this study we combine previous research on parametric instability theory and 2.5D hybrid simulations to study the onset of preferential heating of Oxygen 5{sup +} ions by large-scale finite-amplitude Alfvén waves in the collisionless fast solar wind. We consider initially non-drifting isotropic multi-species plasma, consisting of isothermal massless fluid electrons, kinetic protons and kinetic Oxygen 5{sup +} ions. The external energy source for the plasma heating and energization are oblique monochromatic Alfvén-cyclotron waves. The waves have been created by rotating the direction of initial parallel pump, which is a solution of the multi-fluid plasma dispersion relation. We consider propagation angles θ ≤ 30°. The obliquely propagating Alfvén pump waves lead to strong diffusion in the ion phase space, resulting in highly anisotropic heavy ion velocity distribution functions and proton beams. We discuss the application of the model to the problems of preferential heating of minor ions in the solar corona and the fast solar wind.

Electron cyclotron resonance heating on the W VII A-stellarator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilhelm, R.; Erckmann, V.; Janzen, G.

1985-01-01

Plasma build-up and heating of OH-current free plasmas by ECR-wave irradiation were investigated on the WENDELSTEIN VII-A stellarator using three kinds of wave launching: direct irradiation of the gyrotron modes from the low field side, or advanced wave launching in 0-mode polarization from the low field side, the nonabsorbed fraction being reflected back to the plasma from the high field side in X-mode polarization. An increase of the central electron temperature from 0.7 keV (TE 02 mode) to 1.2 keV (TE 11 , HE 11 mode) was observed which is explained by the narrow and well centred power deposition profiles for TE 11 , HE 11 modes. However, there is only a slight increase of the heating efficiency from 40% to 50%. The reflected X-mode fraction does not contribute to bulk plasma heating via Bernstein wave conversion and absorption as expected. The reason seems to be local absorption of the arising electron Bernstein waves due to a macroscopically turbulent structure around the upper hybrid resonance layer. Correlated with X-mode irradiation direct ion heating was observed (500 eV ion tail), possibly due to low frequency decay waves. In all ECRH experiments a toroidal plasma current was generated due to asymmetrically confined fast electrons. Optimum confinement in the shearless l=2 configuration was achieved at most irrational values of the rotational transform with small toroidal net current. It can be concluded from a numerical 1D-transport analysis that neoclassical electron confinement seems to be dominant in the hot central plasma core

A fully kinetic, self-consistent particle simulation model of the collisionless plasma--sheath region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Procassini, R.J.; Birdsall, C.K.; Morse, E.C.

1990-01-01

A fully kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) model is used to self-consistently determine the steady-state potential profile in a collisionless plasma that contacts a floating, absorbing boundary. To balance the flow of particles to the wall, a distributed source region is used to inject particles into the one-dimensional system. The effect of the particle source distribution function on the source region and collector sheath potential drops, and particle velocity distributions is investigated. The ion source functions proposed by Emmert et al. [Phys. Fluids 23, 803 (1980)] and Bissell and Johnson [Phys. Fluids 30, 779 (1987)] (and various combinations of these) are used for the injection of both ions and electrons. The values of the potential drops obtained from the PIC simulations are compared to those from the theories of Emmert et al., Bissell and Johnson, and Scheuer and Emmert [Phys. Fluids 31, 3645 (1988)], all of which assume that the electron density is related to the plasma potential via the Boltzmann relation. The values of the source region and total potential drop are found to depend on the choice of the electron source function, as well as the ion source function. The question of an infinite electric field at the plasma--sheath interface, which arises in the analyses of Bissell and Johnson and Scheuer and Emmert, is also addressed

Electron heating of voltage-driven and matched dual frequency discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lieberman, M A; Lichtenberg, A J

2010-01-01

In a dual frequency capacitive sheath, a high frequency uniform sheath motion is coupled with a low frequency Child law sheath motion. For current-driven high and low frequency sheaths, the high frequency sheath motion generates most of the ohmic and stochastic heating of the discharge electrons. The low frequency motion, in addition to its primary purpose of establishing the ion bombarding energy, also increases the heating by widening the sheath width and transporting the oscillating electrons to regions of lower plasma density, and hence higher sheath velocity. In this work, we show that for voltage-driven high and low frequency sheaths, increasing the low frequency voltage reduces the heating, due to the reduced high frequency current that flows through the sheath under voltage-driven conditions. We determine the dependence of the heating on various parameters and compare the results with the current-driven case. Particle-in-cell simulations are used to confirm this result. Discharges generally employ a matching network to maximize the power transmitted to the plasma. We obtain analytic expressions for the effect of the low frequency source under matched conditions and, again, find that the low frequency source reduces the heating.

Electron heat transport studies using transient phenomena in ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacchia, A.; Angioni, C.; Manini, A.; Ryter, F.; Apostoliceanu, M.; Conway, G.; Fahrbach, H.-U.; Kirov, K.K.; Leuterer, F.; Reich, M.; Sutttrop, W.; Cirant, S.; Mantica, P.; De Luca, F.; Weiland, J.

2005-01-01

Experiments in tokamaks suggest that a critical gradient length may cause the resilient behavior of T e profiles, in the absence of ITBs. This agrees in general with ITG/TEM turbulence physics. Experiments in ASDEX Upgrade using modulation techniques with ECH and/or cold pulses demonstrate the existence of a threshold in R/L Te when T e >T i and T e ≤T i . For T e >T i linear stability analyses indicate that electron heat transport is dominated by TEM modes. They agree in the value of the threshold (both T e and n e ) and for the electron heat transport increase above the threshold. The stabilization of TEM modes by collisions yielded by gyro-kinetic calculations, which suggests a transition from TEM to ITG dominated transport at high collisionality, is experimentally demonstrated by comparing heat pulse and steady-state diffusivities. For the T e ∼T i discharges above the threshold the resilience, normalized by T e 3/2 , is similar to that of the TEM dominated cases, despite very different conditions. The heat pinch predicted by fluid modeling of ITG/TEM turbulence is investigated by perturbative transport in off-axis ECH-heated discharges. (author)

Electron cyclotron heating in the TARA axiplug

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mauel, M.E.

1983-01-01

The ecrh system for TARA's axiplug has been designed to maximize the plug's central-cell confining potential. This requires high RF field energy to strongly distort the electron velocity distribution. Two cases were considered: (1) single-frequency heating of both the plug at omega = omega/sub c/ and the barrier at omega = 2 omega/sub c/ as used in TMX-U, and (2) two frequency heating with both the plug and the barrier illuminated at omega = omega/sub c/. The second approach appeared more promising for the TARA parameters although the experiment is designed to investigate both. Numerical ray-tracing and Fokker-Planck calculations were performed to aid with the design. The gyrotrons and their transmission systems will also be discussed in terms of the μ-wave absorption and propagation in both the initial and steady-state electron distributions. In particular, the cavity launching system in the barrier is described which should give high RF field energy at high efficiency even at the low absorption characteristic of the steady-state RF-equilibrium

Study of electronic heat transport in plasma through diagnosis based on modulated electron cyclotron heating; Etudes de transport de la chaleur electronique par injection modulee d'ondes a la frequence cyclotronique electronique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clemencon, A.; Guivarch, C

2003-07-01

In order to make nuclear fusion energetically profitable, it is crucial to heat and confine the plasma efficiently. Studying the behavior of the heat diffusion coefficient is a key issue in this matter. The use of modulated electron cyclotron heating as a diagnostic has suggested the existence of a transport barrier under certain plasma conditions. We have determined the solution to the heat transport equation, for several heat diffusion coefficient profiles. By comparing the analytical solutions with experimental data; we are able to study the heat diffusion coefficient profile. Thus, in certain experiments, we can confirm that the heat diffusion coefficient switches from low to high values at the radius where the electron cyclotron heat deposition is made. (authors)

Time-dependence in relativistic collisionless shocks: theory of the variable

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spitkovsky, A

2004-02-05

We describe results from time-dependent numerical modeling of the collisionless reverse shock terminating the pulsar wind in the Crab Nebula. We treat the upstream relativistic wind as composed of ions and electron-positron plasma embedded in a toroidal magnetic field, flowing radially outward from the pulsar in a sector around the rotational equator. The relativistic cyclotron instability of the ion gyrational orbit downstream of the leading shock in the electron-positron pairs launches outward propagating magnetosonic waves. Because of the fresh supply of ions crossing the shock, this time-dependent process achieves a limit-cycle, in which the waves are launched with periodicity on the order of the ion Larmor time. Compressions in the magnetic field and pair density associated with these waves, as well as their propagation speed, semi-quantitatively reproduce the behavior of the wisp and ring features described in recent observations obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. By selecting the parameters of the ion orbits to fit the spatial separation of the wisps, we predict the period of time variability of the wisps that is consistent with the data. When coupled with a mechanism for non-thermal acceleration of the pairs, the compressions in the magnetic field and plasma density associated with the optical wisp structure naturally account for the location of X-ray features in the Crab. We also discuss the origin of the high energy ions and their acceleration in the equatorial current sheet of the pulsar wind.

Microwave free-electron laser applications for electron cyclotron heating of plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomassen, K.I.

1990-01-01

Millimeter wave power may be the ideal source of heat for a plasma, but advances in technology are needed to meet requirements of next generation fusion devices. Free electron lasers (FEL) are one candidate for such sources, and this paper reviews the progress, issues of physics and technology, and potential benefits for fusion from these devices. 15 refs., 13 figs

Heat load of a GaAs photocathode in an SRF electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Erdong; Zhao Kui; Jorg Kewisch; Ilan Ben-Zvi; Andrew Burrill; Trivini Rao; Wu Qiong; Animesh Jain; Ramesh Gupta; Doug Holmes

2011-01-01

A great deal of effort has been made over the last decades to develop a better polarized electron source for high energy physics. Several laboratories operate DC guns with a gallium arsenide photocathode, which yield a highly polarized electron beam. However, the beam's emittance might well be improved by using a superconducting radio frequency (SRF) electron gun, which delivers beams of a higher brightness than that from DC guns because the field gradient at the cathode is higher. SRF guns with metal and CsTe cathodes have been tested successfully. To produce polarized electrons, a Gallium-Arsenide photo-cathode must be used: an experiment to do so in a superconducting RF gun is under way at BNL. Since a bulk gallium arsenide (GaAs) photocathode is normal conducting, a problem arises from the heat load stemming from the cathode. We present our measurements of the electrical resistance of GaAs at cryogenic temperatures, a prediction of the heat load and verification by measuring the quality factor of the gun with and without the cathode at 2 K. We simulate heat generation and flow from the GaAs cathode using the ANSYS program. By following the findings with the heat load model, we designed and fabricated a new cathode holder (plug) to decrease the heat load from GaAs. (authors)

Lower hybrid heating data on the Wega experiment revisited using ion stochastic heating and electron Landau damping theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gormezano, C.; Hess, W.; Ichtchenko, G.

1980-07-01

The already obtained data on the Wega Tokamak by lower hybrid heating (f=500 MHz - Psub(HF)=130 KW) are revisited in the light of recent theories on ion stochastic heating and quasi-linear electron Landau damping. It is possible to correctly estimate with these theories the fast ion mean energy, the H.F. power density coupled to the ions and that coupled to the electrons. The values of the parallel index of refraction, Nsub(//), which are necessary to obtain a good quantitative agreement between experiment and theoretical estimates, are the same for the ions and for the electrons, even though at higher values than expected

Control Mechanisms of the Electron Heat Flux in the Solar Wind: Observations in Comparison to Numerical Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Stverak, S.; Hellinger, P.; Landi, S.; Travnicek, P. M.; Maksimovic, M.

2017-12-01

Recent understanding of the heat transport and dissipation in the expanding solar wind propose number of complex control mechanisms down to the electron kinetic scales. We investigate the evolution of electron heat flux properties and constraints along the expansion using in situ observations from Helios spacecraft in comparison to numerical kinetic simulations. In particular we focus on the roles of Coulomb collisions and wave-particle interactions in shaping the electron velocity distribution functions and thus controlling the heat transported by the electron heat flux. We show the general evolution of the electron heat flux to be driven namely by the Coulomb collisions. Locally we demonstrate the wave-particle interactions related to the kinetic plasma instabilities to be providing effective constraints in case of extreme heat flux levels.

Transition of radial electric field by electron cyclotron heating in stellarator plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Idei, H.; Ida, K.; Sanuki, H.

1993-06-01

The transition of a radial electric field from a negative to a positive value is observed in Compact Helical System when the electron loss is sufficiently enhanced by the superposition of the off-axis second harmonic electron cyclotron heating on the neutral beam heated plasmas. The observed threshold for the enhanced particle flux required to cause the transition is compared with a theoretical prediction. (author)

Heat shrinkage of electron beam modified EVA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datta, S.K.; Chaki, T.K.; Bhowmick, A.K.

1997-01-01

Heat shrinkage of electron beam modified ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) has been investigated over a range of times, temperatures, stretching, irradiation doses and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) levels. The irradiated (radiation dose 50 kGy and TMPTMA level 1%) and stretched (100% elongation) sample shrinks to a maximum level when kept at 453K temperature for 60 s. The heat shrinkage of samples irradiated with radiation doses of 20, 50, 100 and 150 kGy increases sharply with increasing stretching in the initial stage. Amnesia rating decreases with increasing radiation dose and TMPTMA level as well as gel content. The high radiation dose and TMPTMA level lower the heat shrinkage due to the chain scission. The effect of temperature at which extension is carried out on heat shrinkage is marginal. The irradiated (radiation dose 50 kGy and TMPTMA level 1%) EVA tubes of different dimensions expanded in a laboratory grade tube expander show similar behaviour at 453K and 60 s. The X-ray and DSC studies reveal that the crystallinity increases on stretching due to orientation of chains and it decreases to a considerable extent on heat shrinking. The theoretical and experimental values of heat shrinkage for tubes and rectangular strips are in good accord, when the radiation dose is 50 kGy and TMPTMA level 1%. (author)

Heat shrinkage of electron beam modified EVA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Datta, S.K.; Chaki, T.K.; Bhowmick, A.K. [Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (India). Rubber Technology Center; Tikku, V.K.; Pradhan, N.K. [NICCO Corporation Ltd., (Cable Div.), Calcutta (India)

1997-10-01

Heat shrinkage of electron beam modified ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) has been investigated over a range of times, temperatures, stretching, irradiation doses and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) levels. The irradiated (radiation dose 50 kGy and TMPTMA level 1%) and stretched (100% elongation) sample shrinks to a maximum level when kept at 453K temperature for 60 s. The heat shrinkage of samples irradiated with radiation doses of 20, 50, 100 and 150 kGy increases sharply with increasing stretching in the initial stage. Amnesia rating decreases with increasing radiation dose and TMPTMA level as well as gel content. The high radiation dose and TMPTMA level lower the heat shrinkage due to the chain scission. The effect of temperature at which extension is carried out on heat shrinkage is marginal. The irradiated (radiation dose 50 kGy and TMPTMA level 1%) EVA tubes of different dimensions expanded in a laboratory grade tube expander show similar behaviour at 453K and 60 s. The X-ray and DSC studies reveal that the crystallinity increases on stretching due to orientation of chains and it decreases to a considerable extent on heat shrinking. The theoretical and experimental values of heat shrinkage for tubes and rectangular strips are in good accord, when the radiation dose is 50 kGy and TMPTMA level 1%. (author).

Electron thermal conductivity from heat wave propagation in Wendelstein 7-AS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giannone, L.; Erckmann, V; Gasparino, U; Hartfuss, H J; Kuehner, G; Maassberg, H; Stroth, U; Tutter, M [Association Euratom-Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany); W7-AS Team; ECRH Group IPF Stuttgart; Gyrotron Group KFK Karlsruhe

1992-11-01

Heat wave propagation experiments have been carried out on the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator. The deposition of electron cyclotron resonance heating power is highly localized in the plasma centre, so that power modulation produces heat waves which propagate away from the deposition volume. Radiometry of the electron cyclotron emission is used to measure the generated temperature perturbation. The propagation time delay of the temperature perturbation as a function of distance to the power deposition region is used to determine the electron thermal conductivity [chi][sub e]. This value is then compared with the value determined by global power balance. In contrast to sawtooth propagation experiments in tokamaks, it is found that the value of [chi][sub e] from heat wave propagation is comparable to that calculated by power balance. In addition, inward propagating waves were produced by choosing a power deposition region away from the plasma centre. Experiments were carried out at 70 GHz in the ordinary mode and at 140 GHz in the extraordinary mode. Variations of the modulation power amplitude have demonstrated that the inferred value of [chi][sub e] is independent of the amplitude of the induced temperature perturbations. (author). 29 refs, 11 figs, 5 tabs.

Rectification of electronic heat current by a hybrid thermal diode.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Pérez, Maria José; Fornieri, Antonio; Giazotto, Francesco

2015-04-01

Thermal diodes--devices that allow heat to flow preferentially in one direction--are one of the key tools for the implementation of solid-state thermal circuits. These would find application in many fields of nanoscience, including cooling, energy harvesting, thermal isolation, radiation detection and quantum information, or in emerging fields such as phononics and coherent caloritronics. However, both in terms of phononic and electronic heat conduction (the latter being the focus of this work), their experimental realization remains very challenging. A highly efficient thermal diode should provide a difference of at least one order of magnitude between the heat current transmitted in the forward temperature (T) bias configuration (Jfw) and that generated with T-bias reversal (Jrev), leading to ℛ = Jfw/Jrev ≫ 1 or ≪ 1. So far, ℛ ≈ 1.07-1.4 has been reported in phononic devices, and ℛ ≈ 1.1 has been obtained with a quantum-dot electronic thermal rectifier at cryogenic temperatures. Here, we show that unprecedentedly high ratios of ℛ ≈ 140 can be achieved in a hybrid device combining normal metals tunnel-coupled to superconductors. Our approach provides a high-performance realization of a thermal diode for electronic heat current that could be successfully implemented in true low-temperature solid-state thermal circuits.

Joule heating and runaway electron acceleration in a solar flare

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, Gordon D.; Kundu, Mukul R.; Kane, Sharad R.

1989-01-01

The hard and soft x ray and microwave emissions from a solar flare (May 14, 1980) were analyzed and interpreted in terms of Joule heating and runaway electron acceleration in one or more current sheets. It is found that all three emissions can be generated with sub-Dreicer electric fields. The soft x ray emitting plasma can only be heated by a single current sheet if the resistivity in the sheet is well above the classical, collisional resistivity of 10(exp 7) K, 10(exp 11)/cu cm plasma. If the hard x ray emission is from thermal electrons, anomalous resistivity or densities exceeding 3 x 10(exp 12)/cu cm are required. If the hard x ray emission is from nonthermal electrons, the emissions can be produced with classical resistivity in the current sheets if the heating rate is approximately 4 times greater than that deduced from the soft x ray data (with a density of 10(exp 10)/cu cm in the soft x ray emitting region), if there are at least 10(exp 4) current sheets, and if the plasma properties in the sheets are characteristic of the superhot plasma observed in some flares by Lin et al., and with Hinotori. Most of the released energy goes directly into bulk heating, rather than accelerated particles.

ECRH [electron-cyclotron resonance heating]-heated distributions in thermal-barrier tandem mirrors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, R.H.; LoDestro, L.L.

1987-01-01

The distribution function is calculated for electrons subjected to strong electron-cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) at the plug and barrier in a tandem-mirror thermal-barrier cell. When ECRH diffusion locally dominates over collisions and a boundary condition (associated with electrons passing to the center cell) imposes variations on the distribution function rapid compared to the variation of the ECRH and collisional diffusion coefficients, the kinetic equation can be reduced approximately to Laplace's equation. For the typical case where velocity space is divided into distinct regions in which plug and barrier ECRH dominate, the solution in each region can be expressed in terms of the plasma dispersion function or exponential integrals, according to whether the passing electrons are dominated by collisions or ECRH, respectively. The analytic results agree well with Fokker-Planck code results, in terms of both velocity-space structure and values of moments. 10 refs., 4 figs

Measurement of toroidal plasma current in RF heated helical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Besshou, Sakae

1993-01-01

This report describes the measurement of toroidal plasma current by a semiflexible Rogowski coil in a helical vacuum chamber. A Rogowski coil measures the toroidal plasma current with a resolution of 0.1 kA, frequency range of up to 1 kHz and sensitivity of 6.5 x 10 -9 V · s/A. We measured the spontaneous toroidal plasma current (from -1.2 to +1.2 kA) under electron cyclotron resonance heating at 0.94 T toroidal field in the Heliotron-E device. We found that the measured direction of toroidal plasma current changes its sign as in the predicted behavior of a neoclassical diffusion-driven bootstrap current, depending on the horizontal position of the plasma column. We explain the observed plasma currents in terms of the compound phenomenon of an ohmic current and a neoclassical diffusion-driven current. The magnitude of the neoclassical current component is smaller than the value predicted by a collisionless neoclassical theory. (author)

Theory of free-electron-laser heating and current drive in magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, B.I.; Cohen, R.H.; Nevins, W.M.; Rognlien, T.D.

1991-01-01

The introduction of a powerful new microwave source, the free-electron laser, provides new opportunities for novel heating and current-drive schemes to be used in toroidal fusion devices. This high-power, pulsed source has a number of technical advantages for these applications, and its use is predicted to lead to improved current-drive efficiencies and opacities in reactor-grade fusion plasmas in specific cases. The Microwave Tokamak Experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will provide a test for some of these new heating and current-drive schemes. Although the motivation for much of this research has derived from the application of a free-electron laser to the heating of a tokamak plasma at a frequency near the electron cyclotron frequency, the underlying physics, i.e., the highly nonlinear interaction of an intense, pulsed, coherent electromagnetic wave with an electron in a magnetized plasma including relativistic effects, is of general interest. Other relevant applications include ionospheric modification by radio-frequency waves, high-energy electron accelerators, and the propagation of intense, pulsed electromagnetic waves in space and astrophysical plasmas. This review reports recent theoretical progress in the analysis and computer simulation of the absorption and current drive produced by intense pulses, and of the possible complications that may arise, e.g., parametric instabilities, nonlinear self-focusing, trapped-particle sideband instability, and instabilities of the heated plasma

Fast wave direct electron heating in advanced inductive and ITER baseline scenario discharges in DIII-D

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinsker, R. I.; Jackson, G. L.; Luce, T. C.; Politzer, P. A. [General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, California 92186-5608 (United States); Austin, M. E. [University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States); Diem, S. J.; Kaufman, M. C.; Ryan, P. M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States); Doyle, E. J.; Zeng, L. [University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); Grierson, B. A.; Hosea, J. C.; Nagy, A.; Perkins, R.; Solomon, W. M.; Taylor, G. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Maggiora, R.; Milanesio, D. [Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Torino (Italy); Porkolab, M. [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Turco, F. [Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)

2014-02-12

Fast Wave (FW) heating and electron cyclotron heating (ECH) are used in the DIII-D tokamak to study plasmas with low applied torque and dominant electron heating characteristic of burning plasmas. FW heating via direct electron damping has reached the 2.5 MW level in high performance ELMy H-mode plasmas. In Advanced Inductive (AI) plasmas, core FW heating was found to be comparable to that of ECH, consistent with the excellent first-pass absorption of FWs predicted by ray-tracing models at high electron beta. FW heating at the ∼2 MW level to ELMy H-mode discharges in the ITER Baseline Scenario (IBS) showed unexpectedly strong absorption of FW power by injected neutral beam (NB) ions, indicated by significant enhancement of the D-D neutron rate, while the intended absorption on core electrons appeared rather weak. The AI and IBS discharges are compared in an effort to identify the causes of the different response to FWs.

Localized Electron Heating by Strong Guide-Field Magnetic Reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Xuehan; Sugawara, Takumichi; Inomoto, Michiaki; Yamasaki, Kotaro; Ono, Yasushi; UTST Team

2015-11-01

Localized electron heating of magnetic reconnection was studied under strong guide-field (typically Bt 15Bp) using two merging spherical tokamak plasmas in Univ. Tokyo Spherical Tokamak (UTST) experiment. Our new slide-type two-dimensional Thomson scattering system documented for the first time the electron heating localized around the X-point. The region of high electron temperature, which is perpendicular to the magnetic field, was found to have a round shape with radius of 2 [cm]. Also, it was localized around the X-point and does not agree with that of energy dissipation term Et .jt . When we include a guide-field effect term Bt / (Bp + αBt) for Et .jt where α =√{ (vin2 +vout2) /v∥2 } , the energy dissipation area becomes localized around the X-point, suggesting that the electrons are accelerated by the reconnection electric field parallel to the magnetic field and thermalized around the X-point. This work was supported by JSPS A3 Foresight Program ``Innovative Tokamak Plasma Startup and Current Drive in Spherical Torus,'' a Grant-in-Aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellows 15J03758.

A kinetic study of solar wind electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lie-Svendsen, Oeystein; Leer, Egil

1996-01-01

The evolution of the distribution function for a test population of electrons in an isothermal electron-proton corona has been studied using a Fokker-Planck description. The aim is to investigate whether a suprathermal tail forms due to the energy dependence of the Coulomb cross section. We find that a Maxwellian test population, injected into this background close to the coronal base with a temperature equal to that of the background electrons, maintains its shape throughout the transition from collision-dominated to collisionless flow. No significant suprathermal tail in the electron distribution function is seen in the outer corona

[Scanning electron microscopy of heat-damaged bone tissue].

Science.gov (United States)

Harsanyl, L

1977-02-01

Parts of diaphyses of bones were exposed to high temperature of 200-1300 degrees C. Damage to the bone tissue caused by the heat was investigated. The scanning electron microscopic picture seems to be characteristic of the temperature applied. When the bones heated to the high temperature of 700 degrees C characteristic changes appear on the periostal surface, higher temperatura on the other hand causes damage to the compact bone tissue and can be observed on the fracture-surface. Author stresses the importance of this technique in the legal medicine and anthropology.

Self-consistency constraints on turbulent magnetic transport and relaxation in collisionless plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terry, P.W.; Diamond, P.H.; Hahm, T.S.

1985-10-01

Novel constraints on collisionless relaxation and transport in drift-Alfven turbulence are reported. These constraints arise due to the consideration of mode coupling and incoherent fluctuations and the proper application of self-consistency conditions. The result that electrostatic fluctuations alone regulate transport in drift-Alfven turbulence follows directly. Quasilinear transport predictions are discussed in light of these constraints

Theoretical parameters of powerful radio galaxies. II. Generation of MHD turbulence by collisionless shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baryshev, Yu.V.; Morozov, V.N.

1988-01-01

It is shown that MHD turbulence can be generated by collisionless shock waves due to anisotropy of the pressure behind the front of the reverse sock at the hot spot of a powerful radio galaxy. The energy density of the MHD turbulence generated behind the shock front is estimated. Analysis of the theoretical studies and experimental data on collisionless shock waves in the solar wind indicates that an important part is played by streams of ions reflected by the shock fronts, the streams generating plasma and MHD turbulence in the region ahead of the front. The extension of these ideas to shock waves in powerful radio galaxies must be made with care because of the great difference between the parameters of the shock waves in the two cases

Electron heat flux dropouts in the solar wind: Evidence for interplanetary magnetic field reconnection?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McComas, D.J.; Gosling, J.T.; Phillips, J.L.; Bame, S.J.; Luhmann, J.G.; Smith, E.J.

1989-01-01

Electron heat flux dropout events have been observed in the solar wind using the ISEE 3 plasma electron data set. These events manifest themselves as dropouts of the solar wind halo electrons which are normally found streaming outward along the local magnetic field. These dropouts leave nearly isotropic distributions of solar wind halo electrons, and consequently, the heat flux in these events is reduced to near the observational noise level. We have examined ISEE 3 data from shortly after launch (August 16, 1978) through the end of 1978 and identified 25 such events ranging in duration from 20 min to over 11 hours. Comparison with the ISEE 3 magnetometer data indicates that these intervals nearly always occur in conjunction with large rotations of the interplanetary magnetic field. Statistical analyses of the plasma and magnetic field data for the 25 dropout intervals indicate that heat flux dropouts generally occur in association with high plasma densities low plasma velocities, low ion and electron temperatures, and low magnetic field magnitudes. A second set of 25 intervals chosen specifically to lie at large field rotations, but at times at which not heat flux dropouts were observed, do not show these characteristic plalsma variations. This suggests that the dropout intervals comprise a unique set of events. Since the hot halo electrons normally found streaming outward from the Sun along the interplanetary magnetic field (the solar wind electron heat flux) are a result of direct magnetic connection to the hot solar corona, heat flux dropout intervals may indicate that the spacecraft is sampling plasma regimes which are magnetically disconnected from the Sun and instead are connected to the outer heliosphere at both ends

A line-of-sight electron cyclotron emission receiver for electron cyclotron resonance heating feedback control of tearing modes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oosterbeek, J.W.; Bürger, A.; Westerhof, E.

2008-01-01

An electron cyclotron emission (ECE) receiver inside the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) transmission line has been brought into operation. The ECE is extracted by placing a quartz plate acting as a Fabry-Perot interferometer under an angle inside the electron cyclotron wave (ECW) bea...

Acceleration of runaway electrons and Joule heating in solar flares

Science.gov (United States)

Holman, G. D.

1985-01-01

The electric field acceleration of electrons out of a thermal plasma and the simultaneous Joule heating of the plasma are studied. Acceleration and heating timescales are derived and compared, and upper limits are obtained on the acceleration volume and the rate at which electrons can be accelerated. These upper limits, determined by the maximum magnetic field strength observed in flaring regions, place stringent restrictions upon the acceleration process. The role of the plasma resistivity in these processes is examined, and possible sources of anomalous resistivity are summarized. The implications of these results for the microwave and hard X-ray emission from solar flares are examined.

High efficiency confinement mode by electron cyclotron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Funahashi, Akimasa

1987-01-01

In the medium size nuclear fusion experiment facility JFT-2M in the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, the research on the high efficiency plasma confinement mode has been advanced, and in the experiment in June, 1987, the formation of a high efficiency confinement mode was successfully controlled by electron cyclotron heating, for the first time in the world. This result further advanced the control of the formation of a high efficiency plasma confinement mode and the elucidation of the physical mechanism of that mode, and promoted the research and development of the plasma heating by electron cyclotron heating. In this paper, the recent results of the research on a high efficiency confinement mode at the JFT-2M are reported, and the role of the JFT-2M and the experiment on the improvement of core plasma performance are outlined. Now the plasma temperature exceeding 100 million deg C has been attained in large tokamaks, and in medium size facilities, the various measures for improving confinement performance are to be brought forth and their scientific basis is elucidated to assist large facilities. The JFT-2M started the operation in April, 1983, and has accumulated the results smoothly since then. (Kako, I.)

Particle Acceleration and Magnetic Field Generation in Electron-Positron Relativistic Shocks

Science.gov (United States)

Nishikawa, K.-I.; Hardee, P.; Richardson, G.; Preece, R.; Sol, H.; Fishman, G. J.

2005-01-01

Shock acceleration is a ubiquitous phenomenon in astrophysical plasmas. Plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., Buneman, Weibel, and other two-stream instabilities) created in collisionless shocks are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. Using a three-dimensional relativistic electromagnetic particle (REMP) code, we have investigated particle acceleration associated with a relativistic electron-positron jet front propagating into an ambient electron-positron plasma with and without initial magnetic fields. We find small differences in the results for no ambient and modest ambient magnetic fields. New simulations show that the Weibel instability created in the collisionless shock front accelerates jet and ambient particles both perpendicular and parallel to the jet propagation direction. Furthermore, the nonlinear fluctuation amplitudes of densities, currents, and electric and magnetic fields in the electron-positron shock are larger than those found in the electron-ion shock studied in a previous paper at a comparable simulation time. This comes from the fact that both electrons and positrons contribute to generation of the Weibel instability. In addition, we have performed simulations with different electron skin depths. We find that growth times scale inversely with the plasma frequency, and the sizes of structures created by tine Weibel instability scale proportionally to the electron skin depth. This is the expected result and indicates that the simulations have sufficient grid resolution. While some Fermi acceleration may occur at the jet front, the majority of electron and positron acceleration takes place behind the jet front and cannot be characterized as Fermi acceleration. The simulation results show that the Weibel instability is responsible for generating and amplifying nonuniform, small-scale magnetic fields, which contribute to the electron s (positron s) transverse deflection behind the jet head. This

A conservative scheme of drift kinetic electrons for gyrokinetic simulation of kinetic-MHD processes in toroidal plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, J.; Liu, D.; Lin, Z.

2017-10-01

A conservative scheme of drift kinetic electrons for gyrokinetic simulations of kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic processes in toroidal plasmas has been formulated and verified. Both vector potential and electron perturbed distribution function are decomposed into adiabatic part with analytic solution and non-adiabatic part solved numerically. The adiabatic parallel electric field is solved directly from the electron adiabatic response, resulting in a high degree of accuracy. The consistency between electrostatic potential and parallel vector potential is enforced by using the electron continuity equation. Since particles are only used to calculate the non-adiabatic response, which is used to calculate the non-adiabatic vector potential through Ohm's law, the conservative scheme minimizes the electron particle noise and mitigates the cancellation problem. Linear dispersion relations of the kinetic Alfvén wave and the collisionless tearing mode in cylindrical geometry have been verified in gyrokinetic toroidal code simulations, which show that the perpendicular grid size can be larger than the electron collisionless skin depth when the mode wavelength is longer than the electron skin depth.

Collisionless stopping of electron current in an inhomogeneous ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Ampere's law we can express b in terms of the typical incoming current filament dimension a and the electron velocity u. Thus b ∼ au. This shows that. Q ∼ KLb2aLzu ∼ (L/Ln)aLzu. (9). The energy dissipation depends on the same parameter ratio (Ln/L) which determined the criteria for trapping vs. transmission, noted ...

Noncoplanar magnetic fields at collisionless shocks: A test of a new approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gosling, J.T.; Winske, D.; Thomsen, M.F.

1988-01-01

Within the foot and ramp of a fast mode collisionless shock the magnetic field rotates out of the plane of coplanarity defined by the upstream magnetic field and the shock normal. As previously noted (Goodrich and Scudder, 1984), the sense of this rotation is such as to reduce the cross-shock potential drop when measured in the deHoffman-Teller frame relative to that measured in the normal incidence frame. From a consideration of the requirement that there be zero current in the coplanarity plane downstream of the shock, Jones and Ellison (1987) have argued that the field rotation and potential drop difference are a consequence of unequal ion and electron masses, and have derived an expression for the spatial integral of the noncoplanar field component in terms of the electron current within the shock layer. Moreover, by assuming that the ion current within the shock layer is negligible compared to the electron current, they derive equations which predict the magnitude of both the field rotation and the potential drop difference in terms of upstream quantities and the field jump at the shock. We have tested their equations with ISEE 1 and 2 plasma and field measurements at the Earth's bow shock and by means of numerical simulations. We find substantial support for their suggestion that the field rotation and thus also the frame dependence of the potential drop are fundamentally a consequence of unequal ion and electron masses. Further, for subcritical shocks (low Mach number) one can neglect the ion current to predict both the sign and the magnitude of the field rotation and potential drop difference. However, at supercritical shocks (high Mach numbers) the ion current associated with reflected, gyrating ions cannot be neglected, and the final equations of Jones and Ellison seriously underestimate the magnitude of the field rotation and the potential drop difference at these shocks

DICE/ColDICE: 6D collisionless phase space hydrodynamics using a lagrangian tesselation

Science.gov (United States)

Sousbie, Thierry

2018-01-01

DICE is a C++ template library designed to solve collisionless fluid dynamics in 6D phase space using massively parallel supercomputers via an hybrid OpenMP/MPI parallelization. ColDICE, based on DICE, implements a cosmological and physical VLASOV-POISSON solver for cold systems such as dark matter (CDM) dynamics.

Subcritical collisionless shock waves. [in earth space plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Mellott, M. M.

1985-01-01

The development history of theoretical accounts of low Mach number collisionless shock waves is related to recent observational advancements, with attention to weaker shocks in which shock steepening is limited by dispersion and/or anomalous resistivity and whose character is primarily determined by the dispersive properties of the ambient plasma. Attention has focused on nearly perpendicular shocks where dispersive scale lengths become small and the associated cross-field currents become strong enough to generate significant plasma wave turbulence. A number of oblique, low Mach number bow shocks have been studied on the basis of data from the ISEE dual spacecraft pair, allowing an accurate determination of shock scale lengths.

Electron Energy Confinement for HHFW Heating and Current Drive Phasing on NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosea, J.C.; Bernabei, S.; Biewer, T.; LeBlanc, B.; Phillips, C.K.; Wilson, J.R.; Stutman, D.; Ryan, P.; Swain, D.W.

2005-01-01

Thomson scattering laser pulses are synchronized relative to modulated HHFW power to permit evaluation of the electron energy confinement time during and following HHFW pulses for both heating and current drive antenna phasing. Profile changes resulting from instabilities require that the total electron stored energy, evaluated by integrating the midplane electron pressure P(sub)e(R) over the magnetic surfaces prescribed by EFIT analysis, be used to derive the electron energy confinement time. Core confinement is reduced during a sawtooth instability but, although the electron energy is distributed outward by the sawtooth, the bulk electron energy confinement time is essentially unaffected. The radial deposition of energy into the electrons is noticeably more peaked for current drive phasing (longer wavelength excitation) relative to that for heating phasing (shorter wavelength excitation) as is expected theoretically. However, the power delivered to the core plasma is reduced consider ably for the current drive phasing, indicating that surface/peripheral damping processes play a more important role for this case

Electron heating and energy inventory during asymmetric reconnection in a laboratory plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, J.; Na, B.; Jara-Almonte, J.; Yamada, M.; Ji, H.; Roytershteyn, V.; Argall, M. R.; Fox, W.; Chen, L. J.

2017-12-01

Electron heating and the energy inventory during asymmetric reconnection are studied in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) [1]. In this plasma, the density ratio is about 8 across the current sheet. Typical features of asymmetric reconnection such as the large density gradients near the low-density-side separatrices, asymmetric in-plane electric field, and bipolar out-of-plane magnetic field are observed. Unlike the symmetric case [2], electrons are also heated near the low-density-side separatrices. The measured parallel electric field may explain the observed electron heating. Although large fluctuations driven by lower-hybrid drift instabilities are also observed near the low-density-side separatrices, laboratory measurements and numerical simulations reported here suggest that they do not play a major role in electron energization. The average electron temperature increase in the exhaust region is proportional to the incoming magnetic energy per an electron/ion pair but exceeds the scaling of the previous space observations [3]. This discrepancy is explained by differences in the boundary condition and system size. The profile of electron energy gain from the electric field shows that there is additional electron energy gain associated with the electron diamagnetic current besides a large energy gain near the X-line. This additional energy gain increases electron enthalpy, not the electron temperature. Finally, a quantitative analysis of the energy inventory during asymmetric reconnection is conducted. Unlike the symmetric case where the ion energy gain is about twice more than the electron energy gain [4], electrons and ions obtain a similar amount of energy during asymmetric reconnection. [1] J. Yoo et al., accepted for a publication in J. Geophys. Res. [2] J. Yoo et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 055706 (2014). [3] T. Phan et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 40, 4475 (2013). [4] M. Yamada et al., Nat. Comms. 5, 4474 (2014).

How to Patch Active Plasma and Collisionless Sheath: Practical Guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaganovich, Igor D.

2002-01-01

Most plasmas have a very thin sheath compared with the plasma dimension. This necessitates separate calculations of the plasma and sheath. The Bohm criterion provides the boundary condition for calculation of plasma profiles. To calculate sheath properties, a value of electric field at the plasma-sheath interface has to be specified in addition to the Bohm criterion. The value of the boundary electric field and robust procedure to approximately patch plasma and collisionless sheath with a very good accuracy are reported

Efficient electron heating in relativistic shocks and gamma-ray-burst afterglow.

Science.gov (United States)

Gedalin, M; Balikhin, M A; Eichler, D

2008-02-01

Electrons in shocks are efficiently energized due to the cross-shock potential, which develops because of differential deflection of electrons and ions by the magnetic field in the shock front. The electron energization is necessarily accompanied by scattering and thermalization. The mechanism is efficient in both magnetized and nonmagnetized relativistic electron-ion shocks. It is proposed that the synchrotron emission from the heated electrons in a layer of strongly enhanced magnetic field is responsible for gamma-ray-burst afterglows.

Sheath and heat flow of a two-electron-temperature plasma in the presence of electron emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Kunihiro; Miyawaki, Fujio

1992-01-01

The electrostatic sheath and the heat flow of a two-electron-temperature plasma in the presence of electron emission are investigated analytically. It is shown that the energy flux is markedly enhanced to a value near the electron free-flow energy flux as a result of considerable reduction of the sheath potential due to electron emission if the fraction of hot electrons at the sheath edge is much smaller than one. If the hot- to cold-electron temperature ratio is of the order of ten and the hot electron density is comparable to the cold electron density, the action of the sheath as a thermal insulator is improved as a result of suppression of electron emission due to the space-charge effect of hot electrons. (author)

Theoretical models of non-Maxwellian equilibria for one-dimensional collisionless plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Allanson, O.; Neukirch, T.; Wilson, F.; Troscheit, S.

2016-12-01

It is ideal to use exact equilibrium solutions of the steady state Vlasov-Maxwell system to intialise collsionless simulations. However, exact equilibrium distribution functions (DFs) for a given macroscopic configuration are typically unknown, and it is common to resort to using `flow-shifted' Maxwellian DFs in their stead. These DFs may be consistent with a macrosopic system with the target number density and current density, but could well have inaccurate higher order moments. We present recent theoretical work on the `inverse problem in Vlasov-Maxwell equilibria', namely calculating an exact solution of the Vlasov equation for a specific given magnetic field. In particular, we focus on one-dimensional geometries in Cartesian (current sheets) coordinates.1. From 1D fields to Vlasov equilibria: Theory and application of Hermite Polynomials: (O. Allanson, T. Neukirch, S. Troscheit and F. Wilson, Journal of Plasma Physics, 82, 905820306 (2016) [28 pages, Open Access] )2. An exact collisionless equilibrium for the Force-Free Harris Sheet with low plasma beta: (O. Allanson, T. Neukirch, F. Wilson and S. Troscheit, Physics of Plasmas, 22, 102116 (2015) [11 pages, Open Access])3. Neutral and non-neutral collisionless plasma equilibria for twisted flux tubes: The Gold-Hoyle model in a background field (O. Allanson, F. Wilson and T. Neukirch, (2016)) (accepted, Physics of Plasmas)

Bursty emission of whistler waves in association with plasmoid collision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Fujimoto

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A new mechanism to generate whistler waves in the course of collisionless magnetic reconnection is proposed. It is found that intense whistler emissions occur in association with plasmoid collisions. The key processes are strong perpendicular heating of the electrons through a secondary magnetic reconnection during plasmoid collision and the subsequent compression of the ambient magnetic field, leading to whistler instability due to the electron temperature anisotropy. The emissions have a bursty nature, completing in a short time within the ion timescales, as has often been observed in the Earth's magnetosphere. The whistler waves can accelerate the electrons in the parallel direction, contributing to the generation of high-energy electrons. The present study suggests that the bursty emission of whistler waves could be an indicator of plasmoid collisions and the associated particle energization during collisionless magnetic reconnection.

Inside launch electron cyclotron heating and current drive on DITE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashraf, M.; Deliyanakis, N.

1989-01-01

Electron cyclotron resonance heating at 60 GHz has been carried out on DITE (R = 1.2 m, a = 0.24 m) to investigate heating and current drive using the extraordinary mode launched with finite k parallel from the high field side. The first clear evidence of Doppler shifted resonance absorption in a near-thermal plasma is obtained. The heating efficiency is observed to fall sharply at densities above cut-off for the wave. At lower densities the increment in power to the limiter is measured during ECRH and is compared with that expected from the global power balance. The degradation in particle confinement often associated with ECRH is observed as an increased particle flux at the boundary driven by local electrostatic fluctuations. Initial experiments on the electron cyclotron wave driven current at the second harmonic show effects that are consistent with the low efficiency expected from theory including trapped particle effects. (author). 9 refs, 4 figs

Computer simulations of collisionless shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leroy, M.M.

1984-01-01

A review of the contributions of particle computer simulations to the understanding of the physics of magnetic shock waves in collisionless plasmas is presented. The emphasis is on the relation between the computer simulation results, spacecraft observations of shocks in space, and related theories, rather than on technical aspects of the numerics. It is shown that much has been learned from the comparison of ISEE spacecraft observations of the terrestrial bow shock and particle computer simulations concerning the quasi-perpendicular, supercritical shock (ion scale structure, ion reflection mechanism and ultimate dissipation processes). Particle computer simulations have also had an appreciable prospective role in the investigation of the physics of quasi-parallel shocks, about which still little is known observationally. Moreover, these numerical techniques have helped to clarify the process of suprathermal ion rejection by the shock into the foreshock, and the subsequent evolution of the ions in the foreshock. 95 references

Ionospheric Electron Heating Associated With Pulsating Auroras: Joint Optical and PFISR Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jun; Donovan, E.; Reimer, A.; Hampton, D.; Zou, S.; Varney, R.

2018-05-01

In a recent study, Liang et al. (2017, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024127) repeatedly identified strong electron temperature (Te) enhancements when Swarm satellites traversed pulsating auroral patches. In this study, we use joint optical and Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) observations to further investigate the F region plasma signatures related to pulsating auroras. On 19 March 2015 night, which contained multiple intervals of pulsating auroral activities, we identify a statistical trend, albeit not a one-to-one correspondence, of strong Te enhancements ( 500-1000 K) in the upper F region ionosphere during the passages of pulsating auroras over PFISR. On the other hand, there is no discernible and repeatable density enhancement in the upper F region during pulsating auroral intervals. Collocated optical and NOAA satellite observations suggest that the pulsating auroras are composed of energetic electron precipitation with characteristic energy >10 keV, which is inefficient in electron heating in the upper F region. Based upon PFISR observations and simulations from Liang et al. (2017) model, we propose that thermal conduction from the topside ionosphere, which is heated by precipitating low-energy electrons, offers the most likely explanation for the observed electron heating in the upper F region associated with pulsating auroras. Such a heating mechanism is similar to that underlying the "stable auroral red arcs" in the subauroral ionosphere. Our proposal conforms to the notion on the coexistence of an enhanced cold plasma population and the energetic electron precipitation, in magnetospheric flux tubes threading the pulsating auroral patch. In addition, we find a trend of enhanced ion upflows during pulsating auroral intervals.

Study of the heat flux generated by accelerated electrons on the components near the plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laugier, J.

2003-01-01

Experimental data have shown that a heat flux appears on components situated near the wave guide of the lower hybrid antenna of Tore-Supra. This heat flux is due to the energy release during collisions that occur between the component surface and the electrons accelerated by the high frequency field generated by the antenna. Simulations show that the electrons may reach an energy of 2-3 keV and that the heat flux generated in the shield may reach 10 MW/m 2 . In this work a correlation has been established between the local heat flux due to electron impact and the mean electrical field near the antenna: Φ (W/m 2 ) = 4.10 -4 x E -6 (10 5 V/m). It is also shown that the ratio of electrons that reach the shield is roughly not dependent on the value of the mean electrical field. In the hypothesis of a Gaussian distribution of electron initial velocities this ratio is 10%. (A.C.)

Nonlinear magnetic electron tripolar vortices in streaming plasmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Vranjes, J; Marić, G; Shukla, P K

2000-06-01

Magnetic electron modes in nonuniform magnetized and unmagnetized streaming plasmas, with characteristic frequencies between the ion and electron plasma frequencies and at spatial scales of the order of the collisionless skin depth, are studied. Two coupled equations, for the perturbed (in the case of magnetized plasma) or self-generated (for the unmagnetized plasma case) magnetic field, and the temperature, are solved in the strongly nonlinear regime and stationary traveling solutions in the form of tripolar vortices are found.

Advanced electron cyclotron heating and current drive experiments on the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stange Torsten

2017-01-01

Full Text Available During the first operational phase (OP 1.1 of Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH was the exclusive heating method and provided plasma start-up, wall conditioning, heating and current drive. Six gyrotrons were commissioned for OP1.1 and used in parallel for plasma operation with a power of up to 4.3 MW. During standard X2-heating the spatially localized power deposition with high power density allowed controlling the radial profiles of the electron temperature and the rotational transform. Even though W7-X was not fully equipped with first wall tiles and operated with a graphite limiter instead of a divertor, electron densities of n e > 3·1019 m-3 could be achieved at electron temperatures of several keV and ion temperatures above 2 keV. These plasma parameters allowed the first demonstration of a multipath O2-heating scenario, which is envisaged for safe operation near the X-cutoff-density of 1.2·1020 m-3 after full commissioning of the ECRH system in the next operation phase OP1.2.

Transient thermal and nonthermal electron and phonon relaxation after short-pulsed laser heating of metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giri, Ashutosh; Hopkins, Patrick E.

2015-01-01

Several dynamic thermal and nonthermal scattering processes affect ultrafast heat transfer in metals after short-pulsed laser heating. Even with decades of measurements of electron-phonon relaxation, the role of thermal vs. nonthermal electron and phonon scattering on overall electron energy transfer to the phonons remains unclear. In this work, we derive an analytical expression for the electron-phonon coupling factor in a metal that includes contributions from equilibrium and nonequilibrium distributions of electrons. While the contribution from the nonthermal electrons to electron-phonon coupling is non-negligible, the increase in the electron relaxation rates with increasing laser fluence measured by thermoreflectance techniques cannot be accounted for by only considering electron-phonon relaxations. We conclude that electron-electron scattering along with electron-phonon scattering have to be considered simultaneously to correctly predict the transient nature of electron relaxation during and after short-pulsed heating of metals at elevated electron temperatures. Furthermore, for high electron temperature perturbations achieved at high absorbed laser fluences, we show good agreement between our model, which accounts for d-band excitations, and previous experimental data. Our model can be extended to other free electron metals with the knowledge of the density of states of electrons in the metals and considering electronic excitations from non-Fermi surface states

Wave trajectory and electron cyclotron heating in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maekawa, T.; Tanaka, S.; Terumichi, Y.; Hamada, Y.

1977-12-01

Wave trajectories propagating obliquely to magnetic field in toroidal plasmas are studied theoretically. Results show that the ordinary wave at appropriate incident angle is mode-converted to the extraordinary wave at first turning point and is further converted to the electron Bernstein wave during passing a loop or a hooked nail curve near second turning point and is cyclotron-damped away, resulting in local electron heating, before arriving at cyclotron resonance layer. (auth.)

Solutions to mitigate heat loads due to electrons on sensitive components of ITER HNB beamlines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sartori, Emanuele, E-mail: emanuele.sartori@gmail.com [Consorzio RFX (CNR, ENEA, INFN, Università di Padova, Acciaierie Venete SpA), C.so Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova (Italy); Veltri, Pierluigi; Dalla Palma, Mauro; Agostinetti, Piero [Consorzio RFX (CNR, ENEA, INFN, Università di Padova, Acciaierie Venete SpA), C.so Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova (Italy); Hemsworth, Ronald; Singh, Mahendrajit [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 Saint Paul Lez Durance (France); Serianni, Gianluigi [Consorzio RFX (CNR, ENEA, INFN, Università di Padova, Acciaierie Venete SpA), C.so Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova (Italy)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Energetic electrons leaking out of the ITER HNB accelerator are simulated. • Electrons generated along the ITER HNB beamline are simulated. • Heat loads and heat load maps on cryopumps are calculated for ITER HNB and test facility. • Protection solutions that will be installed are presented and their effect discussed. - Abstract: The operation of neutral beam injectors for plasma heating and current drive in a fusion device provides challenges in the thermal management of beamline components. Sensitive components such as the cryogenic pumps at beamline periphery shall be protected from the heat flux due to stray electrons. These are emitted by the negative ion accelerator or generated along the beamline by interaction of fast electrons, ions or atoms with background gas and surfaces. In this article the case of the ITER Heating Neutral Beam (HNB) and its test facility MITICA is discussed, for which the beam parameters and the required pulse length of one hour is a major leap forward with respect to the present experience with neutral beam systems. The engineering solutions adopted for effective cryopump protection against the heat load from electrons are described. The use of three-dimensional numerical simulations of particle trajectories in the complex geometry of the beamline was needed for the quantitative estimations of the heat loads. The presented solutions were optimized to minimize the impact on gas pumping and on the functionality of other components.

Formation of small sparks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barreto, E.; Jurenka, H.; Reynolds, S.I.

1977-01-01

The formation of a small incendiary spark at atmospheric pressure is identified with the transition from a weakly to a strongly ionized plasma. It is shown that initial gaseous ionization produced by avalanches and/or streamers always creates a high-temperature ideal electron gas that can shield the applied voltage difference and reduce ionization in the volume of the gas. The electron gas is collision dominated but able to maintain its high temperature, for times long compared to discharge events, through long-range Coulomb forces. In fact, electrons in the weakly ionized plasma constitute a collisionless independent fluid with a thermodynamic state that can be affected directly by field or density changes. Accordingly, with metal electrodes, cathode spot emission is always associated with the transition to a strongly ionized plasma. Neutral heating can be accomplished in two different ways. Effective dispersal of the electrons from the cathode leads to electron heating dominated by diffusion effects. Conversely, a fast rate of emission or rapid field changes can produce nonlinear wave propagation. It is shown that solitary waves are possible, and it is suggested that some spark transitions are associated with shock waves in the collisionless electron gas. In either the diffuse or nonlinear regime, neutral gas heating is controlled by collisions of ions with isotropic thermal electrons. This interaction is always subsequent to changes in state of the electron gas population. The basic results obtained should apply to all sparks

Effect of exponential density transition on self-focusing of q-Gaussian laser beam in collisionless plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Valkunde, Amol T.; Vhanmore, Bandopant D.; Urunkar, Trupti U.; Gavade, Kusum M.; Patil, Sandip D.; Takale, Mansing V.

2018-05-01

In this work, nonlinear aspects of a high intensity q-Gaussian laser beam propagating in collisionless plasma having upward density ramp of exponential profiles is studied. We have employed the nonlinearity in dielectric function of plasma by considering ponderomotive nonlinearity. The differential equation governing the dimensionless beam width parameter is achieved by using Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) and paraxial approximations and solved it numerically by using Runge-Kutta fourth order method. Effect of exponential density ramp profile on self-focusing of q-Gaussian laser beam for various values of q is systematically carried out and compared with results Gaussian laser beam propagating in collisionless plasma having uniform density. It is found that exponential plasma density ramp causes the laser beam to become more focused and gives reasonably interesting results.

Kinetic structures of quasi-perpendicular shocks in global particle-in-cell simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Ivy Bo; Markidis, Stefano; Laure, Erwin; Johlander, Andreas; Vaivads, Andris; Khotyaintsev, Yuri; Henri, Pierre; Lapenta, Giovanni

2015-01-01

We carried out global Particle-in-Cell simulations of the interaction between the solar wind and a magnetosphere to study the kinetic collisionless physics in super-critical quasi-perpendicular shocks. After an initial simulation transient, a collisionless bow shock forms as a result of the interaction of the solar wind and a planet magnetic dipole. The shock ramp has a thickness of approximately one ion skin depth and is followed by a trailing wave train in the shock downstream. At the downstream edge of the bow shock, whistler waves propagate along the magnetic field lines and the presence of electron cyclotron waves has been identified. A small part of the solar wind ion population is specularly reflected by the shock while a larger part is deflected and heated by the shock. Solar wind ions and electrons are heated in the perpendicular directions. Ions are accelerated in the perpendicular direction in the trailing wave train region. This work is an initial effort to study the electron and ion kinetic effects developed near the bow shock in a realistic magnetic field configuration

The DNA electronic specific heat at low temperature: The role of aperiodicity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarmento, R.G. [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Mendes, G.A. [Departamento de Biofísica e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Albuquerque, E.L., E-mail: eudenilson@gmail.com [Departamento de Biofísica e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Fulco, U.L. [Departamento de Biofísica e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Vasconcelos, M.S. [Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Ujsághy, O. [Department of Theoretical Physics and Condensed Matter Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budafoki út 8, H-1521 Budapest (Hungary); Freire, V.N. [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Caetano, E.W.S. [Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará, 60040-531, Fortaleza, CE (Brazil)

2012-07-16

The electronic specific heat spectra at constant volume (C{sub V}) of a long-range correlated extended ladder model, mimicking a DNA molecule, is theoretically analyzed for a stacked array of a double-stranded structure made up from the nucleotides guanine G, adenine A, cytosine C and thymine T. The role of the aperiodicity on C{sub V} is discussed, considering two different nucleotide arrangements with increasing disorder, namely the Fibonacci and the Rudin–Shapiro quasiperiodic structures. Comparisons are made for different values of the band fillings, considering also a finite segment of natural DNA, as part of the human chromosome Ch22. -- Highlights: ► Quasiperiodic sequence to mimic the DNA nucleotides arrangement. ► Electronic tight-binding Hamiltonian model. ► Electronic density of states. ► Electronic specific heat spectra.

Effects of non-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution function on two-stream instability in low-pressure discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sydorenko, D.; Smolyakov, A.; Kaganovich, I.; Raitses, Y.

2007-01-01

Electron emission from discharge chamber walls is important for plasma maintenance in many low-pressure discharges. The electrons emitted from the walls are accelerated by the sheath electric field and are injected into the plasma as an electron beam. Penetration of this beam through the plasma is subject to the two-stream instability, which tends to slow down the beam electrons and heat the plasma electrons. In the present paper, a one-dimensional particle-in-cell code is used to simulate these effects both in a collisionless plasma slab with immobile ions and in a cross-field discharge of a Hall thruster. The two-stream instability occurs if the total electron velocity distribution function of the plasma-beam system is a nonmonotonic function of electron speed. Low-pressure plasmas can be depleted of electrons with energy above the plasma potential. This study reveals that under such conditions the two-stream instability depends crucially on the velocity distribution function of electron emission. It is shown that propagation of the secondary electron beams in Hall thrusters may be free of the two-stream instability if the velocity distribution of secondary electron emission is a monotonically decaying function of speed. In this case, the beams propagate between the walls with minimal loss of the beam current and the secondary electron emission does not affect the thruster plasma properties

Exact Turbulence Law in Collisionless Plasmas: Hybrid Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Hellinger, P.; Verdini, A.; Landi, S.; Franci, L.; Matteini, L.

2017-12-01

An exact vectorial law for turbulence in homogeneous incompressible Hall-MHD is derived and tested in two-dimensional hybrid simulations of plasma turbulence. The simulations confirm the validity of the MHD exact law in the kinetic regime, the simulated turbulence exhibits a clear inertial range on large scales where the MHD cascade flux dominates. The simulation results also indicate that in the sub-ion range the cascade continues via the Hall term and that the total cascade rate tends to decrease at around the ion scales, especially in high-beta plasmas. This decrease is like owing to formation of non-thermal features, such as collisionless ion energization, that can not be retained in the Hall MHD approximation.

Turbulence in collisionless plasmas: statistical analysis from numerical simulations with pressure anisotropy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kowal, G [Instituto de Astronomia, Geofisica e Ciencias Atmosfericas, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Rua do Matao 1226, 05508-900, Sao Paulo (Brazil); Falceta-Goncalves, D A; Lazarian, A, E-mail: kowal@astro.iag.usp.br [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

2011-05-15

In recent years, we have experienced increasing interest in the understanding of the physical properties of collisionless plasmas, mostly because of the large number of astrophysical environments (e.g. the intracluster medium (ICM)) containing magnetic fields that are strong enough to be coupled with the ionized gas and characterized by densities sufficiently low to prevent the pressure isotropization with respect to the magnetic line direction. Under these conditions, a new class of kinetic instabilities arises, such as firehose and mirror instabilities, which have been studied extensively in the literature. Their role in the turbulence evolution and cascade process in the presence of pressure anisotropy, however, is still unclear. In this work, we present the first statistical analysis of turbulence in collisionless plasmas using three-dimensional numerical simulations and solving double-isothermal magnetohydrodynamic equations with the Chew-Goldberger-Low laws closure (CGL-MHD). We study models with different initial conditions to account for the firehose and mirror instabilities and to obtain different turbulent regimes. We found that the CGL-MHD subsonic and supersonic turbulences show small differences compared to the MHD models in most cases. However, in the regimes of strong kinetic instabilities, the statistics, i.e. the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of density and velocity, are very different. In subsonic models, the instabilities cause an increase in the dispersion of density, while the dispersion of velocity is increased by a large factor in some cases. Moreover, the spectra of density and velocity show increased power at small scales explained by the high growth rate of the instabilities. Finally, we calculated the structure functions of velocity and density fluctuations in the local reference frame defined by the direction of magnetic lines. The results indicate that in some cases the instabilities significantly increase the anisotropy of

Turbulence in collisionless plasmas: statistical analysis from numerical simulations with pressure anisotropy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowal, G; Falceta-Goncalves, D A; Lazarian, A

2011-01-01

In recent years, we have experienced increasing interest in the understanding of the physical properties of collisionless plasmas, mostly because of the large number of astrophysical environments (e.g. the intracluster medium (ICM)) containing magnetic fields that are strong enough to be coupled with the ionized gas and characterized by densities sufficiently low to prevent the pressure isotropization with respect to the magnetic line direction. Under these conditions, a new class of kinetic instabilities arises, such as firehose and mirror instabilities, which have been studied extensively in the literature. Their role in the turbulence evolution and cascade process in the presence of pressure anisotropy, however, is still unclear. In this work, we present the first statistical analysis of turbulence in collisionless plasmas using three-dimensional numerical simulations and solving double-isothermal magnetohydrodynamic equations with the Chew-Goldberger-Low laws closure (CGL-MHD). We study models with different initial conditions to account for the firehose and mirror instabilities and to obtain different turbulent regimes. We found that the CGL-MHD subsonic and supersonic turbulences show small differences compared to the MHD models in most cases. However, in the regimes of strong kinetic instabilities, the statistics, i.e. the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of density and velocity, are very different. In subsonic models, the instabilities cause an increase in the dispersion of density, while the dispersion of velocity is increased by a large factor in some cases. Moreover, the spectra of density and velocity show increased power at small scales explained by the high growth rate of the instabilities. Finally, we calculated the structure functions of velocity and density fluctuations in the local reference frame defined by the direction of magnetic lines. The results indicate that in some cases the instabilities significantly increase the anisotropy of

Electron cyclotron heating and supra-thermal electron dynamics in the TCV Tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gnesin, S.

2011-10-15

This thesis is concerned with the physics of supra-thermal electrons in thermonuclear, magnetically confined plasmas. Under a variety of conditions, in laboratory as well as space plasmas, the electron velocity distribution function is not in thermodynamic equilibrium owing to internal or external drives. Accordingly, the distribution function departs from the equilibrium Maxwellian, and in particular generally develops a high-energy tail. In tokamak plasmas, this occurs especially as a result of injection of high-power electromagnetic waves, used for heating and current drive, as well as a result of internal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. The physics of these phenomena is intimately tied to the properties and dynamics of this supra-thermal electron population. This motivates the development of instrumental apparatus to measure its properties as well as of numerical codes to simulate their dynamics. Both aspects are reflected in this thesis work, which features advanced instrumental development and experimental measurements as well as numerical modeling. The instrumental development consisted of the complete design of a spectroscopic and tomographic system of four multi-detector hard X-ray (HXR) cameras for the TCV tokamak. The goal is to measure bremsstrahlung emission from supra-thermal electrons with energies in the 10-300 keV range, with the ultimate aim of providing the first full tomographic reconstruction at these energies in a noncircular plasma. In particular, supra-thermal electrons are generated in TCV by a high-power electron cyclotron heating (ECH) system and are also observed in the presence of MHD events, such as sawtooth oscillations and disruptive instabilities. This diagnostic employs state-of-the-art solid-state detectors and is optimized for the tight space requirements of the TCV ports. It features a novel collimator concept that combines compactness and flexibility as well as full digital acquisition of the photon pulses, greatly

Electron cyclotron heating and supra-thermal electron dynamics in the TCV Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gnesin, S.

2011-10-01

This thesis is concerned with the physics of supra-thermal electrons in thermonuclear, magnetically confined plasmas. Under a variety of conditions, in laboratory as well as space plasmas, the electron velocity distribution function is not in thermodynamic equilibrium owing to internal or external drives. Accordingly, the distribution function departs from the equilibrium Maxwellian, and in particular generally develops a high-energy tail. In tokamak plasmas, this occurs especially as a result of injection of high-power electromagnetic waves, used for heating and current drive, as well as a result of internal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. The physics of these phenomena is intimately tied to the properties and dynamics of this supra-thermal electron population. This motivates the development of instrumental apparatus to measure its properties as well as of numerical codes to simulate their dynamics. Both aspects are reflected in this thesis work, which features advanced instrumental development and experimental measurements as well as numerical modeling. The instrumental development consisted of the complete design of a spectroscopic and tomographic system of four multi-detector hard X-ray (HXR) cameras for the TCV tokamak. The goal is to measure bremsstrahlung emission from supra-thermal electrons with energies in the 10-300 keV range, with the ultimate aim of providing the first full tomographic reconstruction at these energies in a noncircular plasma. In particular, supra-thermal electrons are generated in TCV by a high-power electron cyclotron heating (ECH) system and are also observed in the presence of MHD events, such as sawtooth oscillations and disruptive instabilities. This diagnostic employs state-of-the-art solid-state detectors and is optimized for the tight space requirements of the TCV ports. It features a novel collimator concept that combines compactness and flexibility as well as full digital acquisition of the photon pulses, greatly

The RF voltage dependence of the electron sheath heating in low pressure capacitively coupled rf discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buddemeier, U.; Kortshagen, U.; Pukropski, I.

1995-01-01

In low pressure capacitively coupled RF discharges two competitive electron heating mechanisms have been discussed for some time now. At low pressures the stochastic sheath heating and for somewhat higher pressures the Joule heating in the bulk plasma have been proposed. When the pressure is increased at constant RF current density a transition from concave electron distribution functions (EDF) with a pronounced cold electron group to convex EDFs with a missing strong population of cold electrons is found. This transition was interpreted as the transition from dominant stochastic to dominant Joule heating. However, a different interpretation has been given by Kaganovich and Tsendin, who attributed the concave shaped EDFs to the spatially inhomogeneous RF field in combination with the nonlocality of the EDF

Modeling ambipolar potential formation due to ICRF heating effects on electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, J.W.; Callen, J.D.; Hershkowitz, N.

1985-08-01

A mechanism for the potential bump observed near the region of ICRF heating in the endplugs of the Phaedrus tandem mirror experiment is investigated by numerical simulation of electron orbits in a simple mirror geometry. Given initial magnetic and ambipolar potential wells that trap the electrons, the ''near field'' parallel electric field E-tilde/sub z/e/sup -iωt/, which is localized near and due to the ICRF heating, tends to eject electrons from the region where E-tilde/sub z/ is nonzero. This depletion of the local electron population causes a local increase in the ambipolar potential. The rate at which the electrons are ejected, (dn/dt), is calculated from the electron orbit computation for a given potential well depth. The rate at which passing particles ''fill in'' the potential well can also be calculated. An estimate of how large the bump in the ambipolar potential becomes is obtained by finding the well depth at which (dn/dt) approximately equals the ''filling'' rate. For Phaedrus parameters (n 0 approx. = 4.0 x 10 12 cm -3 , T/sub e/ = 20 eV, E-tilde/sub z/ approx. = 1.0 V/cm) the electron pumping rate balances the ''filling'' rate at a potential well depth of approximately 40 V, consistent with experimental results

Micro-Columnated Loop Heat Pipe: The Future of Electronic Substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Dhillon, Navdeep Singh

The modern world is run by semiconductor-based electronic systems. Due to continuous improvements in semiconductor device fabrication, there is a clear trend in the market towards the development of electronic devices and components that not only deliver enhanced computing power, but are also more compact. Thermal management has emerged as the primary challenge in this scenario where heat flux dissipation of electronic chips is increasing exponentially, but conventional cooling solutions such as conduction and convection are no longer feasible. To keep device junction temperatures within the safe operating limit, there is an urgent requirement for ultra-high-conductivity thermal substrates that not only absorb and transport large heat fluxes, but can also provide localized cooling to thermal hotspots. This dissertation describes the design, modeling, and fabrication of a phase change-based, planar, ultra-thin, passive thermal transport system that is inspired by the concept of loop heat pipes and capillary pumped loops. Fabricated on silicon and Pyrex wafers using microfabrication techniques, the micro-columnated loop heat pipe (muCLHP) can be integrated directly with densely packed or multiply-stacked electronic substrates, to provide localized high-heat-flux thermal management. The muCLHP employs a dual-scale coherent porous silicon(CPS)-based micro-columnated wicking structure, where the primary CPS wick provides large capillary forces for fluid transport, while a secondary surface-wick maximizes the rate of thin-film evaporation. To overcome the wick thickness limitation encountered in conventional loop heat pipes, strategies based on MEMS surface micromachining techniques were developed to reduce parasitic heat flow from the evaporator to the compensation chamber of the device. Finite element analysis was used to confirm this reduction in a planar evaporator design, thus enabling the generation of a large motive temperature head for continuous device operation

Hollow density profile on electron cyclotron resonance heating JFT-2M plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamauchi, Toshihiko; Hoshino, Katsumichi; Kawashima, Hisato; Ogawa, Toshihide; Kawakami, Tomohide; Shiina, Tomio; Ishige, Youichi

1998-01-01

The first hollow electron density profile in the central region on the JAERI Fusion Torus-2M (JFT-2M) is measured during electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) with a TV Thomson scattering system (TVTS). The peripheral region is not hollow but is accumulated due to pump-out from the central region. The hollowness increases with time but is saturated at ∼40 ms and maintains a constant hollow ratio. The hollowness is strongly related to the steep temperature gradient of the heated zone. (author)

HF heating of a plasma column at frequencies below the electron cyclotron frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datlov, J.; Kopecky, V.; Musil, J.; Zacek, F.; Novik, K.

1978-02-01

The dispersion of waves, excited by the helical structure in a plasma column and the heating of a tail of the electron distribution function is studied at frequencies below the electron plasma frequency and the electron cyclotron frequency. (author)

Physics design of a 28 GHz electron heating system for the National Spherical Torus experiment upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taylor, G.; Bertelli, N.; Ellis, R. A.; Gerhardt, S. P.; Hosea, J. C.; Poli, F. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Harvey, R. W. [CompX, Del Mar, California 92014 (United States); Raman, R. [University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States); Smirnov, A. P. [M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2014-02-12

A megawatt-level, 28 GHz electron heating system is being designed to support non-inductive (NI) plasma current (I{sub p}) start-up and local heating and current drive (CD) in H-mode discharges in the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U). The development of fully NI I{sub p} start-up and ramp-up is an important goal of the NSTXU research program. 28 GHz electron cyclotron (EC) heating is predicted to rapidly increase the central electron temperature (T{sub e}(0)) of low density NI plasmas generated by Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI). The increased T{sub e}(0) will significantly reduce the I{sub p} decay rate of CHI plasmas, allowing the coupling of fast wave heating and neutral beam injection. Also 28 GHz electron Bernstein wave (EBW) heating and CD can be used during the I{sub p} flat top in NSTX-U discharges when the plasma is overdense. Ray tracing and Fokker-Planck numerical simulation codes have been used to model EC and EBW heating and CD in NSTX-U. This paper presents a pre-conceptual design for the 28 GHz heating system and some of the results from the numerical simulations.

Temporal evolutions of electron temperature and density of turbulently-heated tokamak plasmas in TRIAM-1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hiraki, N; Nakamura, K; Nakamura, Y; Itoh, S [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics

1981-04-01

The temporal evolution of the electron temperature and density are measured in a turbulent heating experiment in TRIAM-1. Skin-like profiles of the electron temperature and density are clearly observed. The anomality in the electrical resistivity of the plasma in this skin-layer is estimated, and the plasma heating in this skin-layer is regarded as being due to anomalous joule heating arising from this anomalous resistivity. The ratio of drift velocity to electron thermal velocity in the layer is also calculated, and it is shown that the conditions needed to make the current-driven ion-acoustic instability triggerable are satisfied.

Relativistic Electrons Produced by Foreshock Disturbances Observed Upstream of Earth's Bow Shock

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, L. B., III; Sibeck, D. G.; Turner, D. L.; Osmane, A.; Caprioli, D.; Angelopoulos, V.

2016-01-01

Charged particles can be reflected and accelerated by strong (i.e., high Mach number) astrophysical collisionless shock waves, streaming away to form a foreshock region in communication with the shock. Foreshocks are primarily populated by suprathermal ions that can generate foreshock disturbances-largescale (i.e., tens to thousands of thermal ion Larmor radii), transient (approximately 5-10 per day) structures. They have recently been found to accelerate ions to energies of several keV. Although electrons in Saturn's high Mach number (M > 40) bow shock can be accelerated to relativistic energies (nearly 1000 keV), it has hitherto been thought impossible to accelerate electrons beyond a few tens of keV at Earth's low Mach number (1 =M foreshock disturbances to energies up to at least approximately 300 keV. Although such energetic electrons have been previously observed, their presence has been attributed to escaping magnetospheric particles or solar events. These relativistic electrons are not associated with any solar or magnetospheric activity. Further, due to their relatively small Larmor radii (compared to magnetic gradient scale lengths) and large thermal speeds (compared to shock speeds), no known shock acceleration mechanism can energize thermal electrons up to relativistic energies. The discovery of relativistic electrons associated with foreshock structures commonly generated in astrophysical shocks could provide a new paradigm for electron injections and acceleration in collisionless plasmas.

Simulation study on avoiding runaway electron generation by magnetic perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokuda, S.; Yoshino, R.; Matsumoto, T.; Hudson, S.R.; Kawano, Y.; Takizuka, T.

2001-01-01

Simulations have demonstrated that magnetic islands having the widths expected on the major disruption cause the collisionless loss of the relativistic electrons, and that the resultant loss rate is high enough to avoid or to suppress the runaway generation. It is because, for the magnetic fluctuations in the disruption, the loss of the electron confinement due to the breakdown of the toroidal momentum conservation overwhelms the runaway electron confinement due to the phase-averaging effect of relativistic electrons. Simulation results agree closely with recent experiments on fast plasma shutdown, showing that it is possible to prevent the generation of runaway electrons. (author)

Thermal modeling of multi-shape heating sources on n-layer electronic board

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monier-Vinard Eric

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The present work completes the toolbox of analytical solutions that deal with resolving steady-state temperatures of a multi-layered structure heated by one or many heat sources. The problematic of heating sources having non-rectangular shapes is addressed to enlarge the capability of analytical approaches. Moreover, various heating sources could be located on the external surfaces of the sandwiched layers as well as embedded at interface of its constitutive layers. To demonstrate its relevance, the updated analytical solution has been compared with numerical simulations on the case of a multi-layered electronic board submitted to a set of heating source configurations. The comparison shows a high agreement between analytical and numerical calculations to predict the centroid and average temperatures. The promoted analytical approach establishes a kit of practical expressions, easy to implement, which would be cumulated, using superposition principle, to help electronic designers to early detect component or board temperatures beyond manufacturer limit. The ability to eliminate bad concept candidates with a minimum of set-up, relevant assumptions and low computation time can be easily achieved.

Analysis of performance degradation in an electron heating dominant H-mode plasma after ECRH termination in EAST

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Hongfei; Ding, Siye; Chen, Jiale; Wang, Yifeng; Lian, Hui; Xu, Guosheng; Zhai, Xuemei; Liu, Haiqing; Zang, Qing; Lyu, Bo; Duan, Yanmin; Qian, Jinping; Gong, Xianzu

2018-06-01

In recent EAST experiments, significant performance degradation accompanied by a decrease of internal inductance is observed in an electron heating dominant H-mode plasma after the electron cyclotron resonance heating termination. The lower hybrid wave (LHW) deposition and effective electron heat diffusivity are calculated to explain this phenomenon. Analysis shows that the changes of LHW heating deposition rather than the increase of transport are responsible for the significant decrease in energy confinement (). The reason why the confinement degradation occurred on a long time scale could be attributed to both good local energy confinement in the core and also the dependence of LHW deposition on the magnetic shear. The electron temperature profile shows weaker stiffness in near axis region where electron heating is dominant, compared to that in large radius region. Unstable electron modes from low to high k in the core plasma have been calculated in the linear GYRO simulations, which qualitatively agree with the experimental observation. This understanding of the plasma performance degradation mechanism will help to find ways of improving the global confinement in the radio-frequency dominant scenario in EAST.

Electron velocity-space diffusion in a micro-unstable ECRH [electron cyclotron resonance heated] mirror plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hokin, S.A.

1987-09-01

An experimental study of the velocity-space diffusion of electrons in an electron cyclotron resonance heated (ECRH) mirror plasma, in the presence of micro-unstable whistler rf emission, is presented. It is found that the dominant loss mechanism for hot electrons is endloss produced by rf diffusion into the mirror loss cone. In a standard case with 4.5 kW of ECRH power, this loss limits the stored energy to 120 J with an energy confinement time of 40 ms. The energy confinement time associated with collisional scattering is 350 ms in this case. Whistler microinstability rf produces up to 25% of the rf-induced loss. The hot electron temperature is not limited by loss of adiabaticity, but by rf-induced loss of high energy electrons, and decreases with increasing rf power in strong diffusion regimes. Collisional loss is in agreement with standard scattering theory. No super-adiabatic effects are clearly seen. Experiments in which the vacuum chamber walls are lined with microwave absorber reveal that single pass absorption is limited to less than 60%, whereas experiments with reflecting walls exhibit up to 90% absorption. Stronger diffusion is seen in the latter, with a hot electron heating rate which is twice that of the absorber experiments. This increase in diffusion can be produced by two distinct aspects of wall-reflected rf: the broader spatial rf profile, which enlarges the resonant region in velocity space, or a reduction in super-adiabatic effects due to randomization of the electron gyrophase. Since no other aspects of super-adiabaticity are observed, the first mechanism appears more likely. 39 refs., 54 figs

Laboratory studies of magnetized collisionless flows and shocks using accelerated plasmoids

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, T. E.; Smith, R. J.; Hsu, S. C.

2015-11-01

Magnetized collisionless shocks are thought to play a dominant role in the overall partition of energy throughout the universe, but have historically proven difficult to create in the laboratory. The Magnetized Shock Experiment (MSX) at LANL creates conditions similar to those found in both space and astrophysical shocks by accelerating hot (100s of eV during translation) dense (1022 - 1023 m-3) Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) plasmoids to high velocities (100s of km/s); resulting in β ~ 1, collisionless plasma flows with sonic and Alfvén Mach numbers of ~10. The FRC subsequently impacts a static target such as a strong parallel or anti-parallel (reconnection-wise) magnetic mirror, a solid obstacle, or neutral gas cloud to create shocks with characteristic length and time scales that are both large enough to observe yet small enough to fit within the experiment. This enables study of the complex interplay of kinetic and fluid processes that mediate cosmic shocks and can generate non-thermal distributions, produce density and magnetic field enhancements much greater than predicted by fluid theory, and accelerate particles. An overview of the experimental capabilities of MSX will be presented, including diagnostics, selected recent results, and future directions. Supported by the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under contract DE-AC52-06NA25369.

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating of a High-Density Plasma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, F. Ramskov

1986-01-01

Various schemes for electron cyclotron resonance heating of tokamak plasmas with the ratio of electron plasma frequency to electron cyclotron frequency, "»pe/^ce* larger than 1 on axis, are investigated. In particular, a mode conversion scheme is investigated using ordinary waves at the fundamental...... of the electron cyclotron frequency. These are injected obliquely from the outside of the tokamak near an optimal angle to the magnetic field lines. This method involves two mode conversions. The ordinary waves are converted into extraordinary waves near the plasma cut-off layer. The extraordinary waves...... are subsequently converted into electrostatic electron Bernstein waves at the upper hybrid resonance layer, and the Bernstein waves are completely absorbed close to the plasma centre. Results are presented from ray-tracinq calculations in full three-dimensional geometry using the dispersion function for a hot non...

Transition to Collisionless Ion-Temperature-Gradient-Driven Plasma Turbulence: A Dynamical Systems Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolesnikov, R.A.; Krommes, J.A.

2005-01-01

The transition to collisionless ion-temperature-gradient-driven plasma turbulence is considered by applying dynamical systems theory to a model with 10 degrees of freedom. The study of a four-dimensional center manifold predicts a 'Dimits shift' of the threshold for turbulence due to the excitation of zonal flows and establishes (for the model) the exact value of that shift

Planar and nonplanar electron-acoustic solitary waves in a plasma with a q-nonextensive electron velocity distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Jiu-Ning; Luo, Jun-Hua; Sun, Gui-Hua; Liu, Zhen-Lai; Ge, Su-Hong; Wang, Xin-Xing; Li, Jun-Xiu

2014-01-01

The nonlinear dynamics of nonplanar (cylindrical and spherical) electron-acoustic solitary wave structures in an unmagnetized, collisionless plasma composed of stationary ions, cold fluid electrons and hot q-nonextensive distributed electrons are theoretically studied. We discuss the effects of the nonplanar geometry, nonextensivity of hot electrons and ‘hot’ to ‘cold’ electron number density ratio on the time evolution characters of cylindrical and spherical solitary waves. Moreover, the effects of plasma parameters on the nonlinear structure induced by the interaction between two planar solitary waves are also investigated. It is found that these plasma parameters have significant influences on the properties of the above-mentioned nonlinear structures. Our theoretical study may be useful to understand the nonlinear features of electron-acoustic wave structures in astrophysical plasma systems. (paper)

Nonlinear Weibel Instability and Turbulence in Strong Collisionless Shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medvedev, Mikhail M.

2008-01-01

This research project was devoted to studies of collisionless shocks, their properties, microphysics and plasma physics of underlying phenomena, such as Weibel instability and generation of small-scale fields at shocks, particle acceleration and transport in the generated random fields, radiation mechanisms from these fields in application to astrophysical phenomena and laboratory experiments (e.g., laser-plasma and beam-plasma interactions, the fast ignition and inertial confinement, etc.). Thus, this study is highly relevant to astrophysical sciences, the inertial confinement program and, in particular, the Fast Ignition concept, etc. It makes valuable contributions to the shock physics, nonlinear plasma theory, as well as to the basic plasma science, in general

Contribution of Higher-Order Dispersion to Nonlinear Electron-Acoustic Solitary Waves in a Relativistic Electron Beam Plasma System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zahran, M.A.; El-Shewy, E.K.

2008-01-01

The nonlinear properties of solitary wave structures are reported in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma comprising of cold relativistic electron fluid, Maxwellian hot electrons, relativistic electron beam, and stationary ions. The Korteweg--de Vries (KdV) equation has been derived using a reductive perturbation theory. As the wave amplitude increases, the width and velocity of the soliton deviate from the prediction of the KdV equation i.e. the breakdown of the KdV approximation. On the other hand, to overcome this weakness we extend our analysis to obtain the KdV equation with fifth-order dispersion term. The solution of the resulting equation has been obtained

Electron cyclotron current drive predictions for ITER: Comparison of different models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marushchenko, N.B.; Maassberg, H.; Beidler, C.D.; Turkin, Yu.

2007-01-01

Full text: Due to its high localization and operational flexibility, Electron Cyclotron Current Drive (ECCD) is envisaged for stabilizing the Neoclassical Tearing Mode (NTM) in tokamaks and correcting the rotational transform profile in stellarators. While the spatial location of the electron cyclotron resonant interaction is usually calculated by the ray-tracing technique, numerical tools for calculating the ECCD efficiency are not so common. Two different methods are often applied: i) direct calculation by Fokker-Planck modelling, and ii) by the adjoint approach technique. In the present report we analyze and compare different models used in the adjoint approach technique from the point of view of ITER applications. The numerical tools for calculating the ECCD efficiency developed to date do not completely cover the range of collisional regimes for the electrons involved in the current drive. Only two opposite limits are well developed, collisional and collisionless. Nevertheless, for the densities and temperatures expected for ECCD application in ITER, the collisionless limit model (with trapped particles taken into account) is quite suitable. We analyze the requisite ECCD scenarios with help of the new ray tracing code TRAVIS with the adjoint approach implemented. The (adjoint) Green's function applied for the current drive calculations is formulated with momentum conservation taken into account; this is especially important and even crucial for scenarios, in which mainly bulk electrons are responsible for absorption of the RF power. For comparison, the most common 'high speed limit' model in which the collision operator neglects the integral part and which is approximated by terms valid only for the tail electrons, produces an ECCD efficiency which is an underestimate for some cases by a factor of about 2. In order to select the appropriate model, a rough criterion of 'high speed limit' model applicability is formulated. The results are verified also by

Heat-induced electron emission in paraelectric phase of triglycine sulfate heated with great rate

CERN Document Server

Sidorkin, A A; Rogazinskaya, O V; Milovidova, S D

2002-01-01

One recorded experimentally heat-induced electron emission in ferroelectric triglycine sulfate (TGS) crystal within temperature range exceeding the Curie point by 10-15 K. One studied cases of q = dT/dt various rates of linear heating of specimens of TGS nominally pure crystal and TGS crystal with chromium impurity. Increase of heating rate is shown to result in increase of emission current density within the whole investigated range of temperatures. Temperature of emission occurrence depends on q rate negligibly. At the same time, temperature of emission disappearance monotonically increases with q growth. At q below 1 K/min it is localized below the Curie point. At q = 4-5 K/min the mentioned temperature reaches 60-65 deg C. In TGS crystal with chromium impurity the temperature of emission occurrence is close to the case of pure TGS. In this case, the range of emission drawing in paraphase here is by about 2 times narrower in contrast to the case of pure TGS heated with the same rate

Electron heating via self-excited plasma series resonance in geometrically symmetric multi-frequency capacitive plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schüngel, E; Brandt, S; Schulze, J; Donkó, Z; Korolov, I; Derzsi, A

2015-01-01

The self-excitation of plasma series resonance (PSR) oscillations plays an important role in the electron heating dynamics in capacitively coupled radio-frequency (CCRF) plasmas. In a combined approach of PIC/MCC simulations and a theoretical model based on an equivalent circuit, we investigate the self-excitation of PSR oscillations and their effect on the electron heating in geometrically symmetric CCRF plasmas driven by multiple consecutive harmonics. The discharge symmetry is controlled via the electrical asymmetry effect (EAE), i.e. by varying the total number of harmonics and tuning the phase shifts between them. It is demonstrated that PSR oscillations will be self-excited under both symmetric and asymmetric conditions, if (i) the charge–voltage relation of the plasma sheaths deviates from a simple quadratic behavior and (ii) the inductance of the plasma bulk exhibits a temporal modulation. These two effects have been neglected up to now, but we show that they must be included in the model in order to properly describe the nonlinear series resonance circuit and reproduce the self-excitation of PSR oscillations, which are observed in the electron current density resulting from simulations of geometrically symmetric CCRF plasmas. Furthermore, the effect of PSR self-excitation on the discharge current and the plasma properties, such as the potential profile, is illustrated by applying Fourier analysis. High-frequency oscillations in the entire spectrum between the applied frequencies and the local electron plasma frequency are observed. As a consequence, the electron heating is strongly enhanced by the presence of PSR oscillations. A complex electron heating dynamics is found during the expansion phase of the sheath, which is fully collapsed, when the PSR is initially self-excited. The nonlinear electron resonance heating (NERH) associated with the PSR oscillations causes a spatial asymmetry in the electron heating. By discussing the resulting ionization

Toroidal confinement of non-neutral plasma - A new approach to high-beta equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Z.; Ogawa, Y.; Morikawa, J.

2001-01-01

Departure from the quasi-neutral condition allows us to apply significant two-fluid effects that impart a new freedom to the design of high-performance fusion plasma. The self-electric field in a non-neutralized plasma induces a strong ExB-drift flow. A fast flow produces a large hydrodynamic pressure that can balance with the thermal pressure of the plasma. Basic concepts to produce a toroidal non-neutral plasma have been examined on the internal-conductor toroidal confinement device Proto-RT. A magnetic separatrix determines the boundary of the confinement region. Electrons describe chaotic orbits in the neighborhood of the magnetic null point on the separatrix. The chaos yields collisionless diffusion of electrons from the particle source (electron gun) towards the confinement region. Collisionless heating also occurs in the magnetic null region, which can be applied to produce a plasma. (author)

Experimental comparison between different configurations of PCM based heat sinks for cooling electronic components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gharbi, Salma; Harmand, Souad; Jabrallah, Sadok Ben

2015-01-01

The thermal control of electronic components is aimed at ensuring their use in a temperature range compatible with their performances. This paper presents an experimental study of the behavior of phase change materials (PCMs) as the cooling system for electronic devices. Four configurations are used to control the increase in the system temperature: pure PCM, PCM in a silicone matrix, PCM in a graphite matrix and pure PCM in a system of fins. Thermo-physical properties of different PCMs are determined and found to be desirable for application in this study. Solid liquid interface visualization and temperature evolution are employed to understand the mechanism of heat transfer during the different stages. Results indicated that the inclusion of PCM can lower component increase temperature and extends twice the critical time of the heat sink. The use of Graphite matrix filled by PCM showed more improvement on system thermal performance than silicon matrix. Also, for the same fraction of copper, it was found that incorporating long copper fins with suitable spacing into PCM, can enhance heat distribution into PCM leading to longer remain component temperature below the critical limit. This work therefore shows that the combination of PCM and long, well-spaced fins presents an effective means for thermal control of electronic devices. - Highlights: • Study on thermal performance of different PCM based heat sink in electronic cooling. • Examination of heat transfer mechanism into heat sink for different conditions. • Graphite matrix shows more efficiency than silicon. • Inclusion PCM can reduce temperature increasing. • Heat sink with longer well spaced fins can extend longer the critical time

The effect of electron cyclotron heating on density fluctuations at ion and electron scales in ITER baseline scenario discharges on the DIII-D tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Marinoni, A.; Pinsker, R. I.; Porkolab, M.; Rost, J. C.; Davis, E. M.; Burrell, K. H.; Candy, J.; Staebler, G. M.; Grierson, B. A.; McKee, G. R.; Rhodes, T. L.; The DIII-D Team

2017-12-01

Experiments simulating the ITER baseline scenario on the DIII-D tokamak show that torque-free pure electron heating, when coupled to plasmas subject to a net co-current beam torque, affects density fluctuations at electron scales on a sub-confinement time scale, whereas fluctuations at ion scales change only after profiles have evolved to a new stationary state. Modifications to the density fluctuations measured by the phase contrast imaging diagnostic (PCI) are assessed by analyzing the time evolution following the switch-off of electron cyclotron heating (ECH), thus going from mixed beam/ECH to pure neutral beam heating at fixed βN . Within 20 ms after turning off ECH, the intensity of fluctuations is observed to increase at frequencies higher than 200 kHz in contrast, fluctuations at lower frequency are seen to decrease in intensity on a longer time scale, after other equilibrium quantities have evolved. Non-linear gyro-kinetic modeling at ion and electron scales scales suggest that, while the low frequency response of the diagnostic is consistent with the dominant ITG modes being weakened by the slow-time increase in flow shear, the high frequency response is due to prompt changes to the electron temperature profile that enhance electron modes and generate a larger heat flux and an inward particle pinch. These results suggest that electron heated regimes in ITER will feature multi-scale fluctuations that might affect fusion performance via modifications to profiles.

ELM induced divertor heat loads on TCV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marki, J., E-mail: janos.marki@epfl.c [Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas (CRPP), Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Association Euratom - Confederation Suisse, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Pitts, R.A. [Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas (CRPP), Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Association Euratom - Confederation Suisse, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Horacek, J. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Association EUROATOM-IPP.CR, Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Prague 8 (Czech Republic); Tskhakaya, D. [Association EURATOM-OAW, Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria)

2009-06-15

Results are presented for heat loads at the TCV outer divertor target during ELMing H-mode using a fast IR camera. Benefitting from a recent surface cleaning of the entire first wall graphite armour, a comparison of the transient thermal response of freshly cleaned and untreated tile surfaces (coated with thick co-deposited layers) has been performed. The latter routinely exhibit temperature transients exceeding those of the clean ones by a factor approx3, even if co-deposition throughout the first days of operation following the cleaning process leads to the steady regrowth of thin layers. Filaments are occasionally observed during the ELM heat flux rise phase, showing a spatial structure consistent with energy release at discrete toroidal locations in the outer midplane vicinity and with individual filaments carrying approx1% of the total ELM energy. The temporal waveform of the ELM heat load is found to be in good agreement with the collisionless free streaming particle model.

ELM induced divertor heat loads on TCV

Science.gov (United States)

Marki, J.; Pitts, R. A.; Horacek, J.; Tskhakaya, D.; TCV Team

2009-06-01

Results are presented for heat loads at the TCV outer divertor target during ELMing H-mode using a fast IR camera. Benefitting from a recent surface cleaning of the entire first wall graphite armour, a comparison of the transient thermal response of freshly cleaned and untreated tile surfaces (coated with thick co-deposited layers) has been performed. The latter routinely exhibit temperature transients exceeding those of the clean ones by a factor ˜3, even if co-deposition throughout the first days of operation following the cleaning process leads to the steady regrowth of thin layers. Filaments are occasionally observed during the ELM heat flux rise phase, showing a spatial structure consistent with energy release at discrete toroidal locations in the outer midplane vicinity and with individual filaments carrying ˜1% of the total ELM energy. The temporal waveform of the ELM heat load is found to be in good agreement with the collisionless free streaming particle model.

Nonlinear collisionless electron cyclotron interaction in the pre-ionisation stage

Science.gov (United States)

Farina, D.

2018-06-01

Electron cyclotron (EC) wave-particle interaction is theoretically investigated in the pre-ionisation phase, much before collisions and other mechanisms can play a role. In the very first phase of a plasma discharge with EC-assisted breakdown, the motion of an electron at room temperature in a static magnetic field under the action of a localised microwave beam is nonlinear, and transition to states of larger energy can occur via wave trapping. Within a Hamiltonian adiabatic formalism, the conditions at which the particles gain energy in single beam crossing are derived in a rigorous way, and the energy variation is characterized quantitatively as a function of the wave frequency, harmonic number, polarisation and EC power and beam width. Estimates of interest for applications to tokamak start-up are obtained for the first, second and third cyclotron harmonic. The investigation confirms that electrons can easily gain energies well above the ionisation energy in most conditions at the first two harmonics, while not at the third harmonic, as observed in experiments.

Electron spin resonance and its application to heat treated carbonaceous materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emmerich, Francisco Guilherme

1993-01-01

This work presents the basic characteristics of the electron spin resonance technique, also called paramagnetic resonance, being discussed its application to heat treated carbonaceous materials. In the low heat treatment temperature (HTT) range (below 700 deg C) the organic free radical are the predominant unpaired spin center, which play a key role in the process of carbonization and meso phase formation. At higher temperatures, it is possible to make correlations between the low H T T range and the high HTT range (above 130 deg C), where the predominant unpaired spin center are the free charge carriers (free electrons) of the graphite like crystallites of the material, which are formed by the carbonization process. (author)

Impact of the amount of working fluid in loop heat pipe to remove waste heat from electronic component

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smitka Martin

2014-03-01

Full Text Available One of the options on how to remove waste heat from electronic components is using loop heat pipe. The loop heat pipe (LHP is a two-phase device with high effective thermal conductivity that utilizes change phase to transport heat. It was invented in Russia in the early 1980’s. The main parts of LHP are an evaporator, a condenser, a compensation chamber and a vapor and liquid lines. Only the evaporator and part of the compensation chamber are equipped with a wick structure. Inside loop heat pipe is working fluid. As a working fluid can be used distilled water, acetone, ammonia, methanol etc. Amount of filling is important for the operation and performance of LHP. This work deals with the design of loop heat pipe and impact of filling ratio of working fluid to remove waste heat from insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT.

Study of the Polarization Strategy for Electron Cyclotron Heating Systems on HL-2M

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, F.; Huang, M.; Xia, D. H.; Song, S. D.; Wang, J. Q.; Huang, B.; Wang, H.

2016-06-01

As important components integrated in transmission lines of electron cyclotron heating systems, polarizers are mainly used to obtain the desired polarization for highly efficient coupling between electron cyclotron waves and plasma. The polarization strategy for 105-GHz electron cyclotron heating systems of HL-2M tokamak is studied in this paper. Considering the polarizers need high efficiency, stability, and low loss to realize any polarization states, two sinusoidal-grooved polarizers, which include a linear polarizer and an elliptical polarizer, are designed with the coordinate transformation method. The parameters, the period p and the depth d, of two sinusoidal-grooved polarizers are optimized by a phase difference analysis method to achieve an almost arbitrary polarization. Finally, the optimized polarizers are manufactured and their polarization characteristics are tested with a low-power test platform. The experimental results agree well with the numerical calculations, indicating that the designed polarizers can meet the polarization requirements of the electron cyclotron heating systems of HL-2M tokamak.

Electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fidone, I.; Castejon, F.

1992-07-01

A brief summary of the theory and experiments on electron- cyclotron heating and current drive is presented. The general relativistic formulation of wave propagation and linear absorption is considered in some detail. The O-mode and the X-mode for normal and oblique propagation are investigated and illustrated by several examples. The experimental verification of the theory in T-10 and D- III-D is briefly discussed. Quasilinear evolution of the momentum distribution and related applications as, for instance, non linear wave, damping and current drive, are also considered for special cases of wave frequencies, polarization and propagation. In the concluding section we present the general formulation of the wave damping and current drive in the absence of electron trapping for arbitrary values of the wave frequency. (Author) 13 refs.

Electron - cyclotron resonance heating and current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fidone, I.; Castejon, F.

1992-01-01

A brief summary of the theory and experiments on electron- cyclotron heating and current drive is presented. The general relativistic formulation of wave propagation and linear absorption is considered in some detail. The O-mode and the X-mode for normal and oblique propagation are investigated and illustrated by several examples. The experimental verification of the theory in T-10 and D- III-D is briefly discussed. Quasilinear evolution of the momentum distribution and related applications as, for instance, non linear wave, damping and current drive, are also considered for special cases of wave frequencies, polarization and propagation. In the concluding section we present the general formulation of the wave damping and current drive in the absence of electron trapping for arbitrary values of the wave frequency. (Author) 13 refs

Electron-cyclotron resonance heating and current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filone, I.

1992-01-01

A brief summary of the theory and experiments on electron-cyclotron heating and current drive is presented. the general relativistic formulation of wave propagation and linear absorption is considered in some detail. The O-mode and the X-mode for normal and oblique propagation are investigated and illustrated by several examples. The experimental verification of the theory in T-10 and D-III-D is briefly discussed. Quasilinear evolution of the momentum distribution and related applications as, for instance, non linear wave damping and current drive, are also considered for special cases of wave frequencies, polarization and propagation. In the concluding section we present the general formulation of the wave damping and current drive in the absence of electron trapping for arbitrary values of the wave frequency. (author) 8 fig. 13 ref

Plasma heating by a relativistic electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janssen, G.C.A.M.

1983-01-01

This thesis is devoted to the interaction of a Relativistic Electron Beam (REB) with a plasma. The goal of the experiment described herein is to study in detail the mechanism of energy transfer from the beam to the plasma. The beam particles have an energy of 800 keV, a current of 6 kA, a diameter of 3 cm and an adjustable pulse length of 50-150 ns. This beam is injected into cold hydrogen and helium plasmas with densities ranging from 10 18 to 10 20 m -3 . First, the technical aspects of the experiment are described. Then measurements on the hf fields excited by the REB-plasma are presented (optical line profiles and spectra of beam electrons). The final section is devoted to plasma heating. (Auth.)

Particle simulation of intense electron cyclotron heating and beat-wave current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, B.I.

1987-01-01

High-power free-electron lasers make new methods possible for heating plasmas and driving current in toroidal plasmas with electromagnetic waves. We have undertaken particle simulation studies with one and two dimensional, relativistic particle simulation codes of intense pulsed electron cyclotron heating and beat-wave current drive. The particle simulation methods here are conventional: the algorithms are time-centered, second-order-accurate, explicit, leap-frog difference schemes. The use of conventional methods restricts the range of space and time scales to be relatively compact in the problems addressed. Nevertheless, experimentally relevant simulations have been performed. 10 refs., 2 figs

THEMIS Observations of the Magnetopause Electron Diffusion Region: Large Amplitude Waves and Heated Electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xiangwei; Cattell, Cynthia; Dombeck, John; Dai, Lei; Wilson, Lynn B. III; Breneman, Aaron; Hupack, Adam

2013-01-01

We present the first observations of large amplitude waves in a well-defined electron diffusion region based on the criteria described by Scudder et al at the subsolar magnetopause using data from one Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) satellite. These waves identified as whistler mode waves, electrostatic solitary waves, lower hybrid waves, and electrostatic electron cyclotron waves, are observed in the same 12 s waveform capture and in association with signatures of active magnetic reconnection. The large amplitude waves in the electron diffusion region are coincident with abrupt increases in electron parallel temperature suggesting strong wave heating. The whistler mode waves, which are at the electron scale and which enable us to probe electron dynamics in the diffusion region were analyzed in detail. The energetic electrons (approx. 30 keV) within the electron diffusion region have anisotropic distributions with T(sub e(right angle))/T(sub e(parallel)) > 1 that may provide the free energy for the whistler mode waves. The energetic anisotropic electrons may be produced during the reconnection process. The whistler mode waves propagate away from the center of the "X-line" along magnetic field lines, suggesting that the electron diffusion region is a possible source region of the whistler mode waves.

Electron Heating and Quasiparticle Tunnelling in Superconducting Charge Qubits

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, M. D.; Bueno, J.; Delsing, P.; Echternach, P. M.

2008-01-01

We have directly measured non-equilibrium quasiparticle tunnelling in the time domain as a function of temperature and RF carrier power for a pair of charge qubits based on the single Cooper-pair box, where the readout is performed with a multiplexed quantum capacitance technique. We have extracted an effective electron temperature for each applied RF power, using the data taken at the lowest power as a reference curve. This data has been fit to a standard T? electron heating model, with a reasonable correspondence with established material parameters.

Experimental study of humidity distribution inside electronic enclosure and effect of internal heating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Conseil, Helene; Jellesen, Morten Stendahl; Ambat, Rajan

2016-01-01

on the humidity and temperature profile inside typical electronic enclosures. Defined parameters include external temperature and humidity conditions, temperature and time of the internal heat cycle, thermal mass, and ports/openings size. The effect of the internal humidity on electronic reliability has been......Corrosion reliability of electronic products is a key factor for electronics industry, and today there is a large demand for performance reliability in a wide range of temperature and humidity during day and night time periods. Corrosion failures are still a challenge due to the combined effects...... of temperature, humidity and corrosion accelerating species in the atmosphere. Moreover the surface region of printed circuit board assemblies is often contaminated by various aggressive chemical species.This study describes the overall effect of the exposure to severe climate conditions and internal heat cycles...

Heating power at the substrate, electron temperature, and electron density in 2.45 GHz low-pressure microwave plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Kais, A.; Lo, J.; Thérèse, L.; Guillot, Ph.

2018-01-01

To control the temperature during a plasma treatment, an understanding of the link between the plasma parameters and the fundamental process responsible for the heating is required. In this work, the power supplied by the plasma onto the surface of a glass substrate is measured using the calorimetric method. It has been shown that the powers deposited by ions and electrons, and their recombination at the surface are the main contributions to the heating power. Each contribution is estimated according to the theory commonly used in the literature. Using the corona balance, the Modified Boltzmann Plot (MBP) is employed to determine the electron temperature. A correlation between the power deposited by the plasma and the results of the MBP has been established. This correlation has been used to estimate the electron number density independent of the Langmuir probe in considered conditions.

Time development of a blast wave with shock heated electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edgar, R.J.; Cox, D.P.

1983-01-01

Accurate approximations are presented for the time development of both edge conditions and internal structures of a blast wave with shock heated electrons, and equal ion and electron temperatures at the shock. The cases considered evolve in cavities with power law ambient densities (including the uniform ambient density case) and have negligible external pressure. Account is taken of possible saturation of the thermal conduction flux. The structures evolve smoothly to the adiabatic structures

Neoclassical transport caused by collisionless scattering across an asymmetric separatrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubin, Daniel H E; Driscoll, C F; Tsidulko, Yu A

2010-10-29

Plasma loss due to apparatus asymmetries is a ubiquitous phenomenon in magnetic plasma confinement. When the plasma equilibrium has locally trapped particle populations partitioned by a separatrix from one another and from passing particles, the asymmetry transport is enhanced. The trapped and passing particle populations react differently to the asymmetries, leading to the standard 1/ν and sqrt[ν] transport regimes of superbanana orbit theory as particles collisionally scatter from one orbit type to another. However, when the separatrix is itself asymmetric, particles can collisionlessly transit from trapped to passing and back, leading to enhanced transport.

FAST MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLIFICATION IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE: GROWTH OF COLLISIONLESS PLASMA INSTABILITIES IN TURBULENT MEDIA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Falceta-Gonçalves, D. [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS (United Kingdom); Kowal, G. [Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Arlindo Bettio, 1000, São Paulo, SP 03828-000 (Brazil)

2015-07-20

In this work we report on a numerical study of the cosmic magnetic field amplification due to collisionless plasma instabilities. The collisionless magnetohydrodynamic equations derived account for the pressure anisotropy that leads, in specific conditions, to the firehose and mirror instabilities. We study the time evolution of seed fields in turbulence under the influence of such instabilities. An approximate analytical time evolution of the magnetic field is provided. The numerical simulations and the analytical predictions are compared. We found that (i) amplification of the magnetic field was efficient in firehose-unstable turbulent regimes, but not in the mirror-unstable models; (ii) the growth rate of the magnetic energy density is much faster than the turbulent dynamo; and (iii) the efficient amplification occurs at small scales. The analytical prediction for the correlation between the growth timescales and pressure anisotropy is confirmed by the numerical simulations. These results reinforce the idea that pressure anisotropies—driven naturally in a turbulent collisionless medium, e.g., the intergalactic medium, could efficiently amplify the magnetic field in the early universe (post-recombination era), previous to the collapse of the first large-scale gravitational structures. This mechanism, though fast for the small-scale fields (∼kpc scales), is unable to provide relatively strong magnetic fields at large scales. Other mechanisms that were not accounted for here (e.g., collisional turbulence once instabilities are quenched, velocity shear, or gravitationally induced inflows of gas into galaxies and clusters) could operate afterward to build up large-scale coherent field structures in the long time evolution.

On the exploration of effect of critical beam power on the propagation of Gaussian laser beam in collisionless magnetized plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Urunkar, T. U.; Valkunde, A. T.; Vhanmore, B. D.; Gavade, K. M.; Patil, S. D.; Takale, M. V.

2018-05-01

It is quite known that critical power of the laser plays vital role in the propagation of Gaussian laser beam in collisionless plasma. The nonlinearity in dielectric constant considered herein is due to the ponderomotive force. In the present analysis, the interval of critical beam power has been explored to sustain the competition between diffraction and self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam during propagation in collisionless magnetized plasma. Differential equation for beam-width parameter has been established by using WKB and paraxial approximations under parabolic equation approach. The effect of critical power on the propagation of Gaussian laser beam has been presented graphically and discussed.

Performance evaluation of a wavy-fin heat sink for power electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenzini, Marco; Fabbri, Giampietro; Salvigni, Sandro

2007-01-01

The almost daily increase in dissipated power per unit area of electronic components sets higher and higher demands on the performance of the heat sinks. These must not only be able to dissipate high heat fluxes, but must also keep costs to a minimum and exhibit a reliable behaviour. In this paper a novel, modular heat sink consisting of elements with wavy fin profile which can be pressed together to construct the component is presented. Its performance under steady-state conditions are assessed for the case of forced convection in terms of velocity distribution in the channels and global thermal resistance. Configurations with uniform and non-uniform heat flux are studied and some considerations are made as to the influence of the spacers between fan and heat sink proper

Particle simulation study of electron heating by counter-streaming ion beams ahead of supernova remnant shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dieckmann, M E; Sarri, G; Kourakis, I; Borghesi, M; Bret, A; Perez Alvaro, E

2012-01-01

The growth and saturation of Buneman-type instabilities is examined with a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation for parameters that are representative for the foreshock region of fast supernova remnant shocks. A dense ion beam and the electrons correspond to the upstream plasma and a fast ion beam to the shock-reflected ions. The purpose of the 2D simulation is to identify the nonlinear saturation mechanisms, the electron heating and potential secondary instabilities that arise from anisotropic electron heating and result in the growth of magnetic fields. We confirm that the instabilities between both ion beams and the electrons saturate by the formation of phase space holes by the beam-aligned modes. The slower oblique modes accelerate some electrons, but they cannot heat up the electrons significantly before they are trapped by the faster beam-aligned modes. Two circular electron velocity distributions develop, which are centred around the velocity of each ion beam. They develop due to the scattering of the electrons by the electrostatic wave potentials. The growth of magnetic fields is observed, but their amplitude remains low. (paper)

Ignition and burn propagation with suprathermal electron auxiliary heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Shensheng; Wu Yanqing

2000-01-01

The rapid development in ultrahigh-intensity lasers has allowed the exploration of applying an auxiliary heating technique in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research. It is hoped that, compared with the 'standard fast ignition' scheme, raising the temperature of a hot-spot over the ignition threshold based on the shock-heated temperature will greatly reduce the required output energy of an ignition ultrahigh-intensity pulse. One of the key issues in ICF auxiliary heating is: how can we transport the exogenous energy efficiently into the hot-spot of compressed DT fuel? A scheme is proposed with three phases. First, a partial-spherical-shell capsule, such as double-conical target, is imploded as in the conventional approach to inertial fusion to assemble a high-density fuel configuration with a hot-spot of temperature lower than the ignition threshold. Second, a hole is bored through the shell outside the hot-spot by suprathermal electron explosion boring. Finally, the fuel is ignited by suprathermal electrons produced in the high-intensity ignition laser-plasma interactions. Calculations with a simple hybrid model show that the new scheme can possibly lead to ignition and burn propagation with a total drive energy of a few tens of kilojoules and an output energy as low as hundreds of joules for a single ignition ultrahigh-intensity pulse. (author)

Benchmarking of codes for electron cyclotron heating and electron cyclotron current drive under ITER conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prater, R.; Farina, D.; Gribov, Y.; Harvey, R. W.; Ram, A. K.; Lin-Liu, Y. R.; Poli, E.; Smirnov, A. P.; Volpe, F.; Westerhof, E.; Zvonkovo, A.

2008-01-01

Optimal design and use of electron cyclotron heating requires that accurate and relatively quick computer codes be available for prediction of wave coupling, propagation, damping and current drive at realistic levels of EC power. To this end, a number of codes have been developed in laboratories

Nonlocal heat transport and improved target design for x-ray heating studies at x-ray free electron lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Hoidn, Oliver; Seidler, Gerald T.

2018-01-01

The extremely high-power densities and short durations of single pulses of x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) have opened new opportunities in atomic physics, where complex excitation-relaxation chains allow for high ionization states in atomic and molecular systems, and in dense plasma physics, where XFEL heating of solid-density targets can create unique dense states of matter having temperatures on the order of the Fermi energy. We focus here on the latter phenomena, with special emphasis on the problem of optimum target design to achieve high x-ray heating into the warm dense matter (WDM) state. We report fully three-dimensional simulations of the incident x-ray pulse and the resulting multielectron relaxation cascade to model the spatial energy density deposition in multicomponent targets, with particular focus on the effects of nonlocal heat transport due to the motion of high energy photoelectrons and Auger electrons. We find that nanoscale high-Z /low-Z multicomponent targets can give much improved energy density deposition in lower-Z materials, with enhancements reaching a factor of 100. This has three important benefits. First, it greatly enlarges the thermodynamic parameter space in XFEL x-ray heating studies of lower-Z materials. Second, it allows the use of higher probe photon energies, enabling higher-information content x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements such as in two-color XFEL operations. Third, while this is merely one step toward optimization of x-ray heating target design, the demonstration of the importance of nonlocal heat transport establishes important common ground between XFEL-based x-ray heating studies and more traditional laser plasma methods.

Towards cross-hierarchy simulation of collisionless driven reconnection in an open system

OpenAIRE

R., HORIUCHI; H., OHTANI; A., ISHIZAWA

2006-01-01

The basic idea of a cross-hierarchy model for magnetic reconnection in an open system is proposed, where a microscopic system is surrounded by a macroscopic system and the interaction between the two systems is expressed by the plasma inflow and outflow through the system boundary. Collisionless driven reconnection in two-dimensional and three-dimensional open systems is demonstrated using an open particle simulation model developed as a microscopic part of a cross-hierarchy model. It is foun...

Spontaneous magnetic fluctuations and collisionless regulation of the Earth's plasma sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Moya, P. S.; Espinoza, C.; Stepanova, M. V.; Antonova, E. E.; Valdivia, J. A.

2017-12-01

Even in the absence of instabilities, plasmas often exhibit inherent electromagnetic fluctuations which are present due to the thermal motion of charged particles, sometimes called thermal (quasi-thermal) noise. One of the fundamental and challenging problems of laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasma physics is the understanding of the relaxation processes of nearly collisionless plasmas, and the resultant state of electromagnetic plasma turbulence. The study of thermal fluctuations can be elegantly addressed by using the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem that describes the average amplitude of the fluctuations through correlations of the linear response of the media with the perturbations of the equilibrium state (the dissipation). Recently, it has been shown that solar wind plasma beta and temperature anisotropy observations are bounded by kinetic instabilities such as the ion cyclotron, mirror, and firehose instabilities. The magnetic fluctuations observed within the bounded area are consistent with the predictions of the Fluctuation-Dissipation theorem even far below the kinetic instability thresholds, with an enhancement of the fluctuation level near the thresholds. Here, for the very first time, using in-situ magnetic field and plasma data from the THEMIS spacecraft, we show that such regulation also occurs in the Earth's plasma sheet at the ion scales and that, regardless of the clear differences between the solar wind and the magnetosphere environments, spontaneous fluctuation and their collisionless regulation seem to be fundamental features of space and astrophysical plasmas, suggesting the universality of the processes.

Numerical simulation of the structure of collisionless supercritical shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipatov, A.S.

1990-01-01

Research on the structure of a collisionless shock wave and on acceleration of charged particles is important for analyzing the processes accompanying solar flares, and also for studying the shock waves which are excited in the interaction of the solar wind with planets, comets and interstellar gas, the mechanisms for the acceleration of cosmic rays, the processes accompanying magnetic field reconnection, explosion of Supernova. The study of the shock is also important for studying the processes in the active experiments in space. In the present report only supercritical shocks are considered, when partial ion reflection plays a controlling roll in shock formation. One- and two-dimensional simulations of the perpendicular shocks are presented. (R.P.) 33 refs.; 4 figs

Suppression of cyclotron instability in Electron Cyclotron Resonance ion sources by two-frequency heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skalyga, V.; Izotov, I.; Mansfeld, D.; Kalvas, T.; Koivisto, H.; Komppula, J.; Kronholm, R.; Laulainen, J.; Tarvainen, O.

2015-01-01

Multiple frequency heating is one of the most effective techniques to improve the performance of Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion sources. The method increases the beam current and average charge state of the extracted ions and enhances the temporal stability of the ion beams. It is demonstrated in this paper that the stabilizing effect of two-frequency heating is connected with the suppression of electron cyclotron instability. Experimental data show that the interaction between the secondary microwave radiation and the hot electron component of ECR ion source plasmas plays a crucial role in mitigation of the instabilities

Observations of electron heating during 28 GHz microwave power application in proto-MPEX

Science.gov (United States)

Biewer, T. M.; Bigelow, T. S.; Caneses, J. F.; Diem, S. J.; Green, D. L.; Kafle, N.; Rapp, J.; Proto-MPEX Team

2018-02-01

The Prototype Material Plasma Exposure Experiment at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory utilizes a variety of power systems to generate and deliver a high heat flux plasma onto the surface of material targets. In the experiments described here, a deuterium plasma is produced via a ˜100 kW, 13.56 MHz RF helicon source, to which ˜20 kW of 28 GHz microwave power is applied. The electron density and temperature profiles are measured using a Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic, and indicate that the electron density is centrally peaked. In the core of the plasma column, the electron density is higher than the cut-off density (˜0.9 × 1019 m-3) for the launched mixture of X- and O-mode electron cyclotron heating waves to propagate. TS measurements indicate electron temperature increases from ˜5 eV to ˜20 eV during 28 GHz power application when the neutral deuterium pressure is reduced below 0.13 Pa (˜1 mTorr.).

Tracking the ultrafast XUV optical properties of x-ray free-electron-laser heated matter with high-order harmonics

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Gareth O.; Künzel, S.; Daboussi, S.; Iwan, B.; Gonzalez, A. I.; Boutu, W.; Hilbert, V.; Zastrau, U.; Lee, H. J.; Nagler, B.; Granados, E.; Galtier, E.; Heimann, P.; Barbrel, B.; Dovillaire, G.; Lee, R. W.; Dunn, J.; Recoules, V.; Blancard, C.; Renaudin, P.; de la Varga, A. G.; Velarde, P.; Audebert, P.; Merdji, H.; Zeitoun, Ph.; Fajardo, M.

2018-02-01

We present measurements of photon absorption by free electrons as a solid is transformed to plasma. A femtosecond x-ray free-electron laser is used to heat a solid, which separates the electron and ion heating time scales. The changes in absorption are measured with an independent probe pulse created through high-order-harmonic generation. We find an increase in electron temperature to have a relatively small impact on absorption, contrary to several predictions, whereas ion heating increases absorption. We compare the data to current theoretical and numerical approaches and find that a smoother electronic structure yields a better fit to the data, suggestive of a temperature-dependent electronic structure in warm dense matter.

Electron Heating and Acceleration in a Reconnecting Magnetotail

Science.gov (United States)

El-Alaoui, M.; Zhou, M.; Lapenta, G.; Berchem, J.; Richard, R. L.; Schriver, D.; Walker, R. J.

2017-12-01

Electron heating and acceleration in the magnetotail have been investigated intensively. A major site for this process is the reconnection region. However, where and how the electrons are accelerated in a realistic three-dimensional X-line geometry is not fully understood. In this study, we employed a three-dimensional implicit particle-in-cell (iPIC3D) simulation and large-scale kinetic (LSK) simulation to address these problems. We modeled a magnetotail reconnection event observed by THEMIS in an iPIC3D simulation with initial and boundary conditions given by a global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of Earth's magnetosphere. The iPIC3D simulation system includes the region of fast outflow emanating from the reconnection site that drives dipolarization fronts. We found that current sheet electrons exhibit elongated (cigar-shaped) velocity distributions with a higher parallel temperature. Using LSK we then followed millions of test electrons using the electromagnetic fields from iPIC3D. We found that magnetotail reconnection can generate power law spectra around the near-Earth X-line. A significant number of electrons with energies higher than 50 keV are produced. We identified several acceleration mechanisms at different locations that were responsible for energizing these electrons: non-adiabatic cross-tail drift, betatron and Fermi acceleration. Relative contributions to the energy gain of these high energy electrons from the different mechanisms will be discussed.

Tokamak electron heat transport by direct numerical simulation of small scale turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Labit, B.

2002-10-01

In a fusion machine, understanding plasma turbulence, which causes a degradation of the measured energy confinement time, would constitute a major progress in this field. In tokamaks, the measured ion and electron thermal conductivities are of comparable magnitude. The possible sources of turbulence are the temperature and density gradients occurring in a fusion plasma. Whereas the heat losses in the ion channel are reasonably well understood, the origin of the electron losses is more uncertain. In addition to the radial velocity associated to the fluctuations of the electric field, electrons are more affected than ions by the magnetic field fluctuations. In experiments, the confinement time can be conveniently expressed in terms of dimensionless parameters. Although still somewhat too imprecise, these scaling laws exhibit strong dependencies on the normalized pressure β or the normalized Larmor radius, ρ * . The present thesis assesses whether a tridimensional, electromagnetic, nonlinear fluid model of plasma turbulence driven by a specific instability can reproduce the dependence of the experimental electron heat losses on the dimensionless parameters β and ρ * . The investigated interchange instability is the Electron Temperature Gradient driven one (ETG). The model is built by using the set of Braginskii equations. The developed simulation code is global in the sense that a fixed heat flux is imposed at the inner boundary, leaving the gradients free to evolve. From the nonlinear simulations, we have put in light three characteristics for the ETG turbulence: the turbulent transport is essentially electrostatic; the potential and pressure fluctuations form radially elongated cells called streamers; the transport level is very low compared to the experimental values. The thermal transport dependence study has shown a very small role of the normalized pressure, which is in contradiction with the Ohkama's formula. On the other hand, the crucial role of the

Electric sheath and presheath in a collisionless, finite ion temperature plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emmert, G.A.; Wieland, R.M.; Mense, A.T.; Davidson, J.N.

1980-01-01

The plasma-sheath equation for a collisionless plasma with arbitrary ion temperature in plane geometry is formulated. Outside the sheath, this equation is approximated by the plasma equation, for which an analytic solution for the electrostatic potential is obtained. In addition, the ion distribution function, the wall potential, and the ion energy and particle flux into the sheath are explicitly calculated. The plasma-sheath equation is also solved numerically with no approximation of the Debye length. The numerical results compare well with the analytical results when the Debye length is small

Production of hot electrons in mirror systems associated with ECR heating with longitudinal input of microwaves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhil'tsov, V.A.; Skovoroda, A.A.; Timofeev, A.V.; Kharitonov, K.Yu.; Shcherbakov, A.G.

1991-01-01

Almost all experiments on ECR plasma heating are accompanied by the formation of hot electrons (i.e., electrons with energy substantially greater than the average of the bulk population). In mirror systems these electrons may determine the basic energy content (β) of the plasma. In this paper, results are presented from experimental measurements of the hot electron population resulting from ECR heating of the plasma in OGRA-4. A theoretical model is developed which describes the hot electron dynamics and the propagation of electromagnetic oscillations in the plasma self-consistently. The results obtained with this model are in agreement with experimental data

Octupolar out-of-plane magnetic field structure generation during collisionless magnetic reconnection in a stressed X-point collapse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graf von der Pahlen, J.; Tsiklauri, D. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS (United Kingdom)

2014-06-15

The out-of-plane magnetic field, generated by fast magnetic reconnection, during collisionless, stressed X-point collapse, was studied with a kinetic, 2.5D, fully electromagnetic, relativistic particle-in-cell numerical code, using both closed (flux conserving) and open boundary conditions on a square grid. It was discovered that the well known quadrupolar structure in the out-of-plane magnetic field gains four additional regions of opposite magnetic polarity, emerging near the corners of the simulation box, moving towards the X-point. The emerging, outer, magnetic field structure has opposite polarity to the inner quadrupolar structure, leading to an overall octupolar structure. Using Ampere's law and integrating electron and ion currents, defined at grid cells, over the simulation domain, contributions to the out-of-plane magnetic field from electron and ion currents were determined. The emerging regions of opposite magnetic polarity were shown to be the result of ion currents. Magnetic octupolar structure is found to be a signature of X-point collapse, rather than tearing mode, and factors relating to potential discoveries in experimental scenarios or space-craft observations are discussed.

Electron cyclotron heating of a tokamak reactor at down-shifted frequencies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fidone, I.; Giruzzi, G.; Mazzucato, E.

1985-01-01

The absorption of electron cyclotron waves in a hot and dense tokamak plasma is investigated for the case of the extraordinary mode for outside launching. It is shown that, for electron temperatures T/sub e/ greater than or equal to 5 keV, strong absorption occurs for oblique propagation at frequencies significantly below the electron gyrofrequency at the plasma center. A new density dependence of the wave absorption is found which is more favorable for plasma heating than the familiar n/sub e/ -1 scaling

Electron spectroscopic evidence of electron correlation in Ni-Pt alloys: comparison with specific heat measurement

CERN Document Server

Nahm, T U; Kim, J Y; Oh, S J

2003-01-01

We have performed photoemission spectroscopy of Ni-Pt alloys to understand the origin of the discrepancy between the experimental linear coefficient of specific heat gamma and that predicted by band theory. We found that the quasiparticle density of states at the Fermi level deduced from photoemission measurement is in agreement with the experimental value of gamma, if we include the electron correlation effect. It was also found that the Ni 2p core level satellite intensity increases as Ni content is reduced, indicating a strong electron correlation effect which can enhance the quasiparticle effective mass considerably. This supports our conclusion that electron correlation is the most probable reason of disagreement of gamma between experiment and band theory.

Explosive magnetic reconnection caused by an X-shaped current-vortex layer in a collisionless plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirota, M.; Hattori, Y. [Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8677 (Japan); Morrison, P. J. [Department of Physics and Institute for Fusion Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

2015-05-15

A mechanism for explosive magnetic reconnection is investigated by analyzing the nonlinear evolution of a collisionless tearing mode in a two-fluid model that includes the effects of electron inertia and temperature. These effects cooperatively enable a fast reconnection by forming an X-shaped current-vortex layer centered at the reconnection point. A high-resolution simulation of this model for an unprecedentedly small electron skin depth d{sub e} and ion-sound gyroradius ρ{sub s}, satisfying d{sub e}=ρ{sub s}, shows an explosive tendency for nonlinear growth of the tearing mode, where it is newly found that the explosive widening of the X-shaped layer occurs locally around the reconnection point with the length of the X shape being shorter than the domain length and the wavelength of the linear tearing mode. The reason for the onset of this locally enhanced reconnection is explained theoretically by developing a novel nonlinear and nonequilibrium inner solution that models the local X-shaped layer, and then matching it to an outer solution that is approximated by a linear tearing eigenmode with a shorter wavelength than the domain length. This theoretical model proves that the local reconnection can release the magnetic energy more efficiently than the global one and the estimated scaling of the explosive growth rate agrees well with the simulation results.

Induction-linac based free-electron laser amplifiers for plasma heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jong, R.A.

1988-01-01

We describe an induction-linac based free-electron laser amplifier that is presently under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It is designed to produce up to 2 MW of average power at a frequency of 250 GHz for plasma heating experiments in the Microwave Tokamak Experiment. In addition, we shall describe a FEL amplifier design for plasma heating of advanced tokamak fusion devices. This system is designed to produce average power levels of about 10 MW at frequencies ranging form 280 to 560 GHz. 7 refs., 1 tab

Tokamak start-up with electron-cyclotron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holly, D.J.; Prager, S.C.; Shepard, D.A.; Sprott, J.C.

1981-01-01

Experiments are described in which the start-up voltage in a tokamak is reduced by about a factor of two by the use of a modest amount of electron cyclotron resonance heating power for pre-ionization. The solution of the zero-dimensional start-up equations indicates that the effect is due to the high initial density which increases the rate at which the conductivity increases in the neutral-dominated initial plasma. The effect extrapolates favourably to larger tokamaks. A 50% reduction in the start-up volt-second requirement and impurity reflux is also observed. (author)

Tokamak start-up with electron-cyclotron heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holly, D J; Prager, S C; Shepard, D A; Sprott, J C [Wisconsin Univ., Madison (USA)

1981-11-01

Experiments are described in which the start-up voltage in a tokamak is reduced by about a factor of two by the use of a modest amount of electron cyclotron resonance heating power for pre-ionization. The solution of the zero-dimensional start-up equations indicates that the effect is due to the high initial density which increases the rate at which the conductivity increases in the neutral-dominated initial plasma. The effect extrapolates favourably to larger tokamaks. A 50% reduction in the start-up volt-second requirement and impurity reflux is also observed.

Influence of non-collisional laser heating on the electron dynamics in dielectric materials

Science.gov (United States)

Barilleau, L.; Duchateau, G.; Chimier, B.; Geoffroy, G.; Tikhonchuk, V.

2016-12-01

The electron dynamics in dielectric materials induced by intense femtosecond laser pulses is theoretically addressed. The laser driven temporal evolution of the energy distribution of electrons in the conduction band is described by a kinetic Boltzmann equation. In addition to the collisional processes for energy transfer such as electron-phonon-photon and electron-electron interactions, a non-collisional process for photon absorption in the conduction band is included. It relies on direct transitions between sub-bands of the conduction band through multiphoton absorption. This mechanism is shown to significantly contribute to the laser heating of conduction electrons for large enough laser intensities. It also increases the time required for the electron distribution to reach the equilibrium state as described by the Fermi-Dirac statistics. Quantitative results are provided for quartz irradiated by a femtosecond laser pulse with a wavelength of 800 nm and for intensities in the range of tens of TW cm-2, lower than the ablation threshold. The change in the energy deposition induced by this non-collisional heating process is expected to have a significant influence on the laser processing of dielectric materials.

Characteristics of plasma in uranium atomic beam produced by electron-beam heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohba, Hironori; Shibata, Takemasa

2000-08-01

The electron temperature of plasma and the ion flux ratio in the uranium atomic beam produced by electron-beam heating were characterized with Langmuir probes. The electron temperature was 0.13 eV, which was lower than the evaporation surface temperature. The ion flux ratio to atomic beam flux was more than 3% at higher evaporation rates. The ion flux ratio has increased with decreasing acceleration energy of the electron-beam under constant electron-beam power. This is because of an increase of electron-beam current and a large ionization cross-section of uranium by electron-impact. It was confined that the plasma is produced by electron-impact ionization of the evaporated atoms at the evaporation source. (author)

Plasma heating in the TM-3 Tokamak at electron-cyclotron resonance with magnetic fields up to 25 ke

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alikaev, V.V.; Bobrovskii, G.A.; Poznyak, V.I.; Razumova, K.A.; Sannikov, V.V.; Sokolov, Yu.A.; Shmarin, A.A.

Experiments were conducted in heating plasma at electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) with longitudinal magnetic fields up to 25 ke. It was shown by the aid of laser diagnosis that the temperature of the basic component of the electrons increases in accordance with the classical mechanism of heating at ECR in the process of electron-cyclotron heating (ECH). The distribution of the temperature of electrons with respect to radius was measured. The relationship of energetic lifetime in the Tokamak and electron temperature was obtained and the magnitude of energetic lifetime of accelerated electrons in the function of their energy was estimated. The value β/sub tau/ approximately equal to 2.2 was obtained by the aid of ECH in a regime with small discharge currents

Nonlinear theory of collisionless trapped ion modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahm, T.S.; Tang, W.M.

1996-01-01

A simplified two field nonlinear model for collisionless trapped-ion-mode turbulence has been derived from nonlinear bounce-averaged drift kinetic equations. The renormalized thermal diffusivity obtained from this analysis exhibits a Bohm-like scaling. A new nonlinearity associated with the neoclassical polarization density is found to introduce an isotope-dependent modification to this Bohm-like diffusivity. The asymptotic balance between the equilibrium variation and the finite banana width induced reduction of the fluctuation potential leads to the result that the radial correlation length decreases with increasing plasma current. Other important conclusions from the present analysis include the predictions that (i) the relative density fluctuation level δn/n 0 is lower than the conventional mixing length estimate, Δr/L n (ii) the ion temperature fluctuation level δT i /T i significantly exceeds the density fluctuation level δn/n 0 ; and (iii) the parallel ion velocity fluctuation level δv iparallel /v Ti is expected to be negligible

On the Collisionless Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection Rate

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yi-Hsin; Hesse, M.; Cassak, P. A.; Shay, M. A.; Wang, S.; Chen, L.-J.

2018-04-01

A prediction of the steady state reconnection electric field in asymmetric reconnection is obtained by maximizing the reconnection rate as a function of the opening angle made by the upstream magnetic field on the weak magnetic field (magnetosheath) side. The prediction is within a factor of 2 of the widely examined asymmetric reconnection model (Cassak & Shay, 2007, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2795630) in the collisionless limit, and they scale the same over a wide parameter regime. The previous model had the effective aspect ratio of the diffusion region as a free parameter, which simulations and observations suggest is on the order of 0.1, but the present model has no free parameters. In conjunction with the symmetric case (Liu et al., 2017, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.085101), this work further suggests that this nearly universal number 0.1, essentially the normalized fast-reconnection rate, is a geometrical factor arising from maximizing the reconnection rate within magnetohydrodynamic-scale constraints.

The effect of quantum correction on plasma electron heating in ultraviolet laser interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zare, S.; Sadighi-Bonabi, R., E-mail: Sadighi@sharif.ir; Anvari, A. [Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11365-9567, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Yazdani, E. [Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4413, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Hora, H. [Department of Theoretical Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052 (Australia)

2015-04-14

The interaction of the sub-picosecond UV laser in sub-relativistic intensities with deuterium is investigated. At high plasma temperatures, based on the quantum correction in the collision frequency, the electron heating and the ion block generation in plasma are studied. It is found that due to the quantum correction, the electron heating increases considerably and the electron temperature uniformly reaches up to the maximum value of 4.91 × 10{sup 7 }K. Considering the quantum correction, the electron temperature at the laser initial coupling stage is improved more than 66.55% of the amount achieved in the classical model. As a consequence, by the modified collision frequency, the ion block is accelerated quicker with higher maximum velocity in comparison with the one by the classical collision frequency. This study proves the necessity of considering a quantum mechanical correction in the collision frequency at high plasma temperatures.

The Laser ablation of a metal foam: The role of electron-phonon coupling and electronic heat diffusivity

Science.gov (United States)

Rosandi, Yudi; Grossi, Joás; Bringa, Eduardo M.; Urbassek, Herbert M.

2018-01-01

The incidence of energetic laser pulses on a metal foam may lead to foam ablation. The processes occurring in the foam may differ strongly from those in a bulk metal: The absorption of laser light, energy transfer to the atomic system, heat conduction, and finally, the atomistic processes—such as melting or evaporation—may be different. In addition, novel phenomena take place, such as a reorganization of the ligament network in the foam. We study all these processes in an Au foam of average porosity 79% and an average ligament diameter of 2.5 nm, using molecular dynamics simulation. The coupling of the electronic system to the atomic system is modeled by using the electron-phonon coupling, g, and the electronic heat diffusivity, κe, as model parameters, since their actual values for foams are unknown. We show that the foam coarsens under laser irradiation. While κe governs the homogeneity of the processes, g mainly determines their time scale. The final porosity reached is independent of the value of g.

Thermal management of electronics using phase change material based pin fin heat sinks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baby, R; Balaji, C

2012-01-01

This paper reports the results of an experimental study carried out to explore the thermal characteristics of phase change material based heat sinks for electronic equipment cooling. The phase change material (PCM) used in this study is n – eicosane. All heat sinks used in the present study are made of aluminium with dimensions of 80 × 62 mm 2 base with a height of 25 mm. Pin fins acts as the thermal conductivity enhancer (TCE) to improve the distribution of heat more uniformly as the thermal conductivity of the PCM is very low. A total of three different pin fin heat sink geometries with 33, 72 and 120 pin fins filled with phase change materials giving rise to 4%, 9% and 15% volume fractions of the TCE respectively were experimentally investigated. Baseline comparisons are done with a heat sink filled with PCM, without any fin. Studies are conducted for heat sinks on which a uniform heat load is applied at the bottom for the finned and unfinned cases. The effect of pin fins of different volume fractions with power levels ranging from 4 to 8 W corresponding to a heat flux range of 1. 59 to 3.17 kW/m 2 , was explored in this paper. The volume fraction of the PCM (PCM volume / (Total volume – fin volume)) is also varied as 0. 3, 0.6 and 1 to determine the effect of PCM volume on the overall performance of the electronic equipment.

Observation of Ω mode electron heating in dusty argon radio frequency discharges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Killer, Carsten; Bandelow, Gunnar; Schneider, Ralf; Melzer, André [Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald (Germany); Matyash, Konstantin [Universitätsrechenzentrum, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald (Germany)

2013-08-15

The time-resolved emission of argon atoms in a dusty plasma has been measured with phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy using an intensified charge-coupled device camera. For that purpose, three-dimensional dust clouds have been confined in a capacitively coupled rf argon discharge with the help of thermophoretic levitation. While electrons are exclusively heated by the expanding sheath (α mode) in the dust-free case, electron heating takes place in the entire plasma bulk when the discharge volume is filled with dust particles. Such a behavior is known as Ω mode, first observed in electronegative plasmas. Furthermore, particle-in-cell simulations have been carried out, which reproduce the trends of the experimental findings. These simulations support previous numerical models showing that the enhanced atomic emission in the plasma can be attributed to a bulk electric field, which is mainly caused by the reduced electrical conductivity due to electron depletion.

Transitions to improved core electron heat confinement in JT-II plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Estrada, T.; Medina, F.; Ascasibar, E.; Balbin, R.; Castejon, F.; Hidalgo, C.; Lopez-Bruna, D.; Petrov, S.

2008-01-01

Transitions to improved core electron heat confinement are triggered by low order rational magnetic surfaces in TJ-II ECH plasmas. Transitions triggered by the rational surface n=4/m=2 show an increase in the ion temperature synchronized with the increase in the electron temperature. SXR measurements demonstrate that, under certain circumstances, the rational surface positioned inside the plasma core region precedes and provides a trigger for the transition. (author)

Band rejection filter for measurement of electron cyclotron emission during electron cyclotron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwase, Makoto; Ohkubo, Kunizo; Kubo, Shin; Idei, Hiroshi.

1996-05-01

For the measurement of electron cyclotron emission from the high temperature plasma, a band rejection filter in the range of 40-60 GHz is designed to reject the 53.2 GHz signal with large amplitude from the gyrotron for the purpose of plasma electron heating. The filter developed with ten sets of three quarters-wavelength coupled by TE 111 mode of tunable resonant cavity has rejection of 50 dB and 3 dB bandwidth of 500 MHz. The modified model of Tschebysheff type for the prediction of rejection is proposed. It is confirmed that the measured rejection as a function of frequency agrees well with the experimental results for small coupling hole, and also clarified that the rejection ratio increases for the large coupling hole. (author)

Transient cooling of electronics using phase change material (PCM)-based heat sinks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kandasamy, Ravi; Wang Xiangqi; Mujumdar, Arun S.

2008-01-01

Use of a phase change material (PCM)-based heat sink in transient thermal management of plastic quad flat package (QFP) electronic devices was investigated experimentally and numerically. Results show that increased power inputs enhance the melting rate as well as the thermal performance of the PCM-based heat sinks until the PCM is fully melted. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was proposed to simulate the problem and demonstrated good agreement with experimental data. Results indicate the potential for PCM-based heat sinks for use in intermittent-use devices

Propagation of a surface electromagnetic wave in a plasma with allowance for electron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boev, A.G.; Prokopov, A.V.

1978-01-01

Considered is propagation of a surface high-frequency wave in a semibounded plasma, which electron component is heated within the wave field. Dissipative effects are considered small, that is possible if wave frequency is much higher than the collision frequency and phase velocity of wave considerably exceeds electron heat velocity. Under conditions of anomalous skin-effect the distributions of electron temperature and wave damping have been found. It is established, that higher electron temperature on the boundary results in a higher decrease of temperature inside a plasma, far from the boundary temperature decreases exponentially; damping coefficient under anomalous skin-effect conditions is characterized by a stronger dependence not only on the wave amplitude, but as well as on gas pressure and wave frequency in comparison with normal conditions

Plasma density profiles and finite bandwidth effects on electron heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spielman, R.B.; Mizuno, K.; DeGroot, J.S.; Bollen, W.M.; Woo, W.

1980-01-01

Intense, p-polarized microwaves are incident on an inhomogeneous plasma in a cylindrical waveguide. Microwaves are mainly absorbed by resonant absorption near the critical surface (where the plasma frequency, ω/sub pe/, equals the microwave frequency, ω/sub o/). The localized plasma waves strongly modify the plasma density. Step-plateau density profiles or a cavity are created depending on the plasma flow speed. Hot electron production is strongly affected by the microwave bandwidth. The hot electron temperature varies as T/sub H/ is proportional to (Δ ω/ω) -0 25 . As the hot electron temperature decreases with increasing driver bandwidth, the hot electron density increases. This increase is such that the heat flux into the overdense region (Q is proportional to eta/sub H/T/sub H/ 3 2 ) is nearly constant

Stochastic heating in the cyclotron resonance of electrons; Calentamiento estocastico en la resonancia ciclotronica de los electrones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gutierrez T, C.; Hernandez A, O. [Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, A.P. 18-1027, 11801 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

1999-07-01

The study of the different schemes of plasma heating by radiofrequency waves is a very actual problem related with the plasma heating in different machines and the particle acceleration mechanisms. In this work, it is obtained the expression for the temporal evolution of the energy absorbed in the cyclotron resonance of electrons where it is showed the stochastic character of the energy absorption. It is obtained the stochastic criteria in a magnetic configuration of an Ecr type plasma source. (Author)

Electron and ion cyclotron heating calculations in the tandem-mirror modeling code MERTH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, G.R.

1985-01-01

To better understand and predict tandem-mirror experiments, we are building a comprehensive Mirror Equilibrium Radial Transport and Heating (MERTH) code. In this paper we first describe our method for developing the code. Then we report our plans for the installation of physics packages for electron- and ion-cyclotron heating of the plasma

Observation of the skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density of turbulently heated plasmas in the TRIAM-1 tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiraki, Naoji; Nakamura, Kazuo; Toi, Kazuo; Itoh, Satoshi

1980-01-01

The time evolution of electron temperature and density profiles are measured on the turbulent heating experiment in the TRIAM-1 tokamak. The skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density are observed just after the application of the pulsed electric field for turbulent heating. The width of the skin layer of the electron temperature profile is about 1 cm, and agrees well with the theoretical value. The above mentioned skin heating of electrons just after the heating pulse is also spectroscopically confirmed by the remarkable decrease of the volume emission of visible lines which is localized at the outer plasma region. (author)

Observation of the skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density of turbulently heated plasmas in the TRIAM-1 tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hiraki, N; Nakamura, K; Toi, K; Itoh, S [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics

1980-07-01

The time evolution of electron temperature and density profiles are measured on the turbulent heating experiment in the TRIAM-1 tokamak. The skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density are observed just after the application of the pulsed electric field for turbulent heating. The width of the skin layer of the electron temperature profile is about 1 cm, and agrees well with the theoretical value. The above mentioned skin heating of electrons just after the heating pulse is also spectroscopically confirmed by the remarkable decrease of the volume emission of visible lines which is localized at the outer plasma region.

Charging-delay induced dust acoustic collisionless shock wave: Roles of negative ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Samiran; Bharuthram, R.; Khan, Manoranjan; Gupta, M. R.

2006-01-01

The effects of charging-delay and negative ions on nonlinear dust acoustic waves are investigated. It has been found that the charging-delay induced anomalous dissipation causes generation of dust acoustic collisionless shock waves in an electronegative dusty plasma. The small but finite amplitude wave is governed by a Korteweg-de Vries Burger equation in which the Burger term arises due to the charging-delay. Numerical investigations reveal that the charging-delay induced dissipation and shock strength decreases (increases) with the increase of negative ion concentration (temperature)

Wave trajectory and electron cyclotron heating in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, S.; Maekawa, T.; Terumichi, Y.; Hamada, Y.

1980-01-01

Wave trajectories in high density tokamak plasmas are studied numerically. Results show that the ordinary wave injected at an appropriate incident angle can propagate into the dense plasmas and is mode-converted to the extraordinary wave at the plasma cutoff, is further converted to the electron Bernstein wave during passing a loop or a folded curve near the upper hybrid resonance layer, and is cyclotron damped away, resulting in local electron heating before arriving at the cyclotron resonance layer. Similar trajectory and damping are obtained when a microwave in a form of extraordinary wave is injected quasi-perpendicularly in the direction of decreasing toroidal field

Heat load of a P-doped GaAs photocathode in SRF electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, E.; Ben-Zvi, I.; Kewisch, J.; Burrill, A.; Rao, T.; Wu, Q.; Jain, A.; Gupta, R.; Holmes, D.

2010-01-01

Many efforts were made over the last decades to develop a better polarized electron source for the high energy physics. Several laboratories operate DC guns with the Gallium-Arsenide photo-cathode, which yield a highly polarized electron beam. However, the beam's emittance might well be improved using a Superconducting RF electron gun, which delivers beams of higher brightness than DC guns does, because the field gradient at the cathode is higher. SRF guns with metal cathodes and CsTe cathodes have been tested successfully. To produce polarized electrons, a Gallium-Arsenide photo-cathode must be used: an experiment to do so in a superconducting RF gun is under way at BNL. Since the cathode will be normal conducting, the problem about the heat load stemming from the cathode arises. We present our measurements of the electrical resistance of GaAs at cryogenic temperatures, a prediction of the heat load and the verification by measuring the quality factor of the gun with and without cathode.

Analysis of the gravitational coupled collisionless Boltzmann-poisson equations and numerical simulations of the formation of self-gravitating systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Fabrice

2004-01-01

We study the formation of self-gravitating systems and their properties by means of N-body simulations of gravitational collapse. First, we summarize the major analytical results concerning the collisionless Boltzmann equation and the Poisson's equation which describe the dynamics of collisionless gravitational systems. We present a study of some analytical solutions of this coupled system of equations. We then present the software used to perform the simulations. Some of this has been parallelized and implemented with the aid of MPI. For this reason we give a brief overview of it. Finally, we present the results of the numerical simulations. Analysis of these results allows us to explain some features of self-gravitating systems and the initial conditions needed to trigger the Antonov instability and the radial orbit instability. (author) [fr

A model for precursor structure in supercritical perpendicular, collisionless shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherwell, D.; Cairns, R.A.

1978-01-01

Magnetosonic solitons may be given smooth increasing profiles by assuming the presence within the wave of a current distribution Jsub(y)(x) of trapped ions perpendicular to Bsub(z)(x) and the wave velocity Vsub(x). Suitable ions are found immediately upstream of perpendicular collisionless shock waves and these are coincident with the often observed 'foot' in magnetic field profiles of moderately supercritical shocks. The theory is applied to previous experiments by modelling Jsub(y)(x), where Jsub(y)(x) is observed, the profiles in the foot are reproduced and explained. Insight into a number of features of fast shocks is obtained. (author)

Observations of temperature rise during electron cyclotron heating application in Proto-MPEX

Science.gov (United States)

Biewer, T. M.; Bigelow, T.; Caneses, J. F.; Diem, S. J.; Rapp, J.; Reinke, M.; Kafle, N.; Ray, H. B.; Showers, M.

2017-10-01

The Prototype Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX) at ORNL utilizes a variety of power systems to generate and deliver a high heat flux plasma (1 MW/m2 for these discharges) onto the surface of material targets. In the experiments described here, up to 120 kW of 13.56 MHz ``helicon'' waves are combined with 20 kW of 28 GHz microwaves to produce Deuterium plasma discharges. The 28 GHz waves are launched in a region of the device where the magnetic field is axially varying near 0.8 T, resulting in the presence of a 2nd harmonic electron cyclotron heating (ECH) resonance layer that transects the plasma column. The electron density and temperature profiles are measured using a Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic, and indicate that the electron density is radially peaked. In the core of the plasma column the electron density is higher than the cut-off density (0.9x1019 m-3) for ECH waves to propagate and O-X-B mode conversion into electron Bernstien waves (EBW) is expected. TS measurements indicate electron temperature increases during 28 GHz wave application, rising (from 5 eV to 20 eV) as the neutral Deuterium pressure is reduced below 1 mTorr. This work was supported by the US. D.O.E. contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

Nonplanar ion acoustic waves with kappa-distributed electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahu, Biswajit

2011-01-01

Using the standard reductive perturbation technique, nonlinear cylindrical and spherical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equations are derived for the propagation of ion acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma with kappa distributed electrons and warm ions. The influence of kappa-distributed electrons and the effects caused by the transverse perturbation on cylindrical and spherical ion acoustic waves (IAWs) are investigated. It is observed that increase in the kappa distributed electrons (i.e., decreasing κ) decreases the amplitude of the solitary electrostatic potential structures. The numerical results are presented to understand the formation of ion acoustic solitary waves with kappa-distributed electrons in nonplanar geometry. The present investigation may have relevance in the study of propagation of IAWs in space and laboratory plasmas.

Rebound coefficient of collisionless gas in a rigid vessel. A model of reflection of field-reversed configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takaku, Yuichi; Hamada, Shigeo

1996-01-01

A system of collisionless neutral gas contained in a rigid vessel is considered as a simple model of reflection of field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma by a magnetic mirror. The rebound coefficient of the system is calculated as a function of the incident speed of the vessel normalized by the thermal velocity of the gas before reflection. The coefficient is compared with experimental data of FIX (Osaka U.) and FRX-C/T(Los Alamos N.L.). Agreement is good for this simple model. Interesting is that the rebound coefficient takes the smallest value (∼0.365) as the incident speed tends to zero and approaches unity as it tends to infinity. This behavior is reverse to that expected for a system with collision dominated fluid instead of collisionless gas. By examining the rebound coefficient, therefore, it could be successfully inferred whether the ion mean free path in each experiment was longer or shorter than the plasma length. (author)

Numerical study on characteristics of radio-frequency discharge at atmospheric pressure in argon with small admixtures of oxygen

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yinan; Liu, Yue

2017-07-01

In this paper, a 1D fluid model is developed to study the characteristics of a discharge in argon with small admixtures of oxygen at atmospheric pressure. This model consists of a series of equations, including continuity equations for electrons, positive ions, negative ions and neutral particles, the energy equation, and the Poisson equation for electric potential. Special attention has been paid to the electron energy dissipation and the mechanisms of electron heating, while the admixture of oxygen is in the range of 0.1%-0.6%. It is found that when the oxygen-to-argon ratio grows, the discharge is obviously divided into three stages: electron growth, electron reduction and the electron remaining unchanged. Furthermore, the cycle-averaged electric field, electron temperature, electron Ohmic heating, electron collisionless heating, electron energy dissipation and the net electron production are also studied in detail, and when the oxygen-to-argon ratio is relatively larger (R = 0.6%), double value peaks of electron Ohmic heating appear in the sheath. According to the results of the numerical simulation, various oxygen-to-argon ratios result in different amounts of electron energy dissipation and electron heating.

Improvements in electron beam monitoring and heat flux flatness at the JUDITH 2-facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weber, Thomas, E-mail: weber.th@gmx.de [Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Jülich (Germany); Bürger, Andreas; Dominiczak, Karsten; Pintsuk, Gerald [Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Jülich (Germany); Banetta, Stefano; Bellin, Boris [Fusion for Energy, Josep Pla, 2, Torres Diagonal Litoral B3, 08019 Barcelona (Spain); Mitteau, Raphael; Eaton, Russell [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon-sur-Verdon, CS 90 046, 13067 St Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • Monitoring of the much faster electron beam motion by IR camera through a synchronized frame triggering. • Estimation of the heat flux generated by electron beam guns based on calorimetry and FEM simulations. • Consideration of the inclined electron beam loading of rectangular-shaped objects. - Abstract: Three beryllium-armoured small-scale mock-ups and one semi-prototype for the ITER first wall were tested by the electron beam facility JUDITH 2 at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Both testing campaigns with cyclic loads up to 2.5 MW/m{sup 2} are carried out in compliance with the extensive quality and management specifications of ITER Organization (IO) and Fusion for Energy (F4E). Several dedicated calibration experiments were performed before the actual testing in order to fulfil the testing requirements and tolerances. These quality requests have been the motivation for several experimental setup improvements. The most relevant results of these activities, being the electron beam monitoring and the heat flux flatness verification, will be presented.

Improvements in electron beam monitoring and heat flux flatness at the JUDITH 2-facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, Thomas; Bürger, Andreas; Dominiczak, Karsten; Pintsuk, Gerald; Banetta, Stefano; Bellin, Boris; Mitteau, Raphael; Eaton, Russell

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Monitoring of the much faster electron beam motion by IR camera through a synchronized frame triggering. • Estimation of the heat flux generated by electron beam guns based on calorimetry and FEM simulations. • Consideration of the inclined electron beam loading of rectangular-shaped objects. - Abstract: Three beryllium-armoured small-scale mock-ups and one semi-prototype for the ITER first wall were tested by the electron beam facility JUDITH 2 at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Both testing campaigns with cyclic loads up to 2.5 MW/m"2 are carried out in compliance with the extensive quality and management specifications of ITER Organization (IO) and Fusion for Energy (F4E). Several dedicated calibration experiments were performed before the actual testing in order to fulfil the testing requirements and tolerances. These quality requests have been the motivation for several experimental setup improvements. The most relevant results of these activities, being the electron beam monitoring and the heat flux flatness verification, will be presented.

Hamiltonian derivation of a gyrofluid model for collisionless magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tassi, E

2014-01-01

We consider a simple electromagnetic gyrokinetic model for collisionless plasmas and show that it possesses a Hamiltonian structure. Subsequently, from this model we derive a two-moment gyrofluid model by means of a procedure which guarantees that the resulting gyrofluid model is also Hamiltonian. The first step in the derivation consists of imposing a generic fluid closure in the Poisson bracket of the gyrokinetic model, after expressing such bracket in terms of the gyrofluid moments. The constraint of the Jacobi identity, which every Poisson bracket has to satisfy, selects then what closures can lead to a Hamiltonian gyrofluid system. For the case at hand, it turns out that the only closures (not involving integro/differential operators or an explicit dependence on the spatial coordinates) that lead to a valid Poisson bracket are those for which the second order parallel moment, independently for each species, is proportional to the zero order moment. In particular, if one chooses an isothermal closure based on the equilibrium temperatures and derives accordingly the Hamiltonian of the system from the Hamiltonian of the parent gyrokinetic model, one recovers a known Hamiltonian gyrofluid model for collisionless reconnection. The proposed procedure, in addition to yield a gyrofluid model which automatically conserves the total energy, provides also, through the resulting Poisson bracket, a way to derive further conservation laws of the gyrofluid model, associated with the so called Casimir invariants. We show that a relation exists between Casimir invariants of the gyrofluid model and those of the gyrokinetic parent model. The application of such Hamiltonian derivation procedure to this two-moment gyrofluid model is a first step toward its application to more realistic, higher-order fluid or gyrofluid models for tokamaks. It also extends to the electromagnetic gyrokinetic case, recent applications of the same procedure to Vlasov and drift- kinetic systems

Arbitrary electron acoustic waves in degenerate dense plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Ata-ur; Mushtaq, A.; Qamar, A.; Neelam, S.

2017-05-01

A theoretical investigation is carried out of the nonlinear dynamics of electron-acoustic waves in a collisionless and unmagnetized plasma whose constituents are non-degenerate cold electrons, ultra-relativistic degenerate electrons, and stationary ions. A dispersion relation is derived for linear EAWs. An energy integral equation involving the Sagdeev potential is derived, and basic properties of the large amplitude solitary structures are investigated in such a degenerate dense plasma. It is shown that only negative large amplitude EA solitary waves can exist in such a plasma system. The present analysis may be important to understand the collective interactions in degenerate dense plasmas, occurring in dense astrophysical environments as well as in laser-solid density plasma interaction experiments.

The influence of electron inertia on the modulational instability of ion-acoustic waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parkes, E.J.

1993-01-01

The influence of electron inertia, ion streaming and weak relativistic effects on the modulational instability of ion-acoustic waves in a collisionless unmagnetized plasma is investigated. The derivative expansion method is used to derive a nonlinear Schroedinger equation, from which an instability criterion is deduced. When electron inertia is ignored, ion streaming and weak relativistic effects have little effect on the instability criterion. It is shown that when electron inertia is taken into account, the instability criterion is sensitive to weakly relativistic ion streaming, but not to the ratio of electron mass to ion mass. (Author)

Non-Maxwellian electron energy probability functions in the plume of a SPT-100 Hall thruster

Science.gov (United States)

Giono, G.; Gudmundsson, J. T.; Ivchenko, N.; Mazouffre, S.; Dannenmayer, K.; Loubère, D.; Popelier, L.; Merino, M.; Olentšenko, G.