A solvable model of Vlasov-kinetic plasma turbulence in Fourier-Hermite phase space

A class of simple kinetic systems is considered, described by the 1D Vlasov-Landau equation with Poisson or Boltzmann electrostatic response and an energy source. Assuming a stochastic electric field, a solvable model is constructed for the phase-space turbulence of the particle distribution. The model is a kinetic analog of the Kraichnan-Batchelor model of chaotic advection. The solution of the model is found in Fourier-Hermite space and shows that the free-energy flux from low to high Hermite moments is suppressed, with phase mixing cancelled on average by anti-phase-mixing (stochastic plasma echo). This implies that Landau damping is an ineffective route to dissipation (i.e., to thermalisation of electric energy via velocity space). The full Fourier-Hermite spectrum is derived. Its asymptotics are $m^{-3/2}$ at low wave numbers and high Hermite moments ($m$) and $m^{-1/2}k^{-2}$ at low Hermite moments and high wave numbers ($k$). These conclusions hold at wave numbers below a certain cut off (analog of Kolmogorov scale), which increases with the amplitude of the stochastic electric field and scales as inverse square of the collision rate. The energy distribution and flows in phase space are a simple and, therefore, useful example of competition between phase mixing and nonlinear dynamics in kinetic turbulence, reminiscent of more realistic but more complicated multi-dimensional systems that have not so far been amenable to complete analytical solution.Comment: 35 pages, minor edits, final version accepted by JP

Making Nuclei Out Of The Skyrme Crystal

A new method for approximating Skyrme solutions is developed. It consists of cutting sections out of the Skyrme crystal and smoothly interpolating between the boundary and spatial infinity. Several field configurations are constructed, and their energies calculated. The surface energy (per unit area) of an infinite flat plane of the crystal is also calculated, and the result used to derive a formula analogous to the semi-empirical mass formula of nuclear physics. This formula can be used to give some idea of what the Skyrme model predicts about volume and surface energies of the nucleus over a broad range of baryon numbers.Comment: 20 pages, uuencoded ps file `crystal.uu'. The LaTeX version can be obtained by emailing [email protected] or [email protected]

A search for massive neutral bosons in orthopositronium decay

We have searched for an exotic decay of orthopositronium into a single photon and a short-lived neutral boson in the hitherto unexplored mass region above 900 ${\rm keV}/{\it c}^{2}$, by noting that this decay is one of few remaining candidates which could explain the discrepancy of the orthopositronium decay-rate. A high-resolution measurement of the associated photon energy spectrum was carried out with a germanium detector to search for a sharp peak from this two-body decay. Our negative result provides the upper-limits of\mbox{ }$2.0 \times 10^{-4}$ on the branching ratio of such a decay in the mass region from 847 to 1013 ${\rm keV}/{\it c}^{2}$, and excludes the possibility of this decay mode explaining the discrepancy in the orthopositronium decay-rate.Comment: a LaTeX file (text 7 pages) and a uuencoded gz-compressed PostScript file (text 7 pages + figures 4 pages

Composite Skyrme Model with Vector Mesons

We study the composite Skyrme model, proposed by Cheung and G\"{u}rsey, introducing vector mesons in a chiral Lagrangian. We calculate the static properties of baryons and compare with results obtained from models without vector mesons.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

An analytical form of the dispersion function for local linear gyrokinetics in a curved magnetic field

Starting from the equations of collisionless linear gyrokinetics for magnetised plasmas with an imposed inhomogeneous magnetic field, we present the first known analytical, closed-form solution for the resulting velocity-space integrals in the presence of resonances due to both parallel streaming and constant magnetic drifts. These integrals are written in terms of the well-known plasma dispersion function (Faddeeva & Terentev 1954; Fried & Conte 1961), rendering the subsequent expressions simpler to treat analytically and more efficient to compute numerically. We demonstrate that our results converge to the well-known ones in the straight-magnetic-field and two-dimensional limits, and show good agreement with the numerical solver by G\"urcan (2014). By way of example, we calculate the exact dispersion relation for a simple electrostatic, ion-temperature-gradient-driven instability, and compare it with approximate kinetic and fluid models.Comment: 35 pages, 13 figure

Infra-Red Finite Charge Propagation

The Coulomb gauge has a long history and many uses. It is especially useful in bound state applications. An important feature of this gauge is that the matter fields have an infra-red finite propagator in an on-shell renormalisation scheme. This is, however, only the case if the renormalisation point is chosen to be the static point on the mass shell, p = (m, 0, 0, 0). In this letter we show how to extend this key property of the Coulomb gauge to an arbitrary relativistic renormalisation point. This is achieved through the introduction of a new class of gauges of which the Coulomb gauge is a limiting case. A physical explanation for this result is given.Comment: 8 pages, plain TeX, to appear in Modern Physics Letters

Obituary - Edwin Wallace King

Dr. E.W. King was a highly respected scientist and teacher whose enthusiasm for entomology and general biology has inspired students toward excellence in our discipline for more than 30 years. On December 10, 1984, Dr. King died suddenly of complications associated with cancer

Remarks on the Collective Quantization of the SU(2) Skyrme Model

We point out the question of ordering momentum operator in the canonical \break quantization of the SU(2) Skyrme Model. Thus, we suggest a new definition for the momentum operator that may solve the infrared problem that appears when we try to minimize the Quantum Hamiltonian.Comment: 8 pages, plain tex, IF/UFRJ/9

Baryons and Baryonic Matter in Holographic QCD from Superstring

We study baryons and baryonic matter in holographic QCD using a D4/D8/$\bar{\rm D8}$ multi-D-brane system in the superstring theory. We obtain the chiral soliton solution for baryons in the four-dimensional meson theory derived from the multi-D-brane system. For the analysis of finite baryon-density matter, we investigate the chiral soliton on $S^3$ in holographic QCD, and find the delocalization of the soliton, i.e., the swelling of baryons in dense matter

A Note in the Skyrme Model with Higher Derivative Terms

Another stabilizer term is used in the classical Hamiltonian of the Skyrme Model that permits in a much simple way the generalization of the higher-order terms in the pion derivative field. Improved numerical results are obtained.Comment: Latex. Figure not include; available upon request. 7 pages, report