Experimental Identification of the Kink Instability as a Poloidal Flux Amplification Mechanism for Coaxial Gun Spheromak Formation

The magnetohydrodynamic kink instability is observed and identified experimentally as a poloidal flux amplification mechanism for coaxial gun spheromak formation. Plasmas in this experiment fall into three distinct regimes which depend on the peak gun current to magnetic flux ratio, with (I) low values resulting in a straight plasma column with helical magnetic field, (II) intermediate values leading to kinking of the column axis, and (III) high values leading immediately to a detached plasma. Onset of column kinking agrees quantitatively with the Kruskal-Shafranov limit, and the kink acts as a dynamo which converts toroidal to poloidal flux. Regime II clearly leads to both poloidal flux amplification and the development of a spheromak configuration.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Effects of Large-Scale Convection on p-mode Frequencies

We describe an approach for finding the eigenfrequencies of solar acoustic modes (p modes) in a convective envelope in the WKB limit. This approximation restricts us to examining the effects of fluid motions which are large compared to the mode wavelength, but allows us to treat the three-dimensional mode as a localized ray. The method of adiabatic switching is then used to investigate the frequency shifts resulting from simple perturbations to a polytropic model of the convection zone as well as from two basic models of a convective cell. We find that although solely depth-dependent perturbations can give frequency shifts which are first order in the strength of the perturbation, models of convective cells generate downward frequency shifts which are second order in the perturbation strength. These results may have implications for resolving the differences between eigenfrequencies derived from solar models and those found from helioseismic observations.Comment: 27 pages + 6 figures; accepted for publication in Ap

A Spherical Plasma Dynamo Experiment

We propose a plasma experiment to be used to investigate fundamental properties of astrophysical dynamos. The highly conducting, fast-flowing plasma will allow experimenters to explore systems with magnetic Reynolds numbers an order of magnitude larger than those accessible with liquid-metal experiments. The plasma is confined using a ring-cusp strategy and subject to a toroidal differentially rotating outer boundary condition. As proof of principle, we present magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the proposed experiment. When a von K\'arm\'an-type boundary condition is specified, and the magnetic Reynolds number is large enough, dynamo action is observed. At different values of the magnetic Prandtl and Reynolds numbers the simulations demonstrate either laminar or turbulent dynamo action

Fractal-like Distributions over the Rational Numbers in High-throughput Biological and Clinical Data

Recent developments in extracting and processing biological and clinical data are allowing quantitative approaches to studying living systems. High-throughput sequencing, expression profiles, proteomics, and electronic health records are some examples of such technologies. Extracting meaningful information from those technologies requires careful analysis of the large volumes of data they produce. In this note, we present a set of distributions that commonly appear in the analysis of such data. These distributions present some interesting features: they are discontinuous in the rational numbers, but continuous in the irrational numbers, and possess a certain self-similar (fractal-like) structure. The first set of examples which we present here are drawn from a high-throughput sequencing experiment. Here, the self-similar distributions appear as part of the evaluation of the error rate of the sequencing technology and the identification of tumorogenic genomic alterations. The other examples are obtained from risk factor evaluation and analysis of relative disease prevalence and co-mordbidity as these appear in electronic clinical data. The distributions are also relevant to identification of subclonal populations in tumors and the study of the evolution of infectious diseases, and more precisely the study of quasi-species and intrahost diversity of viral populations

Hall magnetohydrodynamics of partially ionized plasmas

The Hall effect arises in a plasma when electrons are able to drift with the magnetic field but ions cannot. In a fully-ionized plasma this occurs for frequencies between the ion and electron cyclotron frequencies because of the larger ion inertia. Typically this frequency range lies well above the frequencies of interest (such as the dynamical frequency of the system under consideration) and can be ignored. In a weakly-ionized medium, however, the Hall effect arises through a different mechanism -- neutral collisions preferentially decouple ions from the magnetic field. This typically occurs at much lower frequencies and the Hall effect may play an important role in the dynamics of weakly-ionised systems such as the Earth's ionosphere and protoplanetary discs. To clarify the relationship between these mechanisms we develop an approximate single-fluid description of a partially ionized plasma that becomes exact in the fully-ionized and weakly-ionized limits. Our treatment includes the effects of ohmic, ambipolar, and Hall diffusion. We show that the Hall effect is relevant to the dynamics of a partially ionized medium when the dynamical frequency exceeds the ratio of ion to bulk mass density times the ion-cyclotron frequency, i.e. the Hall frequency. The corresponding length scale is inversely proportional to the ion to bulk mass density ratio as well as to the ion-Hall beta parameter.Comment: 11 page, 1 figure, typos removed, numbers in tables revised; accepted for publication in MNRA

Constraints on the acceleration of the solar system from high-precision timing

Many astronomers have speculated that the solar system contains undiscovered massive planets or a distant stellar companion. The acceleration of the solar system barycenter can constrain the mass and position of the putative companion. In this paper we use the most recent timing data on accurate astronomical clocks (millisecond pulsars, pulsars in binary systems and pulsating white dwarfs) to constrain this acceleration. No evidence for non-zero acceleration has been found; the typical sensitivity achieved by our method is a/c=a few times 10^{-19} s^{-1}, comparable to the acceleration due to a Jupiter-mass planet at 200 AU. The acceleration method is limited by the uncertainties in the distances and by the timing precision for pulsars in binary systems, and by the intrinsic distribution of the period derivatives for millisecond pulsars. Timing data provide stronger constraints than residuals in the motions of comets or planets if the distance to the companion exceeds a few hundred AU. The acceleration method is also more sensitive to the presence of a distant companion (> 300-400 AU) than existing optical and infrared surveys. We outline the differences between the effects of the peculiar acceleration of the solar system and the background of gravitational waves on high-precision timing.Comment: 28 pages including 7 figures; submitted to AJ on April 22, 200

Observation of a Turbulence-Induced Large Scale Magnetic Field

An axisymmetric magnetic field is applied to a spherical, turbulent flow of liquid sodium. An induced magnetic dipole moment is measured which cannot be generated by the interaction of the axisymmetric mean flow with the applied field, indicating the presence of a turbulent electromotive force. It is shown that the induced dipole moment should vanish for any axisymmetric laminar flow. Also observed is the production of toroidal magnetic field from applied poloidal magnetic field (the omega-effect). Its potential role in the production of the induced dipole is discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures Revisions to accomodate peer-reviewer concerns; changes to main text including simplification of a proof, Fig. 2 updated, and minor typos and clarifications; Added refrences. Resubmitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Plasma waves driven by gravitational waves in an expanding universe

In a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmological model with zero spatial curvature, we consider the interaction of the gravitational waves with the plasma in the presence of a weak magnetic field. Using the relativistic hydromagnetic equations it is verified that large amplitude magnetosonic waves are excited, assuming that both, the gravitational field and the weak magnetic field do not break the homogeneity and isotropy of the considered FRW spacetime.Comment: 14 page

Orthonormal sequences in L2(Rd)L^2(R^d) and time frequency localization

We study uncertainty principles for orthonormal bases and sequences in $L^2(\R^d)$. As in the classical Heisenberg inequality we focus on the product of the dispersions of a function and its Fourier transform. In particular we prove that there is no orthonormal basis for $L^2(\R)$ for which the time and frequency means as well as the product of dispersions are uniformly bounded. The problem is related to recent results of J. Benedetto, A. Powell, and Ph. Jaming. Our main tool is a time frequency localization inequality for orthonormal sequences in $L^2(\R^d)$. It has various other applications.Comment: 18 page