52 research outputs found
The Pinhole/Occulter Facility
Scientific objectives and requirements are discussed for solar X-ray observations, coronagraph observations, studies of coronal particle acceleration, and cosmic X-ray observations. Improved sensitivity and resolution can be provided for these studies using the pinhole/occulter facility which consists of a self-deployed boom of 50 m length separating an occulter plane from a detector plane. The X-ray detectors and coronagraphic optics mounted on the detector plane are analogous to the focal plane instrumentation of an ordinary telescope except that they use the occulter only for providing a shadow pattern. The occulter plane is passive and has no electrical interface with the rest of the facility
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Use of Near-Infrared Detector to Sense RF Antenna Heating
The three antennas used for ion cyclotron heating (ICH) experiments on DIII-D have experienced localized heating of the Faraday shield rods during plasma operations which has resulted in some melting. This melting is of great concern not only because of the damage it does to the rf system's ability to deliver rf to the plasma, but because of its potential to contaminate the plasma during a shot and cast the experimental results from the shot into question. A real-time sensor to detect the temperature of the antennae during plasma operations is described. The sensor uses an avalanche photo diode (APD) with sensitivity from 0.4 to 1.0 {micro}m to monitor the temperature of the antennae. Calculations for the detector sensitivity based on Planck's law are compared with experimental results and detector data taken during plasma operations are presented
Investigation of a Light Gas Helicon Plasma Source for the VASIMR Space Propulsion System
An efficient plasma source producing a high-density (approx.10(exp 19/cu m) light gas (e.g. H, D, or He) flowing plasma with a high degree of ionization is a critical component of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) concept. We are developing an antenna to apply ICRF power near the fundamental ion cyclotron resonance to further accelerate the plasma ions to velocities appropriate for space propulsion applications. The high degree of ionization and a low vacuum background pressure are important to eliminate the problem of radial losses due to charge exchange. We have performed parametric (e.g. gas flow, power (0.5 - 3 kW), magnetic field , frequency (25 and 50 MHz)) studies of a helicon operating with gas (H2 D2, He, N2 and Ar) injected at one end with a high magnetic mirror downstream of the antenna. We have explored operation with a cusp and a mirror field upstream. Plasma flows into a low background vacuum (<10(exp -4) torr) at velocities higher than the ion sound speed. High densities (approx. 10(exp 19/cu m) have been achieved at the location where ICRF will be applied, just downstream of the magnetic mirror
Massively parallel simulations for disordered systems
Simulations of systems with quenched disorder are extremely demanding,
suffering from the combined effect of slow relaxation and the need of
performing the disorder average. As a consequence, new algorithms, improved
implementations, and alternative and even purpose-built hardware are often
instrumental for conducting meaningful studies of such systems. The ensuing
demands regarding hardware availability and code complexity are substantial and
sometimes prohibitive. We demonstrate how with a moderate coding effort leaving
the overall structure of the simulation code unaltered as compared to a CPU
implementation, very significant speed-ups can be achieved from a parallel code
on GPU by mainly exploiting the trivial parallelism of the disorder samples and
the near-trivial parallelism of the parallel tempering replicas. A combination
of this massively parallel implementation with a careful choice of the
temperature protocol for parallel tempering as well as efficient cluster
updates allows us to equilibrate comparatively large systems with moderate
computational resources.Comment: accepted for publication in EPJB, Topical issue - Recent advances in
the theory of disordered system
RXTE monitoring of Centaurus A
We report on the analysis from ~110 ks of X-ray observations of Centaurus A
carried out with the Proportional Counter Array (PCA) and the High Energy X-ray
Timing Experiment (HEXTE) instruments on Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)
during three monitoring campaigns over the last 4 years (10 ks in 1996, 74 ks
in 1998, and 25 ks in 2000). The joint PCA/HEXTE X-ray spectrum can be well
described by a heavily absorbed power law with photon index 1.8 and a narrow
iron line due to fluorescence of cold matter. The measured column depth
decreased by about 30% between 1996 and 2000, while the detected 2-10 keV
continuum flux remained constant between 1996 and 1998, but increased by 60% in
2000. Since in all three observations the iron line flux did not vary, a
corresponding decrease in equivalent width was noted. No appreciable evidence
for a reflection continuum in the spectrum was detected. We present the
interpretation of the iron line strength through Monte Carlo computations of
various geometries. No significant temporal variability was found in Cen A at
time scales from days to tens of minutes.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
Probability Theory in Statistical Physics, Percolation, and Other Random Topics: The Work of C. Newman
In the introduction to this volume, we discuss some of the highlights of the
research career of Chuck Newman. This introduction is divided into two main
sections, the first covering Chuck's work in statistical mechanics and the
second his work in percolation theory, continuum scaling limits, and related
topics.Comment: 38 pages (including many references), introduction to Festschrift in
honor of C.M. Newma
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