6,451 research outputs found
Magnetic reconnection from a multiscale instability cascade
Magnetic reconnection, the process whereby magnetic field lines break and then reconnect to form a different topology, underlies critical dynamics of magnetically confined plasmas in both nature and the laboratory. Magnetic reconnection involves localized diffusion of the magnetic field across plasma, yet observed reconnection rates are typically much higher than can be accounted for using classical electrical resistivity. It is generally proposed that the field diffusion underlying fast reconnection results instead from some combination of non-magnetohydrodynamic processes that become important on the ‘microscopic’ scale of the ion Larmor radius or the ion skin depth. A recent laboratory experiment demonstrated a transition from slow to fast magnetic reconnection when a current channel narrowed to a microscopic scale, but did not address how a macroscopic magnetohydrodynamic system accesses the microscale. Recent theoretical models and numerical simulations suggest that a macroscopic, two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic current sheet might do this through a sequence of repetitive tearing and thinning into two-dimensional magnetized plasma structures having successively finer scales. Here we report observations demonstrating a cascade of instabilities from a distinct, macroscopic-scale magnetohydrodynamic instability to a distinct, microscopic-scale (ion skin depth) instability associated with fast magnetic reconnection. These observations resolve the full three-dimensional dynamics and give insight into the frequently impulsive nature of reconnection in space and laboratory plasmas
Energy Efficiency Analysis of the Discharge Circuit of Caltech Spheromak Experiment
The Caltech spheromak experiment uses a size A
ignitron in switching a 59-μF capacitor bank (charged up to
8 kV) across an inductive plasma load. Typical power levels in the
discharge circuit are ~200 MW for a duration of ~10 μs. This
paper describes the setup of the circuit and the measurements of
various impedances in the circuit. The combined impedance of the
size A ignitron and the cables was found to be significantly larger
than the plasma impedance. This causes the circuit to behave like
a current source with low energy transfer efficiency. This behavior
is expected to be common with other pulsed plasma experiments
of similar size that employ an ignitron switch
Wheels within wheels: Hamiltonian dynamics as a hierarchy of action variables
In systems where one coordinate undergoes periodic oscillation, the net
displacement in any other coordinate over a single period is shown to be given
by differentiation of the action integral associated with the oscillating
coordinate. This result is then used to demonstrate that the action integral
acts as a Hamiltonian for slow coordinates providing time is scaled to the
``tick-time'' of the oscillating coordinate. Numerous examples, including
charged particle drifts and relativistic motion, are supplied to illustrate the
varied application of these results.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
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
Enhancement of drift waves by localized lower hybrid waves
The enhancement of low frequency oscillations by lower hybrid waves at electric fields lower than the thresholds of other parametric decay processes is presented. The frequencies and wavelengths of these oscillations agree with the collisional drift wave dispersion relation. The enhancement is localized deep inside the plasma density gradient. The excited drift waves change the density profile and the lower hybrid wave trajectory
Laboratory simulations of astrophysical jets and solar coronal loops: new results
An experimental program underway at Caltech has produced plasmas where the shape is neither fixed by the vacuum chamber nor fixed by an external coil set, but instead is determined by self-organization. The plasma dynamics is highly reproducible and so can be studied in considerable detail even though the morphology of the plasma is both complex and time-dependent. A surprising result has been the observation that self-collimating MHD-driven plasma jets are ubiquitous and play a fundamental role in the self-organization. The jets can be considered lab-scale simulations of astrophysical jets and in addition are intimately related to solar coronal loops. The jets are driven by the combination of the axial component of the J×B force and the axial pressure gradient resulting from the non-uniform pinch force associated with the flared axial current density. Behavior is consistent with a model showing that collimation results from axial non-uniformity of the jet velocity. In particular, flow stagnation in the jet frame compresses frozen-in azimuthal magnetic flux, squeezes together toroidal magnetic field lines, thereby amplifying the embedded toroidal magnetic field, enhancing the pinch force, and hence causing collimation of the jet
Neutrino magnetohydrodynamics
A new neutrino magnetohydrodynamics (NMHD) model is formulated, where the
effects of the charged weak current on the electron-ion magnetohydrodynamic
fluid are taken into account. The model incorporates in a systematic way the
role of the Fermi neutrino weak force in magnetized plasmas. A fast
neutrino-driven short wavelengths instability associated with the magnetosonic
wave is derived. Such an instability should play a central role in strongly
magnetized plasma as occurs in supernovae, where dense neutrino beams also
exist. In addition, in the case of nonlinear or high frequency waves, the
neutrino coupling is shown to be responsible for breaking the frozen-in
magnetic field lines condition even in infinite conductivity plasmas.
Simplified and ideal NMHD assumptions were adopted and analyzed in detail
Understanding the dynamics of photoionization-induced solitons in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers
We present in detail our developed model [Saleh et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107]
that governs pulse propagation in hollow-core photonic crystal fibers filled by
an ionizing gas. By using perturbative methods, we find that the
photoionization process induces the opposite phenomenon of the well-known Raman
self-frequency red-shift of solitons in solid-core glass fibers, as was
recently experimentally demonstrated [Hoelzer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107].
This process is only limited by ionization losses, and leads to a constant
acceleration of solitons in the time domain with a continuous blue-shift in the
frequency domain. By applying the Gagnon-B\'{e}langer gauge transformation,
multi-peak `inverted gravity-like' solitary waves are predicted. We also
demonstrate that the pulse dynamics shows the ejection of solitons during
propagation in such fibers, analogous to what happens in conventional
solid-core fibers. Moreover, unconventional long-range non-local interactions
between temporally distant solitons, unique of gas plasma systems, are
predicted and studied. Finally, the effects of higher-order dispersion
coefficients and the shock operator on the pulse dynamics are investigated,
showing that the resonant radiation in the UV [Joly et al., Phys. Rev. Lett.
106] can be improved via plasma formation.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Dust-driven Dynamos in Accretion Disks
Magnetically driven astrophysical jets are related to accretion and involve
toroidal magnetic field pressure inflating poloidal magnetic field flux
surfaces. Examination of particle motion in combined gravitational and magnetic
fields shows that these astrophysical jet toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields
can be powered by the gravitational energy liberated by accreting dust grains
that have become positively charged by emitting photo-electrons. Because a dust
grain experiences magnetic forces after becoming charged, but not before,
charging can cause irreversible trapping of the grain so dust accretion is a
consequence of charging. Furthermore, charging causes canonical angular
momentum to replace mechanical angular momentum as the relevant constant of the
motion. The resulting effective potential has three distinct classes of
accreting particles distinguished by canonical angular momentum, namely (i)
"cyclotron-orbit", (ii) "Speiser-orbit", and (iii) "zero canonical angular
momentum" particles. Electrons and ions are of class (i) but depending on mass
and initial orbit inclination, dust grains can be of any class. Light-weight
dust grains develop class (i) orbits such that the grains are confined to
nested poloidal flux surfaces, whereas grains with a critical weight such that
they experience comparable gravitational and magnetic forces can develop class
(ii) or class (iii) orbits, respectively producing poloidal and toroidal field
dynamos.Comment: 70 pages, 16 figure
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