Saving Globalization from its Cheerleaders

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Electron heating mechanisms in dual frequency capacitive discharges

We discuss electron heating mechanisms in the sheath regions of dual-frequency capacitive discharges, with the twin aims of identifying the dominant mechanisms and supplying closed-form expressions from which the heating power can be estimated. We show that the heating effect produced by either Ohmic or collisionless heating is much larger when the discharge is excited by a superposition of currents at two frequencies than if either current had acted alone. This coupling effect occurs because the lower frequency current, while not directly heating the electrons to any great extent, strongly affects the spatial structure of the discharge in the sheath regions

Theorising victim decision making in the police response to domestic abuse

The paper provides a conceptual argument for the importance of understanding victim decision making in responding to cases of domestic abuse. It applies core elements of decision-making theory to illustrate how victims may undergo different forms of thinking, could be affected by bias, consider gain and loss differently, and suffer from decision inertia. Suggestions are provided on how this perspective could be used in practice to deliver a victim empowerment approach in policing. However, the paper also expresses the importance of the theory’s limitations, especially around external validity, and suggests that research across various disciplines is critical to determine whether the perspective could be placed onto an empirical footing

Revisiting the reaction of dicarbonyls in aerosol proxy solutions containing ammonia: the case of butenedial

Reactions in aqueous solutions containing dicarbonyls (especially the α-dicarbonyls methylglyoxal, glyoxal, and biacetyl) and reduced nitrogen (NHx) have been studied extensively. It has been proposed that accretion reactions from dicarbonyls and NHx could be a source of particulate matter and brown carbon in the atmosphere and therefore have direct implications for human health and climate. Other dicarbonyls, such as the 1,4-unsaturated dialdehyde butenedial, are also produced from the atmospheric oxidation of volatile organic compounds, especially aromatics and furans, but their aqueous-phase reactions with NHx have not been characterized. In this work, we determine a pH-dependent mechanism of butenedial reactions in aqueous solutions with NHx that is compared to α-dicarbonyls, in particular the dialdehyde glyoxal. Similar to glyoxal, butenedial is strongly hydrated in aqueous solutions. Butenedial reaction with NHx also produces nitrogen-containing rings and leads to accretion reactions that form brown carbon. Despite glyoxal and butenedial both being dialdehydes, butenedial is observed to have three significant differences in its chemical behavior: (1) as previously shown, butenedial does not substantially form acetal oligomers, (2) the butenedial/OH− reaction leads to light-absorbing compounds, and (3) the butenedial/NHx reaction is fast and first order in the dialdehyde. Building off of a complementary study on butenedial gas-particle partitioning, we suggest that the behavior of other reactive dialdehydes and dicarbonyls may not always be adequately predicted by α-dicarbonyls, even though their dominant functionalities are closely related. The carbon skeleton (e.g., its hydrophobicity, length, and bond structure) also governs the fate and climate-relevant properties of dicarbonyls in the atmosphere. If other dicarbonyls behave like butenedial, their reaction with NHx could constitute a regional source of brown carbon to the atmosphere.</p

QED cascades induced by circularly polarized laser fields

The results of Monte-Carlo simulations of electron-positron-photon cascades initiated by slow electrons in circularly polarized fields of ultra-high strength are presented and discussed. Our results confirm previous qualitative estimations [A.M. Fedotov, et al., PRL 105, 080402 (2010)] of the formation of cascades. This sort of cascades has revealed the new property of the restoration of energy and dynamical quantum parameter due to the acceleration of electrons and positrons by the field and may become a dominating feature of laser-matter interactions at ultra-high intensities. Our approach incorporates radiation friction acting on individual electrons and positrons.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure

Index

The interest in relativistic beam-plasma instabilities has been greatly rejuvenated over the past two decades by novel concepts in laboratory and space plasmas. Recent advances in this long-standing field are here reviewed from both theoretical and numerical points of view. The primary focus is on the two-dimensional spectrum of unstable electromagnetic waves growing within relativistic, unmagnetized, and uniform electron beam-plasma systems. Although the goal is to provide a unified picture of all instability classes at play, emphasis is put on the potentially dominant waves propagating obliquely to the beam direction, which have received little attention over the years. First, the basic derivation of the general dielectric function of a kinetic relativistic plasma is recalled. Next, an overview of two-dimensional unstable spectra associated with various beam-plasma distribution functions is given. Both cold-fluid and kinetic linear theory results are reported, the latter being based on waterbag and Maxwell–Jüttner model distributions. The main properties of the competing modes (developing parallel, transverse, and oblique to the beam) are given, and their respective region of dominance in the system parameter space is explained. Later sections address particle-in-cell numerical simulations and the nonlinear evolution of multidimensional beam-plasma systems. The elementary structures generated by the various instability classes are first discussed in the case of reduced-geometry systems. Validation of linear theory is then illustrated in detail for large-scale systems, as is the multistaged character of the nonlinear phase. Finally, a collection of closely related beam-plasma problems involving additional physical effects is presented, and worthwhile directions of future research are outlined.Original Publication: Antoine Bret, Laurent Gremillet and Mark Eric Dieckmann, Multidimensional electron beam-plasma instabilities in the relativistic regime, 2010, Physics of Plasmas, (17), 12, 120501-1-120501-36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3514586 Copyright: American Institute of Physics http://www.aip.org/</p

Reaching Inward Not Outward: Marketing via the Internet at the UK 2010 General Election

The Internet has been to date used as a space for simple promotion by political parties; websites present an opportunity for the delivery of non-mediated communication directly to the online audience and nothing more. However, new patterns in usage during campaigns, particularly that of Barack Obama, aided by the technological innovations that fall under the umbrella of Web 2.0, offer new models of online political communication. Through an analysis of the websites and linked online presences of six parties that stood across the UK at the 2010 General Election, we find a dual strategy for Internet campaigning emerging. The persuasive traditions of electioneering remain a feature; however, the key emergent function is one of internal marketing to party supporters and activists. Large sections of party websites are being dedicated to harnessing supporters and converting them to being donators, promoters, and campaigners both online and offline. This suggests that the Internet is increasingly embedded within election communication and online communication strategies are becoming a feature of most of the parties' marketing communication mix. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Current Flow and Pair Creation at Low Altitude in Rotation Powered Pulsars' Force-Free Magnetospheres: Space-Charge Limited Flow

(shortened) We report the results of an investigation of particle acceleration and electron-positron plasma generation at low altitude in the polar magnetic flux tubes of Rotation Powered Pulsars, when the stellar surface is free to emit whatever charges and currents are demanded by the force-free magnetosphere. We observe novel behavior. a) When the current density is less than the Goldreich-Julian (GJ) value (0<j/j_{GJ}<1), space charge limited acceleration of the current carrying beam is mild, with the full GJ charge density being comprised of the charge density of the beam, co-existing with a cloud of electrically trapped particles with the same sign of charge as the beam. The voltage drops are on the order of mc^2/e, and pair creation is absent. b) When the current density exceeds the GJ value (j/j_{GJ}>1), the system develops high voltage drops, causing emission of gamma rays and intense bursts of pair creation. The bursts exhibit limit cycle behavior, with characteristic time scales somewhat longer than the relativistic fly-by time over distances comparable to the polar cap diameter (microseconds). c) In return current regions, where j/j_{GJ}<0, the system develops similar bursts of pair creation. In cases b) and c), the intermittently generated pairs allow the system to simultaneously carry the magnetospherically prescribed currents and adjust the charge density and average electric field to force-free conditions. We also elucidate the conditions for pair creating beam flow to be steady, finding that such steady flows can occupy only a small fraction of the current density parameter space of the force-free magnetospheric model. The generic polar flow dynamics and pair creation is strongly time dependent. The model has an essential difference from almost all previous quantitative studies, in that we sought the accelerating voltage as a function of the applied current.Comment: 35 pages, 29 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Added new appendix, several minor changes in the tex

Development of an Interpretive Simulation Tool for the Proton Radiography Technique

Proton radiography is a useful diagnostic of high energy density (HED) plasmas under active theoretical and experimental development. In this paper we describe a new simulation tool that interacts realistic laser-driven point-like proton sources with three dimensional electromagnetic fields of arbitrary strength and structure and synthesizes the associated high resolution proton radiograph. The present tool's numerical approach captures all relevant physics effects, including effects related to the formation of caustics. Electromagnetic fields can be imported from PIC or hydrodynamic codes in a streamlined fashion, and a library of electromagnetic field `primitives' is also provided. This latter capability allows users to add a primitive, modify the field strength, rotate a primitive, and so on, while quickly generating a high resolution radiograph at each step. In this way, our tool enables the user to deconstruct features in a radiograph and interpret them in connection to specific underlying electromagnetic field elements. We show an example application of the tool in connection to experimental observations of the Weibel instability in counterstreaming plasmas, using $\sim 10^8$ particles generated from a realistic laser-driven point-like proton source, imaging fields which cover volumes of $\sim10$ mm$^3$. Insights derived from this application show that the tool can support understanding of HED plasmas.Comment: Figures and tables related to the Appendix are included in the published journal articl