242 research outputs found
Phase Diagrams of Forced Magnetic Reconnection in Taylor's Model
Recent progress in the understanding of how externally driven magnetic
reconnection evolves is organized in terms of parameter space diagrams. These
diagrams are constructed using four pivotal dimensionless parameters: the
Lundquist number , the magnetic Prandtl number , the amplitude of the
boundary perturbation , and the perturbation wave number .
This new representation highlights the parameters regions of a given system in
which the magnetic reconnection process is expected to be distinguished by a
specific evolution. Contrary to previously proposed phase diagrams, the
diagrams introduced here take into account the dynamical evolution of the
reconnection process and are able to predict slow or fast reconnection regimes
for the same values of and , depending on the parameters that
characterize the external drive, never considered so far. These features are
important to understand the onset and evolution of magnetic reconnection in
diverse physical systemsComment: Comments: 13 pages, 2015 Workshop "Complex plasma phenomena in the
laboratory and in the universe
The algebra of supertraces for 2+1 super de Sitter gravity
The algebra of the observables for 2+1 super de Sitter gravity, for one genus of the spatial surface is calculated. The algebra turns out to be an infinite Lie algebra subject to non-linear constraints. The constraints are solved explicitly in terms of five independent complex supertraces. These variables are the true degrees of freedom of the system and their quantized algebra generates a new structure which is referred to as a 'central extension' of the quantum algebra SU(2)q
Nonlinear tearing mode in inhomogeneous plasma: I. Unmagnetized islands
Abstract A theory of the nonlinear growth and propagation of magnetic islands in the semi-collisional regime is presented. The theory includes the effects of finite electron temperature gradients and uses a fluid model with cold ions in slab geometry to describe islands that are unmagnetized in the sense that their width is less than ρ s , the ion Larmor radius calculated with the electron temperature. The polarization integral and the natural phase velocity are both calculated. It is found that increasing the electron temperature gradient reduces the natural phase velocity below the electron diamagnetic frequency and thus causes the polarization current to become stabilizing
Homotopy Invariants and Time Evolution in (2+1)-Dimensional Gravity
We establish the relation between the ISO(2,1) homotopy invariants and the
polygon representation of (2+1)-dimensional gravity. The polygon closure
conditions, together with the SO(2,1) cycle conditions, are equivalent to the
ISO(2,1) cycle conditions for the representa- tions of the fundamental group in
ISO(2,1). Also, the symplectic structure on the space of invariants is closely
related to that of the polygon representation. We choose one of the polygon
variables as internal time and compute the Hamiltonian, then perform the
Hamilton-Jacobi transformation explicitly. We make contact with other authors'
results for g = 1 and g = 2 (N = 0).Comment: 34 pages, Mexico preprint ICN-UNAM-93-1
Drift-Tearing Magnetic Islands in Tokamak Plasmas
A systematic fluid theory of nonlinear magnetic island dynamics in conventional low-β, large aspect-ratio, circular cross-section tokamak plasmas is developed using an extended-MHD model which incorporates diamagnetic flows, ion gyroviscosity, fast parallel electron heat transport, the ion sound wave, the drift-wave, and average magnetic field-line curvature. The model excludes the compressible Alfvén wave, geodesic field-line curvature, neoclassical effects, and ion Landau damping. A collisional closure is used for plasma dynamics parallel to the magnetic field. Two distinct branches of island solutions are found-namely, the "sonic" and "hypersonic" branches. Both branches are investigated analytically, using suitable ordering schemes, and in each case the problem is reduced to a relatively simple set of nonlinear differential equations which can be solved numerically via iteration. The solution determines the island phase-velocity, relative to the plasma, and the effect of local currents on the island stability. Sonic islands are relatively wide, flatten both the temperature and density profiles, and tend to propagate close to the local ion fluid velocity. Hypersonic islands, on the other hand, are relatively narrow, only flatten the temperature profile, radiate drift-acoustic waves, and tend to propagate close to the local electron fluid velocity. The hypersonic solution branch ceases to exist above a critical island width. Under normal circumstances, both types of island are stabilized by local ion polarization currents
Canonical Quantization of (2+1)-Dimensional Gravity
We consider the quantum dynamics of both open and closed two- dimensional
universes with ``wormholes'' and particles. The wave function is given as a sum
of freely propagating amplitudes, emitted from a network of mapping class
images of the initial state. Interference between these amplitudes gives
non-trivial scattering effects, formally analogous to the optical diffraction
by a multidimensional grating; the ``bright lines'' correspond to the most
probable geometries.Comment: 22 pages, Mexico preprint ICN-UNAM-93-1
Taming the Heat Flux Problem: Advanced Divertors Towards Fusion Power
The next generation fusion machines are likely to face enormous heat exhaust problems. In addition to summarizing major issues and physical processes connected with these problems, we discuss how advanced divertors, obtained by modifying the local geometry, may yield workable solutions. We also point out that: (1) the initial interpretation of recent experiments show that the advantages, predicted, for instance, for the X-divertor (in particular, being able to run a detached operation at high pedestal pressure) correlate very well with observations, and (2) the X-D geometry could be implemented on ITER (and DEMOS) respecting all the relevant constraints. A roadmap for future research efforts is proposed
Gyrofluid simulations of collisionless reconnection in the presence of diamagnetic effects
The effects of the ion Larmor radius on magnetic reconnection are
investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a Hamiltonian gyrofluid
model. In the linear regime, it is found that ion diamagnetic effects decrease
the growth rate of the dominant mode. Increasing ion temperature tends to make
the magnetic islands propagate in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. In the
nonlinear regime, diamagnetic effects reduce the final width of the island.
Unlike the electron density, the guiding center density does not tend to
distribute along separatrices and at high ion temperature, the electrostatic
potential exhibits the superposition of a small scale structure, related to the
electron density, and a large scale structure, related to the ion
guiding-center density
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Stabilization of ballooning modes with sheared toroidal rotation
A new code demonstrates the stabilization of MHD ballooning modes by sheared toroidal rotation. A shifted-circle model is used to elucidate the physics and numerically reconstructed equilibria are used to analyze DIII-D discharges. In the ballooning representation, the modes shift periodically along the field line to the next point of unfavorable curvature. The shift frequency (d{Omega}/dq where {Omega} is the angular toroidal velocity and q is the safety factor) is proportional to the rotation shear and inversely proportional to the magnetic shear. Stability improves with increasing shift frequency and, in the shifted circle model, direct stable access to the second stability regime occurs when this frequency is a fraction of the Alfven frequency {omega}{sub A} = V{sub A}/qR. Shear stabilization is also demonstrated for an equilibrium reconstruction of a DIII-D VH-mode
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