69 research outputs found
Real Time Relativity: exploration learning of special relativity
Real Time Relativity is a computer program that lets students fly at
relativistic speeds though a simulated world populated with planets, clocks,
and buildings. The counterintuitive and spectacular optical effects of
relativity are prominent, while systematic exploration of the simulation allows
the user to discover relativistic effects such as length contraction and the
relativity of simultaneity. We report on the physics and technology
underpinning the simulation, and our experience using it for teaching special
relativity to first year university students
Laboratory measurements of electrostatic solitary structures generated by electron beam injection
Electrostatic solitary structures are generated by injection of a
suprathermal electron beam parallel to the magnetic field in a laboratory
plasma. Electric microprobes with tips smaller than the Debye length
() enabled the measurement of positive potential pulses with
half-widths 4 to 25 and velocities 1 to 3 times the background
electron thermal speed. Nonlinear wave packets of similar velocities and scales
are also observed, indicating that the two descend from the same mode which is
consistent with the electrostatic whistler mode and result from an instability
likely to be driven by field-aligned currents.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.11500
Experimental Study of Convective Cells and RF Sheaths Ex- cited by a Fast Wave Antenna in the LAPD
C
Electromagnetic Fluctuations during Fast Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma
Clear evidence for a positive correlation is established between the
magnitude of magnetic fluctuations in the lower-hybrid frequency range and
enhancement of reconnection rates in a well-controlled laboratory plasma. The
fluctuations belong to the right-hand polarized whistler wave branch,
propagating obliquely to the reconnecting magnetic field, with a phase velocity
comparable to the relative drift velocity between electrons and ions. The short
coherence length and large variation along the propagation direction indicate
their strongly nonlinear nature in three dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Ion acoustic wave experiments in a high school plasma physics laboratory
We describe a successful alliance between a university and several high schools. The alliance is centered on a laboratory experiment constructed by students and faculty. The experiment involves sophisticated concepts and equipment not readily available in high schools. Much of the experiment is directly related to the science and mathematics learned in high school, with opportunities to extend their understanding by applying it to a research experience. The experiment is in plasma physics, but a similar alliance can be implemented in any area of science. Although the number of high school students affected by any one alliance is small, the impact is potentially large in the scientific life of a participating student or teacher
Morphology and density of post-CME current sheets
Eruption of a coronal mass ejection (CME) drags and "opens" the coronal
magnetic field, presumably leading to the formation of a large-scale current
sheet and the field relaxation by magnetic reconnection. We analyze physical
characteristics of ray-like coronal features formed in the aftermath of CMEs,
to check if the interpretation of this phenomenon in terms of reconnecting
current sheet is consistent with the observations. The study is focused on
measurements of the ray width, density excess, and coronal velocity field as a
function of the radial distance. The morphology of rays indicates that they
occur as a consequence of Petschek-like reconnection in the large scale current
sheet formed in the wake of CME. The hypothesis is supported by the flow
pattern, often showing outflows along the ray, and sometimes also inflows into
the ray. The inferred inflow velocities range from 3 to 30 km s,
consistent with the narrow opening-angle of rays, adding up to a few degrees.
The density of rays is an order of magnitude larger than in the ambient corona.
The density-excess measurements are compared with the results of the analytical
model in which the Petschek-like reconnection geometry is applied to the
vertical current sheet, taking into account the decrease of the external
coronal density and magnetic field with height. The model results are
consistent with the observations, revealing that the main cause of the density
excess in rays is a transport of the dense plasma from lower to larger heights
by the reconnection outflow
Collisionless interaction of an energetic laser produced plasma with a large magnetoplasma
Wind anisotropies and GRB progenitors
We study the effect of wind anisotropies on the stellar evolution leading to
collapsars. Rotating models of a 60 M star with on the ZAMS, accounting for shellular rotation and a magnetic
field, with and without wind anisotropies, are computed at =0.002 until the
end of the core He-burning phase. Only the models accounting for the effects of
the wind anisotropies retain enough angular momentum in their core to produce a
Gamma Ray Burst (GRB). The chemical composition is such that a type Ic
supernova event occurs. Wind anisotropies appear to be a key physical
ingredient in the scenario leading to long GRBs.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Lette
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