Gaussian process tomography for soft x-ray spectroscopy at WEST without equilibrium information

International audienceGaussian process tomography (GPT) is a recently developed tomography method based on the Bayesian probability theory [J. Svensson, JET Internal Report EFDA-JET-PR(11)24, 2011 and Li et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 84, 083506 (2013)]. By modeling the soft X-ray (SXR) emissivity field in a poloidal cross section as a Gaussian process, the Bayesian SXR tomography can be carried out in a robust and extremely fast way. Owing to the short execution time of the algorithm, GPT is an important candidate for providing real-time reconstructions with a view to impurity transport and fast magnetohydrodynamic control. In addition, the Bayesian formalism allows quantifying uncertainty on the inferred parameters. In this paper, the GPT technique is validated using a synthetic data set expected from the WEST tokamak, and the results are shown of its application to the reconstruction of SXR emissivity profiles measured on Tore Supra. The method is compared with the standard algorithm based on minimization of the Fisher information

Measurement of the 0.511 MeV gamma ray line from the Galactic Center

The detection of the 0.511 MeV electron positron annihilation line coming from the Galactic Center to provide the means to estimate the rate of positron production and to test some theoretical sources of positrons is addressed. The results of the measurements of the 0.511 MeV line flux made with a gamma ray experiment on board a stratospheric balloon are presented. The detector field of view looked at the galactic longitude range -31 deg l(II) +41 deg. The observed flux is 0.0067 (+ or - 0.0005) photons 1/cm(2)5 which is in very good agreement with the expected flux when assuming that the Galactic Center is a line source emitting uniformly

Comparison of two regularization methods for Soft x-ray tomography at Tore Supra

International audienceSoft x-ray (SXR) emission in the range 0.1-20 keV is widely used to obtain valuable information on tokamak plasma physics, such as particle transport, magnetic configuration or magnetohydrodynamic activity. In particular, 2D tomography is the usual plasma diagnostic to access the local SXR emissivity. The tomographic inversion is traditionally performed from lineintegrated measurements of two or more cameras viewing the plasma in a poloidal cross-section, like at Tore Supra (TS). Unfortunately, due to the limited number of measured projections and presence of noise, the tomographic reconstruction of SXR emissivity is a mathematical ill-posed problem. Thus, obtaining reliable results of the tomographic inversion is a very challenging task. In order to perform the reconstruction, inversion algorithms implemented in present tokamaks use a priori information as additional constraints imposed on the plasma SXR emissivity. Among several potential inversion methods, some of them have been identified as well suited to tokamak plasmas. The purpose of this work is to compare two promising inversion methods, i.e. the minimum fisher information method already used at TS and planned for WEST configuration, and the alternative 2nd order Phillips-Tikhonov regularization with smoothness constraints imposed on the second derivative norm. Respective accuracy of both reconstruction methods as well as overall robustness and computational time are studied, using several synthetic SXR emissivity profiles. Finally, a real case is studied through tomographic reconstruction from TS SXR database

Optimisation de la transformation génétique de la pomme de terre par Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Utilisation de la résistance à l'hygromycine comme marqueur sélectif

Optimization of potato genetic transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens using hygromycin resistance as selective marker. The objective of this work is the optimization of a genetic transformation and a regeneration protocol of transgenic plants in Solanum tuberosum cv Désirée using hygromycin resistance as selective marker. The gene Cat2 of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and the gene SU2 of Gossypium hirsutum, both coding for catalases, have been used. Two antibiotic concentrations (5 and 10 mg . l -1 of culture medium) combined with two preculture periods (5 and 20 days) on non-selective medium were tested. Coculture medium was supplemented with 10 mg . l -1 of acetosyringone to test its effect on potato transformation. The addition of this phenolic compound to the coculture medium affected positively the regeneration aptitude of transgenic SU2 plants. Only the combination of 5 mg . l -1 of hygromycin and 20 days of preculture without antibiotic allowed the obtention of plants transformed with the gene SU2. Screening of the rooted shoots with PCR showed 45% of transgenic plants for both molecular constructions used

Supersonic regime of the Hall-magnetohydrodynamics resistive tearing instability

An earlier analysis of the Hall-magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) tearing instability [E. Ahedo and J. J. Ramos, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 51, 055018 (2009)] is extended to cover the regime where the growth rate becomes comparable or exceeds the sound frequency. Like in the previous subsonic work, a resistive, two-fluid Hall-MHD model with massless electrons and zero-Larmor-radius ions is adopted and a linear stability analysis about a force-free equilibrium in slab geometry is carried out. A salient feature of this supersonic regime is that the mode eigenfunctions become intrinsically complex, but the growth rate remains purely real. Even more interestingly, the dispersion relation remains of the same form as in the subsonic regime for any value of the instability Mach number, provided only that the ion skin depth is sufficiently small for the mode ion inertial layer width to be smaller than the macroscopic lengths, a generous bound that scales like a positive power of the Lundquist numbe

Heavy Water Lattice Project final report

MIT-2344-12AEC Research and Development ReportBibliography: leaves 181-192U.S. Atomic Energy Commission contract AT(30-1)234

Use of a moments method for the analysis of flux distributions in subcritical assemblies

Statement of responsibility on title-page reads: H.S. Cheng, I. Kaplan, T.J. Thompson, M.J. Driscoll"MIT-2344 -11."Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-352)A moments method has been developed for the analysis of flux distributions in subcritical neutron-multiplying assemblies. The method determines values of the asymptotic axial and radial buckling, and of the extrapolated height and radius, from foil activation data, in terms of flux moments defined in the usual sense. Analytic expressions are derived for the axial and radial buckling and extrapolated dimensions in terms of the flux moments. These expressions have clear physical meaning and are suitable for the interpretation of conventional buckling measurements. The method treats the moment index as a variable parameter and allows freedom in the choice of the locations of the first and last data points used in the analysis. These degrees of freedom make it possible to reduce the effects of source neutrons, flux transients, and higher harmonics. As a result, the moments method can be applied successfully to very small lattices ("miniature lattices") as well as to large exponential assemblies. The moments method has been tested, in comparison with the conventional least-squares curve-fitting method, by applying the two methods to the analysis of measurements made in several uranium heavy water, and uranium oxide-heavy water lattices investigated at the M. I. T. Lattice Project. In the case of large exponential assemblies, the moments method yielded more consistent results than the curve-fitting method. In the case of miniature lattices, the moments method made it possible for the first time to determine values of axial and radial buckling and extrapolated dimensions.U.S. Atomic Energy Commission contract AT(30-1) 234