5,885 research outputs found
Is the Weibel instability enhanced by the suprathermal populations, or not?
The kinetic instabilities of the Weibel-type are presently invoked in a large
variety of astrophysical scenarios because anisotropic plasma structures are
ubiquitous in space. The Weibel instability is driven by a temperature
anisotropy which is commonly modeled by a bi-axis distribution function, such
as a bi-Maxwellian or a generalized bi-Kappa. Previous studies have been
limited to a bi-Kappa distribution and found a suppression of this instability
in the presence of suprathermal tails. In the present paper it is shown that
the Weibel growth rate is rather more sensitive to the shape of the anisotropic
distribution function. In order to illustrate the distinguishing properties of
this instability a \emph{product-bi-Kappa distribution} is introduced, with the
advantage that this distribution function enables the use of different values
of the spectral index in the two directions, . The growth rates and the instability threshold are derived and
contrasted with those for a simple bi-Kappa and a bi-Maxwellian. Thus, while
the maximum growth rates reached at the saturation are found to be higher, the
threshold is drastically reduced making the anisotropic product-bi-Kappa (with
small kappas) highly susceptible to the Weibel instability. This effect could
also rise questions on the temperature or the temperature anisotropy that seems
to be not an exclusive source of free energy for this instability, and
definition of these notions for such Kappa distributions must probably be
reconsidered
Effects of suprathermal electrons on the proton temperature anisotropy in space plasmas: Electromagnetic ion-cyclotron instability
In collision-poor plasmas from space, e.g., the solar wind and planetary
magnetospheres, the kinetic anisotropy of the plasma particles is expected to
be regulated by the kinetic instabilities. Driven by an excess of ion (proton)
temperature perpendicular to the magnetic field , the
electromagnetic ion-cyclotron (EMIC) instability is fast enough to constrain
the proton anisotropy, but the observations do not conform to the instability
thresholds predicted by the standard theory for bi-Maxwellian models of the
plasma particles. This paper presents an extended investigation of the EMIC
instability in the presence of suprathermal electrons which are ubiquitous in
these environments. The analysis is based on the kinetic (Vlasov-Maxwell)
theory assuming that both species, protons and electrons, may be anisotropic,
and the EMIC unstable solutions are derived numerically providing an accurate
description for conditions typically encountered in space plasmas. The effects
of suprathermal populations are triggered by the electron anisotropy and the
temperature contrast between electrons and protons. For certain conditions the
anisotropy thresholds exceed the limits of the proton anisotropy measured in
the solar wind considerably restraining the unstable regimes of the EMIC modes.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and space scienc
Bipropellant droplet burning rates and lifetimes in a combustion gas environment
Liquid rocket propellant droplet burning rate and lifetimes in combustion chambe
Quasilinear approach of the cumulative whistler instability in fast solar winds: Constraints of electron temperature anisotropy
Context. Solar outflows are a considerable source of free energy which
accumulates in multiple forms like beaming (or drifting) components and/or
temperature anisotropies. However, kinetic anisotropies of plasma particles do
not grow indefinitely and particle-particle collisions are not efficient enough
to explain the observed limits of these anisotropies. Instead, the
self-generated wave instabilities can efficiently act to constrain kinetic
anisotropies, but the existing approaches are simplified and do not provide
satisfactory explanations. Thus, small deviations from isotropy shown by the
electron temperature () in fast solar winds are not explained yet.
Aims. This paper provides an advanced quasilinear description of the whistler
instability driven by the anisotropic electrons in conditions typical for the
fast solar winds. The enhanced whistler-like fluctuations may constrain the
upper limits of temperature anisotropy ,
where are defined with respect to the magnetic field
direction.
Methods. Studied are the self-generated whistler instabilities, cumulatively
driven by the temperature anisotropy and the relative (counter)drift of the
electron populations, e.g., core and halo electrons. Recent studies have shown
that quasi-stable states are not bounded by the linear instability thresholds
but an extended quasilinear approach is necessary to describe them in this
case.
Results. Marginal conditions of stability are obtained from a quasilinear
theory of the cumulative whistler instability, and approach the quasi-stable
states of electron populations reported by the observations.The instability
saturation is determined by the relaxation of both the temperature anisotropy
and the relative drift of electron populations.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
A manipulator arm for zero-g simulations
A 12-ft counterbalanced Slave Manipulator Arm (SMA) was designed and fabricated to be used for resolving the questions of operational applications, capabilities, and limitations for such remote manned systems as the Payload Deployment and Retrieval Mechanism (PDRM) for the shuttle, the Free-Flying Teleoperator System, the Advanced Space Tug, and Planetary Rovers. As a developmental tool for the shuttle manipulator system (or PDRM), the SMA represents an approximate one-quarter scale working model for simulating and demonstrating payload handling, docking assistance, and satellite servicing. For the Free-Flying Teleoperator System and the Advanced Tug, the SMA provides a near full-scale developmental tool for satellite servicing, docking, and deployment/retrieval procedures, techniques, and support equipment requirements. For the Planetary Rovers, it provides an oversize developmental tool for sample handling and soil mechanics investigations. The design of the SMA was based on concepts developed for a 40-ft NASA technology arm to be used for zero-g shuttle manipulator simulations
On fiber diameters of continuous maps
We present a surprisingly short proof that for any continuous map , if , then there exists no bound on
the diameter of fibers of . Moreover, we show that when , the union of
small fibers of is bounded; when , the union of small fibers need not
be bounded. Applications to data analysis are considered.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
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