Modelling the measured local time evolution of strongly nonlinear heat pulses in the Large Helical Device

In some magnetically confined plasmas, an applied pulse of rapid edge cooling can trigger either a positive or negative excursion in the core electron temperature from its steady state value. We present a new model which captures the time evolution of the transient, non-diffusive local dynamics in the core plasma. We show quantitative agreement between this model and recent spatially localized measurements (Inagaki et al 2010 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 52 075002) of the local time-evolving temperature pulse in cold pulse propagation experiments in the Large Helical Device

A Prediction of Observable Rotation in the ICM of Abell 3266

We present a numerical Hydro+N-body model of A3266 whose X-ray surface brightness, temperature distribution, and galaxy spatial and velocity distribution data are consistent with the A3266 data. The model is an old (~3 Gyr), off-axis merger having a mass ratio of ~2.5:1. The less massive subcluster in the model is moving on a trajectory from southwest to northeast passing on the western side of the dominant cluster while moving into the plane of the sky at ~45 degrees. Off-axis mergers such as this one are an effective mechanism for transferring angular momentum to the intracluster medium (ICM), making possible a large scale rotation of the ICM. We demonstrate here that the ICM rotation predicted by our fully 3-dimensional model of A3266 is observable with current technology. As an example, we present simulated observations assuming the capabilities of the high resolution X-ray spectrometer (XRS) which was to have flown on Astro-E.Comment: 9 pages, 7 postscript figures, Fig. 3 and 6 are color postscript, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Low temperature magnetization and the excitation spectrum of antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin rings

Accurate results are obtained for the low temperature magnetization versus magnetic field of Heisenberg spin rings consisting of an even number N of intrinsic spins s = 1/2, 1, 3/2, 2, 5/2, 3, 7/2 with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange by employing a numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo method. A straightforward analysis of this data, in particular the values of the level-crossing fields, provides accurate results for the lowest energy eigenvalue E(N,S,s) for each value of the total spin quantum number S. In particular, the results are substantially more accurate than those provided by the rotational band approximation. For s <= 5/2, data are presented for all even N <= 20, which are particularly relevant for experiments on finite magnetic rings. Furthermore, we find that for s > 1 the dependence of E(N,S,s) on s can be described by a scaling relation, and this relation is shown to hold well for ring sizes up to N = 80 for all intrinsic spins in the range 3/2 <= s <= 7/2. Considering ring sizes in the interval 8 <= N <= 50, we find that the energy gap between the ground state and the first excited state approaches zero proportional to 1/N^a, where a = 0.76 for s = 3/2 and a = 0.84 for s = 5/2. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of our present results for E(N,S,s) by examining the Fe12 ring-type magnetic molecule, leading to a new, more accurate estimate of the exchange constant for this system than has been obtained heretofore.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review B, 10 pages, 10 figure

A quantitative model for heat pulse propagation across Large Helical Device plasmas

It is known that rapid edge cooling of magnetically confined plasmas can trigger heat pulses that propagate rapidly inward. These can result in large excursion, either positive or negative, in the electron temperature at the core. A set of particularly detailed measurements was obtained in Large Helical Device(LHD) plasmas [S. Inagaki et al, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 52 (2010) 075002], which are considered here. By applying a travelling wave transformation, we extend the model of R. O. Dendy, S. C. Chapman and S. Inagaki, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 55 (2013) 115009, which successfully describes the local time-evolution of heat pulses in these plasmas, to include also spatial dependence. The new extended model comprises two coupled nonlinear first order differential equations for the (x, t) evolution of the deviation from steady state of two inde- pendent variables: the excess electron temperature gradient and the excess heat flux, both of which are measured in the LHD experiments. The mathematical structure of the model equations implies a formula for the pulse velocity, defined in terms of plasma quantities, which aligns with empirical expectations and is within a factor of two of the measured values. We thus model spatio-temporal pulse evolution, from first principles, in a way which yields as output the spatiotemporal evolution of the electron temperature, which is also measured in detail in the experiments. We compare the model results against LHD datasets using appropriate initial and boundary conditions. Sensitivity of this nonlinear model with respect to plasma parameters, initial conditions and boundary conditions is also investigated. We conclude that this model is able to match experimental data for the spatio-temporal evolution of the temperature profiles of these pulses, and their propagation velocities, across a broad radial range from r/a ~ 0.5 to the plasma core. The model further implies that the heat pulse may be related mathematically to soliton solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equation

Chiral Modulations in Curved Space I: Formalism

The goal of this paper is to present a formalism that allows to handle four-fermion effective theories at finite temperature and density in curved space. The formalism is based on the use of the effective action and zeta function regularization, supports the inclusion of inhomogeneous and anisotropic phases. One of the key points of the method is the use of a non-perturbative ansatz for the heat-kernel that returns the effective action in partially resummed form, providing a way to go beyond the approximations based on the Ginzburg-Landau expansion for the partition function. The effective action for the case of ultra-static Riemannian spacetimes with compact spatial section is discussed in general and a series representation, valid when the chemical potential satisfies a certain constraint, is derived. To see the formalism at work, we consider the case of static Einstein spaces at zero chemical potential. Although in this case we expect inhomogeneous phases to occur only as meta-stable states, the problem is complex enough and allows to illustrate how to implement numerical studies of inhomogeneous phases in curved space. Finally, we extend the formalism to include arbitrary chemical potentials and obtain the analytical continuation of the effective action in curved space.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures; version to appear in JHE

Spatially and polarization resolved plasmon mediated transmission through continuous metal films

The experimental demonstration and characterization is made of the plasmon-mediated resonant transmission through an embedded undulated continuous thin metal film under normal incidence. 1D undulations are shown to enable a spatially resolved polarisation filtering whereas 2D undulations lead to spatially resolved, polarization independent transmission. Whereas the needed submicron microstructure lends itself in principle to CD-like low-cost mass replication by means of injection moulding and embossing, the present paper demonstrates the expected transmission effects on experimental models based on metal-coated photoresist gratings. The spectral and angular dependence in the neighbourhood of resonance are investigated and the question of the excess losses exhibited by surface plasmons is discusse

Specific Heat Study on a Novel Spin-Gapped System : (CH_3)_2NH_2CuCl_3

Specific heat measurements down to 120mK have been performed on a quasi-one-dimensional $S=1/2$ spin-gapped system (CH$_3$)$_2$NH$_2$CuCl$_3$ in a magnetic field up to 8 T. This compound has a characteristic magnetization curve which shows a gapless ground state and a plateau at 1/2 of the saturation value. We have observed a spontaneous antiferromagnetic ordering and a field-induced one below and above the 1/2 plateau field range, respectively. The field versus temperature phase diagram is quite unusual and completely different from those of the other quantum spin systems investigated so far. In the plateau field range, a double-structure in the specific heat is observed, reflecting the coexistence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic excitations. These behaviors are discussed on the basis of a recently proposed novel quantum spin chain model consisting of weakly coupled ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic dimers.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp