7,644 research outputs found
Effect of turbulence on electron cyclotron current drive and heating in ITER
Non-linear local electromagnetic gyrokinetic turbulence simulations of the
ITER standard scenario H-mode are presented for the q=3/2 and q=2 surfaces. The
turbulent transport is examined in regions of velocity space characteristic of
electrons heated by electron cyclotron waves. Electromagnetic fluctuations and
sub-dominant micro-tearing modes are found to contribute significantly to the
transport of the accelerated electrons, even though they have only a small
impact on the transport of the bulk species. The particle diffusivity for
resonant passing electrons is found to be less than 0.15 m^2/s, and their heat
conductivity is found to be less than 2 m^2/s. Implications for the broadening
of the current drive and energy deposition in ITER are discussed.Comment: Letter, 5 pages, 5 figures, for submission to Nuclear Fusio
Study of the spectral properties of ELM precursors by means of wavelets
The high confinement regime (H-mode) in tokamaks is accompanied by the occurrence of bursts of MHD activity at the plasma edge, so-called edge localized modes (ELMs), lasting less than 1 ms. These modes are often preceded by coherent oscillations in the magnetic field, the ELM precursors, whose mode numbers along the toroidal and the poloidal directions can be measured from the phase shift between Mirnov pickup coils. When the ELM precursors have a lifetime shorter than a few milliseconds, their toroidal mode number and their nonlinear evolution before the ELM crash cannot be studied reliably with standard techniques based on Fourier analysis, since averaging in time is implicit in the computation of the Fourier coefficients. This work demonstrates significant advantages in studying spectral features of the short-lived ELM precursors by using Morlet wavelets. It is shown that the wavelet analysis is suitable for the identification of the toroidal mode numbers of ELM precursors with the shortest lifetime, as well as for studying their nonlinear evolution with a time resolution comparable to the acquisition rate of the Mirnov coils
Conformational photoswitching of a synthetic peptide foldamer bound within a phospholipid bilayer
The dynamic properties of foldamers, synthetic molecules that mimic folded biomolecules, have mainly been explored in free solution.We report on the design, synthesis, and conformational behavior of photoresponsive foldamers bound in a phospholipid bilayer akin to a biological membrane phase. These molecules contain a chromophore, which can be switched between two configurations by different wavelengths of light, attached to a helical synthetic peptide that both promotes membrane insertion and communicates conformational change along its length. Light-induced structural changes in the chromophore are translated into global conformational changes, which are detected by monitoring the solid-state 19 F nuclear magnetic resonance signals of a remote fluorine-containing residue located 1 to 2 nanometers away. The behavior of the foldamers in the membrane phase is similar to that of analogous compounds in organic solvents
Enhanced spin accumulation in a superconductor
A lateral array of ferromagnetic tunnel junctions is used to inject and
detect non-equilibrium quasi-particle spin distribution in a superconducting
strip made of Al. The strip width and thickness is kept below the quasi
particle spin diffusion length in Al. Non-local measurements in multiple
parallel and antiparallel magnetic states of the detectors are used to in-situ
determine the quasi-particle spin diffusion length. A very large increase in
the spin accumulation in the superconducting state compared to that in the
normal state is observed and is attributed to a diminishing of the
quasi-particle population by opening of the gap below the transition
temperature.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Journal of Applied
Physic
Quasimodes of a chaotic elastic cavity with increasing local losses
We report non-invasive measurements of the complex field of elastic
quasimodes of a silicon wafer with chaotic shape. The amplitude and phase
spatial distribution of the flexural modes are directly obtained by Fourier
transform of time measurements. We investigate the crossover from real mode to
complex-valued quasimode, when absorption is progressively increased on one
edge of the wafer. The complexness parameter, which characterizes the degree to
which a resonance state is complex-valued, is measured for non-overlapping
resonances and is found to be proportional to the non-homogeneous contribution
to the line broadening of the resonance. A simple two-level model based on the
effective Hamiltonian formalism supports our experimental results
Rotation and Neoclassical Ripple Transport in ITER
Neoclassical transport in the presence of non-axisymmetric magnetic fields
causes a toroidal torque known as neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV). The
toroidal symmetry of ITER will be broken by the finite number of toroidal field
coils and by test blanket modules (TBMs). The addition of ferritic inserts
(FIs) will decrease the magnitude of the toroidal field ripple. 3D magnetic
equilibria with toroidal field ripple and ferromagnetic structures are
calculated for an ITER steady-state scenario using the Variational Moments
Equilibrium Code (VMEC). Neoclassical transport quantities in the presence of
these error fields are calculated using the Stellarator Fokker-Planck Iterative
Neoclassical Conservative Solver (SFINCS). These calculations fully account for
, flux surface shaping, multiple species, magnitude of ripple, and
collisionality rather than applying approximate analytic NTV formulae. As NTV
is a complicated nonlinear function of , we study its behavior over a
plausible range of . We estimate the toroidal flow, and hence , using
a semi-analytic turbulent intrinsic rotation model and NUBEAM calculations of
neutral beam torque. The NTV from the ripple dominates
that from lower perturbations of the TBMs. With the inclusion of FIs, the
magnitude of NTV torque is reduced by about 75% near the edge. We present
comparisons of several models of tangential magnetic drifts, finding
appreciable differences only for superbanana-plateau transport at small .
We find the scaling of calculated NTV torque with ripple magnitude to indicate
that ripple-trapping may be a significant mechanism for NTV in ITER. The
computed NTV torque without ferritic components is comparable in magnitude to
the NBI and intrinsic turbulent torques and will likely damp rotation, but the
NTV torque is significantly reduced by the planned ferritic inserts
Statistics of eigenfunctions in open chaotic systems: a perturbative approach
We investigate the statistical properties of the complexness parameter which
characterizes uniquely complexness (biorthogonality) of resonance eigenstates
of open chaotic systems. Specifying to the regime of isolated resonances, we
apply the random matrix theory to the effective Hamiltonian formalism and
derive analytically the probability distribution of the complexness parameter
for two statistical ensembles describing the systems invariant under time
reversal. For those with rigid spectra, we consider a Hamiltonian characterized
by a picket-fence spectrum without spectral fluctuations. Then, in the more
realistic case of a Hamiltonian described by the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble,
we reveal and discuss the r\^ole of spectral fluctuations
Three obstructions: forms of causation, chronotopoids, and levels of reality
The thesis is defended that the theories of causation, time and space, and levels of reality are mutually interrelated in such a way that the difficulties internal to theories of causation and to theories of space and time can be understood better, and perhaps dealt with, in the categorial context furnished by the theory of the levels of reality. The structural condition for this development to be possible is that the first two theories be opportunely generalized
Neural correlates of visuospatial working memory in the ‘at-risk mental state’
Background. Impaired spatial working memory (SWM) is a robust feature of schizophrenia and has been linked to
the risk of developing psychosis in people with an at-risk mental state (ARMS). We used functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural substrate of SWM in the ARMS and in patients who had just
developed schizophrenia.
Method. fMRI was used to study 17 patients with an ARMS, 10 patients with a first episode of psychosis and 15 agematched
healthy comparison subjects. The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response was measured while
subjects performed an object–location paired-associate memory task, with experimental manipulation of mnemonic
load.
Results. In all groups, increasing mnemonic load was associated with activation in the medial frontal and medial
posterior parietal cortex. Significant between-group differences in activation were evident in a cluster spanning the
medial frontal cortex and right precuneus, with the ARMS groups showing less activation than controls but greater
activation than first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients. These group differences were more evident at the most
demanding levels of the task than at the easy level. In all groups, task performance improved with repetition of the
conditions. However, there was a significant group difference in the response of the right precuneus across repeated
trials, with an attenuation of activation in controls but increased activation in FEP and little change in the ARMS.
Conclusions. Abnormal neural activity in the medial frontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex during an SWM task
may be a neural correlate of increased vulnerability to psychosis
Spin injection and relaxation in a mesoscopic superconductor
We study spin accumulation and spin relaxation in a superconducting nanowire.
Spins are injected and detected by using a set of magnetic tunnel contact
electrodes, closely spaced along the nanowire. We observe a giant enhancement
of the spin accumulation of up to five orders of magnitude on transition into
the superconducting state, consistent with the expected changes in the density
of states. The spin relaxation length decreases by an order of magnitude from
its value in the normal state. These measurements combined with our theoretical
model, allow us to distinguish the individual spin flip mechanisms present in
the transport channel. Our conclusion is that magnetic impurities rather than
spin-orbit coupling dominate spin-flip scattering in the superconducting state.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
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