7,213 research outputs found
The energy partitioning of non-thermal particles in a plasma: or the Coulomb logarithm revisited
The charged particle stopping power in a highly ionized and weakly to
moderately coupled plasma has been calculated to leading and next-to-leading
order by Brown, Preston, and Singleton (BPS). After reviewing the main ideas
behind this calculation, we use a Fokker-Planck equation derived by BPS to
compute the electron-ion energy partitioning of a charged particle traversing a
plasma. The motivation for this application is ignition for inertial
confinement fusion -- more energy delivered to the ions means a better chance
of ignition, and conversely. It is therefore important to calculate the
fractional energy loss to electrons and ions as accurately as possible, as this
could have implications for the Laser Megajoule (LMJ) facility in France and
the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the United States. The traditional
method by which one calculates the electron-ion energy splitting of a charged
particle traversing a plasma involves integrating the stopping power dE/dx.
However, as the charged particle slows down and becomes thermalized into the
background plasma, this method of calculating the electron-ion energy splitting
breaks down. As a result, the method suffers a systematic error of order T/E0,
where T is the plasma temperature and E0 is the initial energy of the charged
particle. In the case of DT fusion, for example, this can lead to uncertainties
as high as 10% or so. The formalism presented here is designed to account for
the thermalization process, and in contrast, it provides results that are
near-exact.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, invited talk at the 35th European Physical
Society meeting on plasma physic
Calculating the Charged Particle Stopping Power Exactly to Leading and Next-to-leading Order
I will discuss a new method for calculating transport quantities, such as the
charged particle stopping power, in a weakly to moderately coupled plasma. This
method, called dimensional continuation, lies within the framework of
convergent kinetic equations, and it is powerful enough to allow for systematic
perturbative expansions in the plasma coupling constant. In particular, it
provides an exact evaluation of the stopping power to leading and
next-to-leading order in the plasma coupling, with the systematic error being
of cubic order. Consequently, the calculation is near-exact for a weakly
coupled plasma, and quite accurate for a moderately coupled plasma. The leading
order term in this expansion has been known since the classic work of Spitzer.
In contrast, the next-to-leading order term has been calculated only recently
by Brown, Preston, and Singleton (BPS), using the aforementioned method, to
account for all short- and long-distance physics accurate to second order in
the plasma coupling, including an exact treatment of the quantum-to-classical
scattering transition. Preliminary numerical studies suggest that the BPS
stopping power increases the ignition threshold, thereby having potential
adverse implications for upcoming high energy density facilities. Since the key
ideas behind the BPS calculation are possibly unfamiliar to plasma physicists,
and the implications might be important, I will use this opportunity to explain
the method in a pedagogical fashion.Comment: 4 pages, proceedings for the 5th International Conference on Inertial
Fusion Science and Applications (IFSA-07), Kobe, Japan, 9-14 September 200
Charged Particle Motion in a Highly Ionized Plasma
A recently introduced method utilizing dimensional continuation is employed
to compute the energy loss rate for a non-relativistic particle moving through
a highly ionized plasma. No restriction is made on the charge, mass, or speed
of this particle. It is, however, assumed that the plasma is not strongly
coupled in the sense that the dimensionless plasma coupling parameter
g=e^2\kappa_D/ 4\pi T is small, where \kappa_D is the Debye wave number of the
plasma. To leading and next-to-leading order in this coupling, dE/dx is of the
generic form g^2 \ln[C g^2]. The precise numerical coefficient out in front of
the logarithm is well known. We compute the constant C under the logarithm
exactly for arbitrary particle speeds. Our exact results differ from
approximations given in the literature. The differences are in the range of 20%
for cases relevant to inertial confinement fusion experiments. The same method
is also employed to compute the rate of momentum loss for a projectile moving
in a plasma, and the rate at which two plasmas at different temperatures come
into thermal equilibrium. Again these calculations are done precisely to the
order given above. The loss rates of energy and momentum uniquely define a
Fokker-Planck equation that describes particle motion in the plasma. The
coefficients determined in this way are thus well-defined, contain no arbitrary
parameters or cutoffs, and are accurate to the order described. This
Fokker-Planck equation describes the longitudinal straggling and the transverse
diffusion of a beam of particles. It should be emphasized that our work does
not involve a model, but rather it is a precisely defined evaluation of the
leading terms in a well-defined perturbation theory.Comment: Comments: Published in Phys. Rep. 410/4 (2005) 237; RevTeX, 111
Pages, 17 Figures; Transcription error corrected in temperature equilibration
rate (3.61) and (12.44) which replaces \gamma-2 by \gamma-
Spectral Analysis of the Stromlo-APM Survey I. Spectral Properties of Galaxies
We analyze spectral properties of 1671 galaxies from the Stromlo-APM survey,
selected to have 15 < b_J < 17.15 and having a mean redshift z = 0.05. This is
a representative local sample of field galaxies, so the global properties of
the galaxy population provide a comparative point for analysis of more distant
surveys. We measure Halpha, Oii 3727, Sii 6716, 6731, Nii 6583 and Oi 6300
equivalent widths and the D_4000 break index. The 5A resolution spectra use an
8 arcsec slit, which typically covers 40-50% of the galaxy area. We find no
evidence for systematic trends depending on the fraction of galaxy covered by
the slit, and further analysis suggests that our spectra are representative of
integrated galaxy spectra.
We classify spectra according to their Halpha emission, which is closely
related to massive star formation. Overall we find 61% of galaxies are Halpha
emitters with rest-frame equivalent widths EW(Halpha) >= 2A. The emission-line
galaxy (ELG) fraction is smaller than seen in the CFRS at z = 0.2 and is
consistent with a rapid evolution of Halpha luminosity density. The ELG
fraction, and EW(Halpha), increase at fainter absolute magnitudes, smaller
projected area and smaller D_4000. In the local Universe, faint, small galaxies
are dominated by star formation activity, while bright, large galaxies are more
quiescent. This picture of the local Universe is quite different from the
distant one, where bright galaxies appear to show rapidly-increasing activity
back in time.
(Abridged)Comment: 40 pages, 25 figures, MNRAS, in pres
A TDM synchronization system for multiple access satellite communication
Time Division Multiple Access /TDMA/ system for satellite communication with ground station syste
Ascent from the lunar surface
Ascent from lunar surface problem with solution by variational calculu
Temperature equilibration in a fully ionized plasma: electron-ion mass ratio effects
Brown, Preston, and Singleton (BPS) produced an analytic calculation for
energy exchange processes for a weakly to moderately coupled plasma: the
electron-ion temperature equilibration rate and the charged particle stopping
power. These precise calculations are accurate to leading and next-to-leading
order in the plasma coupling parameter, and to all orders for two-body quantum
scattering within the plasma. Classical molecular dynamics can provide another
approach that can be rigorously implemented. It is therefore useful to compare
the predictions from these two methods, particularly since the former is
theoretically based and the latter numerically. An agreement would provide both
confidence in our theoretical machinery and in the reliability of the computer
simulations. The comparisons can be made cleanly in the purely classical
regime, thereby avoiding the arbitrariness associated with constructing
effective potentials to mock up quantum effects. We present here the classical
limit of the general result for the temperature equilibration rate presented in
BPS. We examine the validity of the m_electron/m_ion --> 0 limit used in BPS to
obtain a very simple analytic evaluation of the long-distance, collective
effects in the background plasma.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, small change in titl
Identification of specific requirements for a NASA aerospace law information system and identification of the acquisition requirements for an aerospace law collection for the NASA law library
The study to develop, implement, and maintain a space law library and information system is summarized. The survey plan; major interviews with individuals representative of potential sources, users and producers of information related to aerospace law; and system trade-off analyses are discussed along with the NASA/RECON system capability. The NASA publications of STAR and IAA are described, and the NASA legal micro-thesaurus is included
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