1,853 research outputs found
Currents between tethered electrodes in a magnetized laboratory plasma
Laboratory experiments on important plasma physics issues of electrodynamic tethers were performed. These included current propagation, formation of wave wings, limits of current collection, nonlinear effects and instabilities, charging phenomena, and characteristics of transmission lines in plasmas. The experiments were conducted in a large afterglow plasma. The current system was established with a small electron-emitting hot cathode tethered to an electron-collecting anode, both movable across the magnetic field and energized by potential difference up to V approx.=100 T(sub e). The total current density in space and time was obtained from complete measurements of the perturbed magnetic field. The fast spacecraft motion was reproduced in the laboratory by moving the tethered electrodes in small increments, applying delayed current pulses, and reconstructing the net field by a linear superposition of locally emitted wavelets. With this technique, the small-amplitude dc current pattern is shown to form whistler wings at each electrode instead of the generally accepted Alfven wings. For the beam electrode, the whistler wing separates from the field-aligned beam which carries no net current. Large amplitude return currents to a stationary anode generate current-driven microinstabilities, parallel electric fields, ion depletions, current disruptions and time-varying electrode charging. At appropriately high potentials and neutral densities, excess neutrals are ionized near the anode. The anode sheath emits high-frequency electron transit-time oscillations at the sheath-plasma resonance. The beam generates Langmuir turbulence, ion sound turbulence, electron heating, space charge fields, and Hall currents. An insulated, perfectly conducting transmission line embedded in the plasma becomes lossy due to excitation of whistler waves and magnetic field diffusion effects. The implications of the laboratory observations on electrodynamic tethers in space are discussed
Laboratory experiments on current flow between stationary and moving electrodes in magnetoplasmas
Laboratory experiments were performed in order to investigate the basic physics of current flow between tethered electrodes in magnetoplasmas. The major findings are summarized. The experiments are performed in an effectively very large laboratory plasma in which not only the nonlinear current collection is addressed but also the propagation and spread of currents, the formation of current wings by moving electrodes, the current closure, and radiation from transmission lines. The laboratory plasma consists of a pulsed dc discharge whose Maxwellian afterglow provides a quiescent, current-free uniform background plasma. Electrodes consisting of collectors and electron emitters are inserted into the plasma and a pulsed voltage is applied between two floating electrodes via insulated transmission lines. Besides the applied current in the wire, the total current density in the plasma is obtained from space and time resolved magnetic probe measurements via Maxwell's law. Langmuir probes yield the plasma parameters
A Five Dimensional Perspective on Many Particles in the Snyder basis of Double Special Relativity
After a brief summary of Double Special Relativity (DSR), we concentrate on a
five dimensional procedure, which consistently introduce coordinates and
momenta in the corresponding four-dimensional phase space, via a Hamiltonian
approach. For the one particle case, the starting point is a de Sitter momentum
space in five dimensions, with an additional constraint selected to recover the
mass shell condition in four dimensions. Different basis of DSR can be
recovered by selecting specific gauges to define the reduced four dimensional
degrees of freedom. This is shown for the Snyder basis in the one particle
case. We generalize the method to the many particles case and apply it again to
this basis. We show that the energy and momentum of the system, given by the
dynamical variables that are generators of translations in space and time and
which close the Poincar\'e algebra, are additive magnitudes. From this it
results that the rest energy (mass) of a composite object does not have an
upper limit, as opposed to a single component particle which does.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, AIP Conf. Pro
Highly charged ions: optical clocks and applications in fundamental physics
Recent developments in frequency metrology and optical clocks have been based
on electronic transitions in atoms and singly charged ions as references. These
systems have enabled relative frequency uncertainties at a level of a few parts
in . This accomplishment not only allows for extremely accurate time
and frequency measurements, but also to probe our understanding of fundamental
physics, such as variation of fundamental constants, violation of the local
Lorentz invariance, and forces beyond the Standard Model of Physics. In
addition, novel clocks are driving the development of sophisticated technical
applications. Crucial for applications of clocks in fundamental physics are a
high sensitivity to effects beyond the Standard Model and Einstein's Theory of
Relativity and a small frequency uncertainty of the clock. Highly charged ions
offer both. They have been proposed as highly accurate clocks, since they
possess optical transitions which can be extremely narrow and less sensitive to
external perturbations compared to current atomic clock species. The selection
of highly charged ions in different charge states offers narrow transitions
that are among the most sensitive ones for a change in the fine-structure
constant and the electron-to-proton mass ratio, as well as other new physics
effects. Recent advances in trapping and sympathetic cooling of highly charged
ions will in the future enable high accuracy optical spectroscopy. Progress in
calculating the properties of selected highly charged ions has allowed the
evaluation of systematic shifts and the prediction of the sensitivity to the
"new physics" effects. This article reviews the current status of theory and
experiment in the field.Comment: 53 pages, 16 figures, submitted to RM
Real sector of the nonminimally coupled scalar field to self-dual gravity
A scalar field nonminimally coupled to gravity is studied in the canonical
framework, using self-dual variables. The corresponding constraints are first
class and polynomial. To identify the real sector of the theory, reality
conditions are implemented as second class constraints, leading to three real
configurational degrees of freedom per space point. Nevertheless, this
realization makes non-polynomial some of the constraints. The original complex
symplectic structure reduces to the expected real one, by using the appropriate
Dirac brackets. For the sake of preserving the simplicity of the constraints,
an alternative method preventing the use of Dirac brackets, is discussed. It
consists of converting all second class constraints into first class by adding
extra variables. This strategy is implemented for the pure gravity case.Comment: Latex file, 22 pages, no figure
The scalar sector in the Myers-Pospelov model
We construct a perturbative expansion of the scalar sector in the
Myers-Pospelov model, up to second order in the Lorentz violating parameter and
taking into account its higher-order time derivative character. This expansion
allows us to construct an hermitian positive-definite Hamiltonian which
provides a correct basis for quantization. Demanding that the modified normal
frequencies remain real requires the introduction of an upper bound in the
magnitude |k| of the momentum, which is a manifestation of the effective
character of the model. The free scalar propagator, including the corresponding
modified dispersion relations, is also calculated to the given order, thus
providing the starting point to consider radiative corrections when
interactions are introduced.Comment: Published in AIP Conf.Proc.977:214-223,200
A novel method for unambiguous ion identification in mixed ion beams extracted from an EBIT
A novel technique to identify small fluxes of mixed highly charged ion beams
extracted from an Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) is presented and practically
demonstrated. The method exploits projectile charge state dependent potential
emission of electrons as induced by ion impact on a metal surface to separate
ions with identical or very similar mass-to-charge ratio.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
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