Magnetic control of DTT alternative plasma configurations

One of the main challenges concerning next generation tokamaks (such as DEMO) will be the development of a heat and power exhaust system able to withstand the large loads expected in the divertor region. A dedicated Divertor Tokamak Test (DTT) facility has been proposed in the EUROfusion Roadmap, with the aim of testing unconventional solutions, such as advanced magnetic configurations and liquid metal divertors. Magnetic control of alternative plasma configurations, such as the X-Divertor, will play a key role in the solution of the heat exhaust and yet can be a challenging point, due to increased sensitivity introduced by secondary x-points. To overcome the complications introduced by secondary x-points in advanced plasma shapes, magnetic control in DTT is achieved by resolving to the eXtreme Shape Controller, in order to control both the plasma shape and the secondary x-point position

Precision Measurement of KS Meson Lifetime with the KLOE detector

Using a large sample of pure, slow, short lived K0 mesons collected with KLOE detector at DaFne, we have measured the KS lifetime. From a fit to the proper time distribution we find tau = (89.562 +- 0.029_stat +- 0.043_syst) ps. This is the most precise measurement today in good agreement with the world average derived from previous measurements. We observe no dependence of the lifetime on the direction of the Ks.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

CPT and Lorentz violation as signatures for Planck-scale physics

In recent years, the breakdown of spacetime symmetries has been identified as a promising research field in the context of Planck-scale phenomenology. For example, various theoretical approaches to the quantum-gravity problem are known to accommodate minute violations of CPT invariance. This talk covers various topics within this research area. In particular, some mechanisms for spacetime-symmetry breaking as well as the Standard-Model Extension (SME) test framework will be reviewed; the connection between CPT and Lorentz invariance in quantum field theory will be exposed; and various experimental CPT tests with emphasis on matter--antimatter comparisons will be discussed.Comment: 6 page

Developement of real time diagnostics and feedback algorithms for JET in view of the next step

Real time control of many plasma parameters will be an essential aspect in the development of reliable high performance operation of Next Step Tokamaks. The main prerequisites for any feedback scheme are the precise real-time determination of the quantities to be controlled, requiring top quality and highly reliable diagnostics, and the availability of robust control algorithms. A new set of real time diagnostics was recently implemented on JET to prove the feasibility of determining, with high accuracy and time resolution, the most important plasma quantities. With regard to feedback algorithms, new model–based controllers were developed to allow a more robust control of several plasma parameters. Both diagnostics and algorithms were successfully used in several experiments, ranging from H-mode plasmas to configuration with ITBs. Since elaboration of computationally heavy measurements is often required, significant attention was devoted to non-algorithmic methods like Digital or Cellular Neural/Nonlinear Networks. The real time hardware and software adopted architectures are also described with particular attention to their relevance to ITER.Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004, Nice (France

New conditions for finite-time stability of impulsive dynamical systems via piecewise quadratic functions

In this paper, the use of time-varying piecewise quadratic functions is investigated to characterize the finite-time stability of state-dependent impulsive dynamical linear systems. Finite-time stability defines the behavior of a dynamic system over a bounded time interval. More precisely, a system is said to be finite-time stable if, given a set of initial conditions, its state vector does not exit a predefined domain for a certain finite interval of time. This paper presents new sufficient conditions for finite-time stability based on time-varying piecewise quadratic functions. These conditions can be reformulated as a set of Linear Matrix Inequalities that can be efficiently solved through convex optimization solvers. Dif ferent numerical analysis are included in order to prove that the presented conditions are able to improve the results presented so far in the literature

Direct CP violation in two-body hadronic charmed meson decays

Motivated by the recent observation of CP violation in the charm sector by LHCb, we study direct CP asymmetries in the standard model (SM) for the singly Cabibbo-suppressed two-body hadronic decays of charmed mesons using the topological-diagram approach. In this approach, the magnitude and the phase of topological weak annihilation amplitudes which arise mainly from final-state rescattering can be extracted from the data. Consequently, direct CP asymmetry $a_{dir}^{\rm (tree)}$ at tree level can be reliably estimated. In general, it lies in the range $10^{-4}<a_{dir}^{\rm (tree)}<10^{-3}$. Short-distance QCD penguins and penguin annihilation are calculated using QCD factorization. Their effects are generally small, especially for $D\to VP$ modes. Since weak penguin annihilation receives long-distance contributions from the color-allowed tree amplitude followed by final-state rescattering, it is expected to give the dominant contribution to the direct CP violation in the decays $D^0\to K^+K^-$ and $D^0\to \pi^+\pi^-$ in which $a_{dir}^{\rm (tree)}$ is absent. The maximal $\Delta a_{CP}^{\rm dir}$, the direct CP asymmetry difference between the above-mentioned two modes, allowed in the SM is around -0.25%, more than $2\sigma$ away from the current world average of $-(0.645\pm 0.180)$.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures; typos correcte

Vacuum Properties of Mesons in a Linear Sigma Model with Vector Mesons and Global Chiral Invariance

We present a two-flavour linear sigma model with global chiral symmetry and vector and axial-vector mesons. We calculate pion-pion scattering lengths and the decay widths of scalar, vector, and axial-vector mesons. It is demonstrated that vector and axial-vector meson degrees of freedom play an important role in these low-energy processes and that a reasonable theoretical description requires globally chirally invariant terms other than the vector meson mass term. An important question for meson vacuum phenomenology is the quark content of the physical scalar f0(600) and a0(980) mesons. We investigate this question by assigning the quark-antiquark sigma and a0 states of our model with these physical mesons. We show via a detailed comparison with experimental data that this scenario can describe all vacuum properties studied here except for the decay width of the sigma, which turns out to be too small. We also study the alternative assignment f0(1370) and a0(1450) for the scalar mesons. In this case the decay width agrees with the experimental value, but the pion-pion scattering length $a_{0}^{0}$ is too small. This indicates the necessity to extend our model by additional scalar degrees of freedom.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure

Preliminary engineering assessment of alternative magnetic divertor configurations for EU-DEMO

One of the main challenges in the roadmap to the realization of fusion energy is to develop a heat and power exhaust system able to withstand the large loads expected in the divertor of a fusion power plant. The challenge of reducing the heat load on the divertor targets is addressed, within the mission 2 \u2018Heat-exhaust systems\u2019, through the investigation of divertor configurations alternative to the standard Single Null (SN), such as the Snowflake (SF), Double Null (DN), X and Super-X (SX) divertors. This paper focuses on a preliminary engineering assessment of the alternative configurations proposed for the EU DEMO reactor. Starting from the description of the optimized plasma shape developed for each configuration, the 3D geometrical description of the Magnet System and of the main Mechanical Structures (Vacuum Vessel and in-vessel components) is presented. Based on the 3D geometry, the compatibility of the location and dimensions of ports with Remote Maintenance needs is discussed and possible design optimizations are proposed both for the Magnets system and the mechanical structures design. Finally, the various configurations are compared with regard to the engineering and feasibility aspects

Comparative analysis of the SOL plasma in DEMO using EDGE2D/EIRENE and TECXY codes

In this contribution a benchmark of the 2D edge codes TECXY and EDGE2D-EIRENE is presented. A conventional DEMO scenario is considered by assuming a simplified geometry, with the target plates perpendicular to the separatrix, and a pure Deuterium plasma. Despite the different models adopted in the two codes, mainly related to the description of the neutral dynamics and to the different boundary conditions, the results show a good match both in terms of power load profiles on the outer target and predicted trends for global quantities. A scan in density and in diffusion coefficients is performed in order to identify the characteristic conditions and the different regimes of the SOL. Comparable values and similar dependency of the global quantities as a function of the power decay length is also observed. Keywords: EDGE2D, EIRENE, TECXY, DEMO, Diverto