1,378 research outputs found

    Finite Larmor radius effects on non-diffusive tracer transport in a zonal flow

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    Finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects on non-diffusive transport in a prototypical zonal flow with drift waves are studied in the context of a simplified chaotic transport model. The model consists of a superposition of drift waves of the linearized Hasegawa-Mima equation and a zonal shear flow perpendicular to the density gradient. High frequency FLR effects are incorporated by gyroaveraging the ExB velocity. Transport in the direction of the density gradient is negligible and we therefore focus on transport parallel to the zonal flows. A prescribed asymmetry produces strongly asymmetric non- Gaussian PDFs of particle displacements, with L\'evy flights in one direction but not the other. For zero Larmor radius, a transition is observed in the scaling of the second moment of particle displacements. However, FLR effects seem to eliminate this transition. The PDFs of trapping and flight events show clear evidence of algebraic scaling with decay exponents depending on the value of the Larmor radii. The shape and spatio-temporal self-similar anomalous scaling of the PDFs of particle displacements are reproduced accurately with a neutral, asymmetric effective fractional diffusion model.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physics of Plasma

    Ion versus electron heating in compressively driven astrophysical gyrokinetic turbulence

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    The partition of irreversible heating between ions and electrons in compressively driven (but subsonic) collisionless turbulence is investigated by means of nonlinear hybrid gyrokinetic simulations. We derive a prescription for the ion-to-electron heating ratio Q_\rmi/Q_\rme as a function of the compressive-to-Alfv\'enic driving power ratio P_\compr/P_\AW, of the ratio of ion thermal pressure to magnetic pressure \beta_\rmi, and of the ratio of ion-to-electron background temperatures T_\rmi/T_\rme. It is shown that Q_\rmi/Q_\rme is an increasing function of P_\compr/P_\AW. When the compressive driving is sufficiently large, Q_\rmi/Q_\rme approaches \simeq P_\compr/P_\AW. This indicates that, in turbulence with large compressive fluctuations, the partition of heating is decided at the injection scales, rather than at kinetic scales. Analysis of phase-space spectra shows that the energy transfer from inertial-range compressive fluctuations to sub-Larmor-scale kinetic Alfv\'en waves is absent for both low and high \beta_\rmi, meaning that the compressive driving is directly connected to the ion entropy fluctuations, which are converted into ion thermal energy. This result suggests that preferential electron heating is a very special case requiring low \beta_\rmi and no, or weak, compressive driving. Our heating prescription has wide-ranging applications, including to the solar wind and to hot accretion disks such as M87 and Sgr A*.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

    Linearized model Fokker-Planck collision operators for gyrokinetic simulations. II. Numerical implementation and tests

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    A set of key properties for an ideal dissipation scheme in gyrokinetic simulations is proposed, and implementation of a model collision operator satisfying these properties is described. This operator is based on the exact linearized test-particle collision operator, with approximations to the field-particle terms that preserve conservation laws and an H-Theorem. It includes energy diffusion, pitch-angle scattering, and finite Larmor radius effects corresponding to classical (real-space) diffusion. The numerical implementation in the continuum gyrokinetic code GS2 is fully implicit and guarantees exact satisfaction of conservation properties. Numerical results are presented showing that the correct physics is captured over the entire range of collisionalities, from the collisionless to the strongly collisional regimes, without recourse to artificial dissipation.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Physics of Plasmas; typos fixe

    Type of cancer treatment and cognitive symptoms in working cancer survivors:an 18-month follow-up study

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    Purpose: Cognitive symptoms are reported to affect cancer survivors’ functioning at work. However, little is known about the type of cancer treatment and cognitive symptoms in working cancer survivors. We examined the longitudinal association between type of cancer treatment and cognitive symptoms in cancer survivors post return to work, and whether the course of cognitive symptoms over 18 months differed per type of cancer treatment. Methods: Data from the Dutch longitudinal “Work-Life after Cancer” study were used. The study population consisted of 330 working cancer survivors who completed questionnaires at baseline, and 6, 12, and 18 months follow-up. Cognitive symptoms were assessed with the cognitive symptom checklist-work and linked with cancer treatment data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Data were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Results: Cancer survivors who received chemotherapy reported comparable memory symptom levels (b: − 2.3; 95% CI = − 7.1, 2.5) to those receiving locoregional treatment. Executive function symptom levels (b: − 4.1; 95% CI = − 7.8, − 0.4) were significantly lower for cancer survivors who received chemotherapy, compared with those receiving locoregional treatment. In cancer survivors who received other systemic therapy, memory (b: 0.4; 95% CI = 0.1, 0.7) and executive function symptom levels (b: 0.4; 95% CI = 0.0, 0.7) increased over time. In cancer survivors who received chemotherapy and locoregional treatment, memory and executive function symptom scores were persistent during the first 18 months after return to work. Conclusions: The contradictory finding that cancer patients receiving chemotherapy report fewer cognitive symptoms warrants further research. Implications for Cancer Survivors: Working cancer survivors may have cognitive symptom management needs irrespective of the type of cancer treatment they received

    Ten Million Degree Gas in M 17 and the Rosette Nebula: X-ray Flows in Galactic H II Regions

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    We present the first high-spatial-resolution X-ray images of two high-mass star forming regions, the Omega Nebula (M 17) and the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237--2246), obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) instrument. The massive clusters powering these H II regions are resolved at the arcsecond level into >900 (M 17) and >300 (Rosette) stellar sources similar to those seen in closer young stellar clusters. However, we also detect soft diffuse X-ray emission on parsec scales that is spatially and spectrally distinct from the point source population. The diffuse emission has luminosity L_x ~ 3.4e33 ergs/s in M~17 with plasma energy components at kT ~0.13 and ~0.6 keV (1.5 and 7 MK), while in Rosette it has L_x \~6e32 ergs/s with plasma energy components at kT ~0.06 and ~0.8 keV (0.7 and 9 MK). This extended emission most likely arises from the fast O-star winds thermalized either by wind-wind collisions or by a termination shock against the surrounding media. We establish that only a small portion of the wind energy and mass appears in the observed diffuse X-ray plasma; in these blister H II regions, we suspect that most of it flows without cooling into the low-density interstellar medium. These data provide compelling observational evidence that strong wind shocks are present in H II regions.Comment: 35 pages, including 11 figures; to appear in ApJ, August 20, 2003. A version with high-resolution figures is available at ftp://ftp.astro.psu.edu/pub/townsley/diffuse.ps.g
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