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At least 217 records · Page 12

Transient heat transfer of superfluid He 4 in nonhomogeneous geometries: Second sound, rarefaction, and thermal layer

Transient heat transfer in superfluid 4 He (He II) is a complex process that involves the interplay of the unique counterflow heat-transfer mode, the emission of second-sound waves, and the creation of quantized vortices. Many past researches focused on homogeneous heat transfer of He II in a uniform channel driven by a planar heater. Here, we report our systematic study of He II transient heat transfer in nonhomogeneous geometries that are pertinent to emergent applications. By solving the He II two-fluid equations of motion coupled with Vinen's equation for vortex-line density, we examine and compare the characteristics of transient heat transfer from planar, cylindrical, and spherical heaters in He II. Our results show that as the heater turns on, an outgoing second-sound pulse emerges, within which the vortex-line density grows rapidly. These vortices attenuate the second sound and result in a heated He II layer in front of the heater, i.e., the thermal layer. In the planar case where the vortices are created throughout the space, the second-sound pulse is continuously attenuated, leading to a thick thermal layer that diffusely spreads following the heat pulse. On the contrary, in the cylindrical and the spherical heater cases, vortices are created mainly in a thin thermal layer near the heater surface. As the heat pulse ends, a rarefaction tail develops following the second-sound pulse, in which the temperature drops. This rarefaction tail can promptly suppress the thermal layer and take away the deposited thermal energy. The effects of the heater size, heat flux, pulse duration, and temperature on the thermal-layer dynamics are discussed. We also show how the peak heat flux for the onset of boiling in He II can be studied in our model.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Charge Generation and Propagation in Igneous Rocks

Resistivity changes, ground potentials, electromagnetic (EM) and luminous signals prior to or during earthquakes have been reported, in addition to ground uplift and tilt, and to changes in the seismic wave propagation parameters. However, no physical model exists that ties these diverse phenomena together. Through time-resolved impacts experiments it has been observed that, when igneous rocks (gabbro, diorite, granite) are impacted at low velocities (approx. 100 m/sec), highly mobile electronic charge carriers are generated, spreading from a small volume near the impact point, causing electric potentials, EM and light emission. The rock becomes momentarily conductive. When impacted at higher velocities (approx. 1.5 km/sec), the propagation of the P and S waves is registered through the transient piezoelectric response of quartz. At the same time, the rock volume is filled with mobile charge carriers, and a positive surface potential is registered. During the next 1-2 msec the surface potential oscillates, due to electron injection from ground. These observations are consistent with positive holes, e.g. defect electrons in the O(2-) sublattice, that can travel via the O 2p-dominated valence band of the silicate minerals at the speed of a phonon-mediated charge transfer. Before activation, the positive hole charge carriers lay dormant in form of positive hole pairs, PHP, electrically inactive, chemically equivalent to peroxy links in the structures of constituent minerals. PHPs are introduced by way of hydroxyl (O3Si-OH) incorporated into nominally anhydrous minerals when they crystallize in water-laden environments. Given that sound waves of even relatively low intensity appear to cause PHPs dissociation, thus generating mobile positive holes, it is proposed that microfracturing during rock deformation cause PHP dissociation. Depending on where and how much the rock volume is stressed, the positive holes are expected to form fluctuating charge clouds in the earthquake source region that may account for earthquake-related electrical phenomena and the reported low frequency EM signals.

Freund, Friedemann↗

Explosions of infalling comets in Jupiter's atmosphere

In view of the expected collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e) with Jupiter in 1994 July, we calculate basic properties of the initial interaction for a simplified Jovian atmosphere. The comet is expected to impact Jupiter at 60 km/sec and at an angle of 45 deg to the zenith. The shock wave generated by the bolide should be optically thick once it has penetrated to an atmospheric density approximately 10(exp -6) gr/cm(exp 3), and we calculate the post-shock conditions assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) for shock velocities v(sub sh) in the range 10 to 60 km/sec and preshock densities rho(sub a) = 10(exp -6) to 10(exp -2) gr/cm(exp 3). Our shock calculations include molecular hydrogen, atomic hydrogen, ionized hydrogen, neutral helium, and singly ionized helium. Even at the highest shock velocity, the gas is only partially ionized and the postshock temperature rises with preshock density in order to maintain the ionization. The value of the effective shock adiabatic index gamma(sub sh) varies from 1.17 (at low v(sub sh) and rho(sub a) to 1.40 (at high v(sub sh) and rho(sub a). The ablation rate is limited by the radiative flux that reaches the bolide surface. We argue that the ablated gas does not efficiently transfer its kinetic energy to the atmosphere, and it ultimately slows in a similar fashion to the comet material. As the bolide initially falls through the atmosphere, the character of the shock emission changes. At rho(sub a) approximately 10(exp -8) gr/cm (exp 3), the gas is optically thin and we expect line emission; in the optical spectrum, Balmer emission is expected from the shocked atmosphere and low-ionization metal lines from ablated cometary material. At rho(sub a) approximately 10(exp -6) gr/m(exp 3), the shocked gas is optically thick and the shock front near the bolide produces a blackbody spectrum. The temperature is favorable for ultraviolet (1000 to 3000 A) emission and the luminosity may be approximately 5 x 10(exp 23) ergs/sec for approximately 0.6 sec for a bolide 1 km in radius. At rho(sub a) approximately 10(exp -4) gr/cm(exp 3), the bolide has passed below the ultraviolet photosphere. The shock front emits considerable ionizing radiation, but it is absorbed in a narrow preshock region. The bolometric correction for the optical luminosity is large and we expect a 3000 to 8000 A luminosity of approximately 3 x 10(exp 23) ergs/sec for approximately 1 sec. The optical emission is strongly peaked in the vicinity of the bolide. The bolide does have a somewhat less luminous, optically thick trail extending greater than or equal to 10 km, but the radiation is characterized by a temperature of 4000 to 5000 K. From the fragmentation model of Chyba, Thomas, & Zahnle (1993), the bolide deposits most of its kinetic energy at rho(sub a) approximately 10(exp -3) gr/cm(exp 3) and this is the effective explosion site. The shock wave from such an explosion can move up about one density scale height. We examine the breakout of the shock front from the Jovian atmosphere and find that the shock acceleration in the decreasing density region is slow, so that the energy flux in the shock front is small. Higher velocities might be generated by shock acceleration along the channel left by the bolide if the shock motion can occur before the channel closes off as a result of radiative cooling. Hot gas created by the explosion ultimately rises due to buoyancy on a timescale of a minute. The luminosity is highest when the bubble first rises into the optically thin part of the atmosphere and may be approximately 1 x 10(exp 25) ergs/sec in the near-infrared. Roughly 1% of the initial bolide energy may be radiated in this way; the rest of the energy is lost to sound waves from the initial explosion and to work done by the bubble on the surrounding atmosphere.

Chevalier, Roger A.↗

Solutions of the benchmark problems by the dispersion-relation-preserving scheme

The 7-point stencil Dispersion-Relation-Preserving scheme of Tam and Webb is used to solve all the six categories of the CAA benchmark problems. The purpose is to show that the scheme is capable of solving linear, as well as nonlinear aeroacoustics problems accurately. Nonlinearities, inevitably, lead to the generation of spurious short wave length numerical waves. Often, these spurious waves would overwhelm the entire numerical solution. In this work, the spurious waves are removed by the addition of artificial selective damping terms to the discretized equations. Category 3 problems are for testing radiation and outflow boundary conditions. In solving these problems, the radiation and outflow boundary conditions of Tam and Webb are used. These conditions are derived from the asymptotic solutions of the linearized Euler equations. Category 4 problems involved solid walls. Here, the wall boundary conditions for high-order schemes of Tam and Dong are employed. These conditions require the use of one ghost value per boundary point per physical boundary condition. In the second problem of this category, the governing equations, when written in cylindrical coordinates, are singular along the axis of the radial coordinate. The proper boundary conditions at the axis are derived by applying the limiting process of r approaches 0 to the governing equations. The Category 5 problem deals with the numerical noise issue. In the present approach, the time-independent mean flow solution is computed first. Once the residual drops to the machine noise level, the incident sound wave is turned on gradually. The solution is marched in time until a time-periodic state is reached. No exact solution is known for the Category 6 problem. Because of this, the problem is formulated in two totally different ways, first as a scattering problem then as a direct simulation problem. There is good agreement between the two numerical solutions. This offers confidence in the computed results. Both formulations are solved as initial value problems. As such, no Kutta condition is required at the trailing edge of the airfoil.

Tam, Christopher K. W.↗

Achieving Higher Order Accuracy in Space in Hydrodynamic Simulations of Self-Gravitating Gas

Modern astrophysical simulation codes employ a variety of numerical algorithms capable of achieving higher-order accuracy in both space and time. Albeit they succeed in achieving an effective higher spatial resolution and in suppressing the numerical damping of waves, to our knowledge, all current astrophysical simulations invoking self-gravity are limited to second-order accuracy in space. If we can devise an algorithm to evaluate self-gravity with a higher-order spatial accuracy, we can better the evaluation of the gravitational acceleration and gravitational energy release which dictate the evolution of many astrophysical systems. Herein, we present a numerical algorithm for self-gravitating hydrodynamics capable of achieving fourth order accuracy for a given density distribution on a Cartesian uniform grid. First, we derive the cell-averaged gravitational potential at fourth-order accuracy from the cell-averaged density by solving the Poisson equation. Next, we obtain the cell average of the product of the density and gravitational acceleration, which differs from the cell-averaged density multiplied by the cell-averaged gravitational acceleration. We then show the verification of the algorithm by applying it to critical test problems: (1) maintaining equilibria of self-gravitating slabs, even upon advection, (2) evolving a polytropic sphere with a massive power-law envelope, and (3) conservation of specific entropy during the propagation of a sound wave.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Achieving Higher Order Accuracy in Space in Hydrodynamic Simulations of Self-Gravitating Gas

Modern astrophysical simulation codes employ a variety of numerical algorithms capable of achieving higher-order accuracy in both space and time. Albeit they succeed in achieving an effective higher spatial resolution and in suppressing the numerical damping of waves, to our knowledge, all current astrophysical simulations invoking self-gravity are limited to second-order accuracy in space. If we can devise an algorithm to evaluate self-gravity with a higher-order spatial accuracy, we can better the evaluation of the gravitational acceleration and gravitational energy release which dictate the evolution of many astrophysical systems. Herein, we present a numerical algorithm for self-gravitating hydrodynamics capable of achieving fourth-order accuracy for a given density distribution on a Cartesian uniform grid. First, we derive the cell-averaged gravitational potential at fourth-order accuracy from the cell-averaged density by solving the Poisson equation. Next, we obtain the cell average of the product of the density and gravitational acceleration, which differs from the cell-averaged density multiplied by the cell-averaged gravitational acceleration. We then show the verification of the algorithm by applying it to critical test problems: (1) maintaining equilibria of self-gravitating slabs, even upon advection, (2) evolving a polytropic sphere with a massive power-law envelope, and (3) conservation of specific entropy during the propagation of a sound wave.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Shock Formation and Vorticity Creation for 3d Euler

Abstract We analyze the shock formation process for the 3D nonisentropic Euler equations with the ideal gas law, in which sound waves interact with entropy waves to produce vorticity. Building on our theory for isentropic flows in [3, 4], we give a constructive proof of shock formation from smooth initial data. Specifically, we prove that there exist smooth solutions to the nonisentropic Euler equations which form a generic stable shock with explicitly computable blowup time, location, and direction. This is achieved by establishing the asymptotic stability of a generic shock profile in modulated self‐similar variables, controlling the interaction of wave families via: (i) pointwise bounds along Lagrangian trajectories, (ii) geometric vorticity structure, and (iii) high‐order energy estimates in Sobolev spaces. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Mathematics↗

Goldstone bosons and fluctuating hydrodynamics with dipole and momentum conservation

We develop a Schwinger-Keldysh effective field theory describing the hydrodynamics of a fluid with conserved charge and dipole moments, together with conserved momentum. The resulting hydrodynamic modes are highly unusual, including sound waves with quadratic (magnon-like) dispersion relation and subdiffusive decay rate. Hydrodynamics itself is unstable below four spatial dimensions. We show that the momentum density is, at leading order, the Goldstone boson for a dipole symmetry which appears spontaneously broken at finite charge density. Unlike an ordinary fluid, the presence or absence of energy conservation qualitatively changes the decay rates of the hydrodynamic modes. This effective field theory naturally couples to curved spacetime and background gauge fields; in the flat spacetime limit, we reproduce the “mixed rank tensor fields” previously coupled to fracton matter.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Acoustic misalignment mechanism for axion dark matter

A rotation in the field space of a complex scalar field corresponds to a Bose-Einstein condensation of U(1) charges. We point out that fluctuations in this rotating condensate exhibit sound-wave modes, which can be excited by cosmic perturbations and identified with axion fluctuations once the U(1) charge condensate has been sufficiently diluted by cosmic expansion. We consider the possibility that these axion fluctuations constitute dark matter and develop a formalism to compute its abundance. We carefully account for the growth of fluctuations during the epoch where the complex scalar field rotates on the body of the potential and possible nonlinear evolution when the fluctuations become non-relativistic. We find that the resultant dark matter abundance can exceed the conventional and kinetic misalignment contributions if the radial direction of the complex scalar field is sufficiently heavy. The axion dark matter may also be warm enough to leave imprints on structure formation. We discuss the implications of this novel dark matter production mechanism — acoustic misalignment mechanism — for the axion rotation cosmology, including kination domination and baryogenesis from axion rotation, as well as for axion searches.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Impulse-driven release of gas-encapsulated drops

Gas-encapsulated drops, much like antibubbles, are drops enclosed in a bubble within a liquid. They show potential as payload carriers in fluid transport and mixing techniques where sound waves can be leveraged to induce the collapse of the gas core and the subsequent release of the drop. Here, the interaction of millimetre-sized gas-encapsulated drops with impulsive laser-induced shock waves is investigated to gain fundamental insights into the release process. Experimental synchrotron X-ray phase contrast imaging, which allows the drop dynamics to be visualised inside the encapsulating bubble, is complemented by numerical simulations to study the intricate physics at play. Three drop dynamical release regimes are discovered, namely the drop impact , partial deposition and jet impact regimes. The regime type is mainly dependent on the shape of the bubble interface impacting the drop and the associated Weber and Reynolds numbers. The drop dynamics of the drop impact and partial deposition regimes show similarities with the canonical configuration of drops impacting flat liquid surfaces, whereas the jet impact regime resembles binary drop collisions, which allows existing scaling laws to be applied to describe the underlying processes. The release of the drop is investigated numerically. The time evolution of the drop dissemination within the surrounding liquid discloses enhanced mixing for dynamics involving high Weber and Reynolds numbers such as the drop impact and jet impact regimes.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Excitation of fishbone-like mode in tokamaks due to bounce resonances of trapped thermal ions

When the drift kinetic effect of thermal ions is taken into account, a high-frequency fishbone-like mode (FLM) is found to be driven unstable by trapped thermal ions (TTIs) in tokamak plasmas, according to self-consistent magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD)-kinetic hybrid modeling utilizing the MARS-K code [Liu et al., Phys. Plasmas 15, 112503 (2008)] as well as an analytic theory. It is found that, similar to energetic particles, TTIs can also stabilize the internal kink mode, whereas the FLM is excited when the effective beta of TTIs exceeds a threshold value. The real frequency of the FLM is comparable to the bounce frequency of TTIs. The mode structure of the FLM can be significantly different from the conventional step-like function for the associated plasma radial displacement. This drift kinetic induced modification of the mode structure near the q = 1 surface is captured by non-perturbative MHD-kinetic hybrid computations with MARS-K. Furthermore, the FLM can only be triggered by TTIs at sufficiently high thermal temperatures. Both the FLM and the internal kink can be stabilized by sufficiently fast plasma toroidal rotation and parallel sound wave damping. These two conditions of high thermal temperature and (fast) flow stabilization, though making it challenging to observe the TTI-driven FLM in present day experiments, are favorable for the mode excitation in future reactor scale devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Screening of resonant magnetic perturbation fields assuming various plasma flow models

A recently updated version of the MARS-F code [Y. Q. Liu et al., Phys. Plasmas 7, 3681 (2000); L. Li et al., Phys. Plasmas 25, 082512 (2018); and G. L. Xia et al., Nucl. Fusion 59, 126035 (2019)] is utilized to numerically investigate the plasma screening effect on the applied resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field, assuming various equilibrium flow models, including the toroidal flow, the parallel flow and their combinations, and poloidal and toroidal projections of the parallel flow. A parallel equilibrium flow with a uniform radial profile is found to have no effect on plasma screening of the RMP field. A sheared parallel flow, however, does change plasma screening. The poloidal projection of the parallel flow weakens plasma screening in the resistive-inertial regime. The effect on the favorable average curvature regime is found, however, to be non-monotonic. With the increasing flow speed, the poloidal projection first weakens Glasser-Green-Johnson (GGJ)-screening. Further increase in the flow speed results in enhanced GGJ-screening again. This non-monotonic behavior is related to the perturbed parallel shielding current, which appears also off the mode rational surface at fast flow due to additional resonances between the RMP perturbation and the sound wave continuum. These results indicate that flow induced plasma screening to the RMP field can have complicated characteristics, which, in turn, can have implications on the RMP field penetration into the plasma in experiments for controlling the edge localized modes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Peeling-ballooning modes in spherical tokamaks: Multi-branch instabilities and effects beyond ideal MHD

A number of important physics effects on the stability of relatively high-n (n is the toroidal mode number) peeling-ballooning modes (PBMs) are investigated based on an equilibrium reconstructed from a NSTX discharge, utilizing extended magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) eigenvalue solvers. For a given toroidal mode number n, multiple branches of instabilities are computed, with the total number of unstable branches roughly linearly scaling with n. Most of the unstable branches are located in the plasma core region, but edge-localized branches, i.e., PBMs, are also identified at higher n-numbers. For the single-fluid-wise most unstable PBM with n = 19⁠, stabilizing/destabilizing effects due to various physics beyond ideal MHD are systematically investigated. Plasma toroidal flow is found to be weakly stabilizing. Local flow shear is generally stabilizing as well, with the degree of stabilization depending on the initial growth rate (without flow shear) of the mode. The plasma resistivity can strongly destabilize the PBM within the single-fluid framework. Anisotropic thermal transport, strong parallel sound wave damping, as well as two-fluid effects are all stabilizing to the mode. In particular, diamagnetic stabilization (within the two-fluid model) is found to be very strong for this mode.

Linear stability analysis↗

Development of a synthetic phase contrast imaging diagnostic for turbulence studies at Wendelstein 7-X

Abstract We present a synthetic phase contrast imaging (PCI) diagnostic for studying turbulence at the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator. We first describe the implemented instrument response model, which captures diffraction effects, detector noise, and the long-wavelength cutoff due to the phase plate of the PCI system. To verify the instrument response model, we show that it is capable of reproducing the PCI signal generated by the sound wave speaker used for calibration at W7-X. Next, we discuss the calculation of synthetic PCI signals based on the global, nonlinear gyrokinetic codes GENE-3D and EUTERPE, including results from some of the first stellarator simulations of this type with kinetic electrons (KEs) in GENE-3D. While the simulations used in this work lack a neoclassical radial electric field, which is crucial for reproducing experimental PCI signals, they do indicate that the dominant rotation direction and velocities of the turbulent fluctuations can be inferred from the wave number-frequency spectra of the PCI signals, as expected. The synthetic PCI wave number spectra are further shown to be similar to those of the line-integrated fluctuating electron density, with distinct differences between adiabatic and KE simulations, explainable by previously published turbulence models. For example, the wave number spectra of all adiabatic electron simulations analyzed here follow a power law with an exponent close to −5 for sufficiently large wave numbers. This indicates that universal features of electron density turbulence at W7-X may be studied using the PCI system.

EUTERPE↗

Drift kinetic effects on plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbation for EU DEMO design

Abstract A systematic investigation of the plasma response to an externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field, for the purpose of controlling edge localized modes, is carried out for an EU DEMO reference plasma. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of kinetic effects associated with both thermal particles and fusion-born alphas. The single fluid, resistive model predicts a large peak amplification of the n = 1 ( n is the toroidal mode number) plasma response to the target equilibrium, which is found to be close to the Troyon no-wall limit. A more advanced response model, including kinetic resonances between the RMP perturbation and drift motions of thermal and energetic particles, on the other hand, finds a strong suppression of the n = 1 field amplification. A major role is played by the precessional drift resonance of fusion-born alphas. A strong parallel sound wave damping model is found to well reproduce the full kinetic response results for the DEMO plasma, in terms of both the resonant field response amplitude and the plasma displacement. Finally, both fluid and kinetic models produce similar responses for the n = 2 and 3 RMP fields for the considered DEMO plasma, whilst kinetic effects again become important for the n = 4 RMP due to proximity of the reference plasma to the no-wall limit for the n = 4 ideal kink instability.

Physics↗

Spiky CMB distortions from primordial bubbles

Primordial bubbles that possibly nucleate through quantum tunneling during inflation in a multidimensional potential might have left some relic detectable at the present time. These bubbles turn into black holes during the radiation era, which may account for the LIGO black holes, supermassive black holes, and may play an important role in dark matter. Typically, these black holes are surrounded by an energy deficit in the form of a spherical sound wave packet propagating outwards. In this work we study how this perturbation of the cosmic plasma dissipates before the time of recombination, leading to spectral distortions in CMB. Finally, we find that there may exist some rare regions on the last scattering surface containing huge black holes, which have produced potentially detectable point-like signals of µ-type distortions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Did we hear the sound of the Universe boiling? Analysis using the full fluid velocity profiles and NANOGrav 15-year data

Abstract In this paper, we analyse sound waves arising from a cosmic phase transition where the full velocity profile is taken into account as an explanation for the gravitational wave spectrum observed by multiple pulsar timing array groups. Unlike the broken power law used in the literature, in this scenario the power law after the peak depends on the macroscopic properties of the phase transition, allowing for a better fit with pulsar timing array (PTA) data. We compare the best fit with that obtained using the usual broken power law and, unsurprisingly, find a better fit with the gravitational wave (GW) spectrum that utilizes the full velocity profile. Even more importantly, the thermal parameters that produce the best fit are quite different. We then discuss models that can produce the best-fit point and complementary probes using CMB experiments and searches for light particles in DUNE, IceCUBE-Gen2, neutrinoless doubleβ-decay, and forward physics facilities (FPF) at the LHC like FASERν, etc.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Staged cooling of a fusion-grade plasma in a tokamak thermal quench

Abstract In tokamak disruptions where the magnetic connection length becomes comparable to or even shorter than the plasma mean-free-path, parallel transport can dominate the energy loss and the thermal quench of the core plasma goes through four phases (stages) that have distinct temperature ranges and durations. The main temperature drop occurs while the core plasma remains nearly collisionless, with the parallel electron temperature T e ∥ dropping in time t as T e ∥ ∝ t − 2 and a cooling time that scales with the ion sound wave transit time over the length of the open magnetic field line. These surprising physics scalings are the result of effective suppression of parallel electron thermal conduction in an otherwise bounded, quasineutral, and collisionless plasma, which is different from what are known to date on electron thermal conduction along the magnetic field in a nearly collisionless and quasineural plasma.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗