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At least 307 records · Page 17

Development of the Motional Stark Effect Diagnostic Using Laser-Induced Fluorescence (Final Technical Report)

This report describes the development of the motional Stark Effect diagnostic with laser induced fluorescence (MSE-LIF). The MSE concept relies upon observation of the Balmer-alpha (n=3 to n=2) emission from a neutral hydrogen beam traversing a plasma. As a beam at high velocity, $\vec{v}$, passes through the magnetic field in the plasma, $\vec{B}$, it experiences in its reference frame a Lorentz electric field, $\vec{E} = \vec{v} × \vec{B}$. This electric field causes the spectral emission to be split and polarized as described by the Stark effect. The transition is separated into a set of lines in which the line spacing is linearly proportional to the electric field magnitude, and the line polarization is dependent on the electric field direction. Traditionally, MSE has used polarimetry to determine the polarization angle of the light, and related that to the magnetic field pitch angle in the plasma. The MSE diagnostic was developed under high magnetic field (> 1 T) conditions, and the lower fields of recent high-beta experiments such as NSTX posed challenges to the technique. At low magnetic fields Doppler broadening effects mask the Stark effect. With the use of a narrow band laser to pump the Balmer-alpha transition many of the broadening effects are eliminated or mitigated so that MSE measurements at very low magnetic fields can be obtained.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The Motional Stark Effect Diagnostic for NSTX-U

This report describes the development of the motional Stark Effect diagnostic for NSTX. The MSE concept relies upon observation of the Balmer-alpha (n=3 to n=2) emission from a neutral hydrogen beam traversing a plasma. As a beam at high velocity, $\vec{ν}$, passes through the magnetic field in the plasma, $\vec{B}$, it experiences in its reference frame a Lorentz electric field, $\vec{E}$ = $\vec{ν}$ x $\vec{B}$. This electric field causes the spectral emission to be split and polarized as described by the Stark effect. The transition is separated into a set of lines in which the line spacing is linearly proportional to the electric field magnitude, and the line polarization is dependent on the electric field direction. Traditionally, MSE has used polarimetry to determine the polarization angle of the light, and related that to the magnetic field pitch angle in the plasma. The MSE diagnostic was developed under high magnetic field ($>$ 1~T) conditions, and the lower fields of recent high-beta experiments such as NSTX posed challenges to the technique. At low magnetic fields Doppler broadening effects mask the Stark effect. With the use of a narrow bandwidth filter MSE measurements at very low magnetic fields have been obtained.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Refined Telluric Absorption Correction for Low-resolution Ground-based Spectroscopy: Resolution and Radial Velocity Effects in the O{sub 2}A-band for Exoplanets and K i Emission Lines

Telluric correction of spectroscopic observations is either performed via standard stars that are observed close in time and airmass along with the science target, or recently growing in importance, by theoretical telluric absorption modeling. Both approaches work fine when the telluric lines are resolved, i.e., at a spectral resolving power larger than about 10,000, and it is sufficient to facilitate the detection of spectral features at lower resolution. However, a meaningful quantitative analysis also requires the reliable recovery of line strengths. Here, we show for the Fraunhofer A-band of molecular O{sub 2} that the standard telluric correction approach fails in this at lower spectral resolutions, as an example for the general problem. Doppler-shift-dependent errors of the restored flux may arise, which can amount to more than 50% in extreme cases, depending on the line shapes of the target spectral features. Two applications are discussed: the recovery of the O{sub 2} band in the reflected light of an Earth analog atmosphere, as facilitated potentially in the future using an orbiting starshade and a ground-based extremely large telescope; and the recovery of the intrinsic ratio of the K i lines in the post-nova V4332 Sgr tracing the optical depth of the emitting region, to exemplify the relevance using present-day instrumentation. We show how one should derive correction functions for the compensation of the error in dependence of radial velocity shift, spectral resolution, and target line-profile function by use of high-resolution atmospheric transmission modeling, which has to be solved for the individual case.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Solar Contamination in Extreme-precision Radial-velocity Measurements: Deleterious Effects and Prospects for Mitigation

Solar contamination, due to moonlight and atmospheric scattering of sunlight, can cause systematic errors in stellar radial velocity (RV) measurements that significantly detract from the ∼10 cm s{sup −1} sensitivity required for the detection and characterization of terrestrial exoplanets in or near habitable zones of Sun-like stars. The addition of low-level spectral contamination at variable effective velocity offsets introduces systematic noise when measuring velocities using classical mask-based or template-based cross-correlation techniques. Here we present simulations estimating the range of RV measurement error induced by uncorrected scattered sunlight contamination. We explore potential correction techniques, using both simultaneous spectrometer sky fibers and broadband imaging via coherent fiber imaging bundles, that could reliably reduce this source of error to below the photon-noise limit of typical stellar observations. We discuss the limitations of these simulations, the underlying assumptions, and mitigation mechanisms. We also present and discuss the components designed and built into the NEID (NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler spectroscopy) precision RV instrument for the WIYN 3.5 m telescope, to serve as an ongoing resource for the community to explore and evaluate correction techniques. We emphasize that while “bright time” has been traditionally adequate for RV science, the goal of 10 cm s{sup −1} precision on the most interesting exoplanetary systems may necessitate access to darker skies for these next-generation instruments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Stabilization of electron-scale turbulence by electron density gradient in national spherical torus experiment

Theory and experiments have shown that electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence on the electron gyro-scale, k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub e} ≲ 1, can be responsible for anomalous electron thermal transport in NSTX. Electron scale (high-k) turbulence is diagnosed in NSTX with a high-k microwave scattering system [D. R. Smith et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 123501 (2008)]. Here we report on stabilization effects of the electron density gradient on electron-scale density fluctuations in a set of neutral beam injection heated H-mode plasmas. We found that the absence of high-k density fluctuations from measurements is correlated with large equilibrium density gradient, which is shown to be consistent with linear stabilization of ETG modes due to the density gradient using the analytical ETG linear threshold in F. Jenko et al. [Phys. Plasmas 8, 4096 (2001)] and linear gyrokinetic simulations with GS2 [M. Kotschenreuther et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 88, 128 (1995)]. We also found that the observed power of electron-scale turbulence (when it exists) is anti-correlated with the equilibrium density gradient, suggesting density gradient as a nonlinear stabilizing mechanism. Higher density gradients give rise to lower values of the plasma frame frequency, calculated based on the Doppler shift of the measured density fluctuations. Linear gyrokinetic simulations show that higher values of the electron density gradient reduce the value of the real frequency, in agreement with experimental observation. Nonlinear electron-scale gyrokinetic simulations show that high electron density gradient reduces electron heat flux and stiffness, and increases the ETG nonlinear threshold, consistent with experimental observations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Multigroup computation of the temperature-dependent Resonance Scattering Model (RSM) and its implementation

A multi-group formulation for the exact neutron elastic scattering kernel is developed. This formulation is intended for implementation into a lattice physics code. The correct accounting for the crystal lattice effects influences the estimated values for the probability of neutron absorption and scattering, which in turn affect the estimation of core reactivity and burnup characteristics. A computer program has been written to test the formulation for various nuclides. Results of the multi-group code have been verified against the correct analytic scattering kernel. In both cases neutrons were started at various energies and temperatures and the corresponding scattering kernels were tallied. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

X-rays put molecules into a spin

The past decade has witnessed the emergence of a new X-ray light source technology that has been under development for some decades: the so-called self-amplified spontaneous emission-based free-electron laser (FEL). Furthermore, such lasers provide pulses with durations from just below 1 fs (10 –15 s) to over 100 fs and with energies from a few microjoules to a few millijoules, permitting the study of, for example, nonlinear optical effects (1), ultrafast processes (2), coherent diffractive imaging of biological systems such as protein crystals (3, 4), and mimivirus (5). After the opening of the first extreme-UV to soft X-ray user facility, namely FLASH in the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron at Hamburg, Germany (6), a number of other machines covering the extreme-UV (FERMI FEL-1, DALIAN), soft X-ray (FERMI FEL-2, FLASH1/FLASH2), and hard X-ray spectral ranges (LCLS, PAL-XFEL, SACLA, and XFEL) have been opened to users from a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

A generalized effective potential for differentially rotating plasmas

Global stability of differentially rotating plasma is investigated using a generalized effective potential. We first, for a current-free system, obtain a general form of an effective potential in terms of the free energies of global curvature and gradients of rotation for non-axisymmetric disturbances. We then examine the stability of differentially rotating disks for several rotation profiles and present the associated effective potential for the onset of these instabilities in the MHD regime. In particular, results for global axisymmetric magnetorotational instability as well as local and global non-axisymmetric modes are presented. The latter constitute two distinct non-axisymmetric modes, a high frequency local MRI and a global low-frequency non-axisymmetric mode (the magneto-curvature mode, introduced in Ebrahimi and Pharr [Astrophys. J. 936, 145 (2022)]), confined either between two Alfvénic resonances or an Alfvénic resonance and a boundary.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Diagnosis of magnetic and electric fields of chromospheric jets through spectropolarimetric observations of H I Paschen lines

Magnetic fields govern the plasma dynamics in the outer layers of the solar atmosphere, and electric fields acting on neutral atoms that move across the magnetic field enable us to study the dynamical coupling between neutrals and ions in the plasma. In order to measure the magnetic and electric fields of chromospheric jets, the full Stokes spectra of the Paschen series of neutral hydrogen in a surge and in some active region jets that took place at the solar limb were observed on 2012 May 5, using the spectropolarimeter of the Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida observatory, Japan. First, we inverted the Stokes spectra taking into account only the effect of magnetic fields on the energy structure and polarization of the hydrogen levels. Having found no definitive evidence of the effects of electric fields in the observed Stokes profiles, we then estimated an upper bound for these fields by calculating the polarization degree under the magnetic field configuration derived in the first step, with the additional presence of a perpendicular (Lorentz type) electric field of varying strength. The inferred direction of the magnetic field on the plane of the sky approximately aligns to the active region jets and the surge, with magnetic field strengths in the range 10 G < B < 640 G for the surge. Using magnetic field strengths of 70, 200, and 600 G, we obtained upper limits for possible electric fields of 0.04, 0.3, and 0.8 V cm{sup –1}, respectively. This upper bound is conservative, since in our modeling we neglected the possible contribution of collisional depolarization. Because the velocity of neutral atoms of hydrogen moving across the magnetic field derived from these upper limits of the Lorentz electric field is far below the bulk velocity of the plasma perpendicular to the magnetic field as measured by the Doppler shift, we conclude that the neutral atoms must be highly frozen to the magnetic field in the surge.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Simulated photoevaporative mass loss from hot jupiters in 3D

Ionizing stellar photons heat the upper regions of planetary atmospheres, driving atmospheric mass loss. Gas escaping from several hot, hydrogen-rich planets has been detected using UV and X-ray transmission spectroscopy. Because these planets are tidally locked, and thus asymmetrically irradiated, escaping gas is unlikely to be spherically symmetric. In this paper, we focus on the effects of asymmetric heating on local outflow structure. We use the Athena code for hydrodynamics to produce 3D simulations of hot Jupiter mass loss that jointly model wind launching and stellar heating via photoionization. Our fiducial planet is an inflated, hot Jupiter with radius R{sub p}=2.14R{sub Jup} and mass M{sub p}=0.53M{sub Jup}. We irradiate the initially neutral, atomic hydrogen atmosphere with 13.6 eV photons and compute the outflow’s ionization structure. There are clear asymmetries in the atmospheric outflow, including a neutral shadow on the planet’s nightside. Given an incident ionizing UV flux comparable to that of the Sun, we find a steady-state mass loss rate of ∼2×10{sup 10} g s{sup −1}. The total mass loss rate and the outflow substructure along the substellar ray show good agreement with earlier 1D models, for two different fluxes. Our 3D data cube can be used to generate the outflow’s extinction spectrum during transit. As a proof of concept, we find absorption of stellar Lyα at Doppler-shifted velocities of up to ±50 km s{sup −1}. Our work provides a starting point for further 3D models that can be used to predict observable signatures of hot Jupiter mass loss.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

EFFECT OF DIFFERENTIAL FLOW OF ALPHA PARTICLES ON PROTON PRESSURE ANISOTROPY INSTABILITIES IN THE SOLAR WIND

In the solar wind, when the effects of proton-proton Coulomb collisions are negligible, alpha particles usually flow faster than the protons in such a way that the differential alpha-proton flow velocity V{sub d} = V{sub {alpha}} - V{sub p} is on the order of the Alfven speed, is directed away from the Sun, and is nearly aligned with the local mean magnetic field. When this differential flow is taken into account, solutions of the hot plasma dispersion relation show that for the parallel propagating electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) instability driven by the proton temperature anisotropy T{sub perpendicularp} > T{sub ||p}, the maximum growth rate occurs in the + V{sub d} direction and for the parallel firehose instability driven by the opposite proton temperature anisotropy T{sub ||p} > T{sub perpendicularp}, the maximum growth rate occurs in the - V{sub d} direction. Thus, the EMIC instability preferentially generates left circularly polarized Alfven-ion-cyclotron waves propagating away from the Sun and the parallel firehose instability preferentially generates right circularly polarized magnetosonic-whistler waves propagating toward the Sun with the maximum growth rates occurring for frequencies on the order of the proton cyclotron frequency and wavenumbers on the order of the proton inertial length. Because of the Doppler shift caused by the motion of the solar wind, both types of waves are left circularly polarized in the spacecraft frame for observations taken when the local mean magnetic field is collinear with the solar wind flow velocity. Theoretical investigation of these instabilities also shows that regions of parameter space exist where the unstable waves are generated propagating unidirectionally such as, for the EMIC instability for example, when the temperature anisotropy is small |(T{sub perpendicular{sub p}}/T{sub ||{sub p}}) - 1| < 1. Taken together, the above properties can explain the origin of parallel propagating electromagnetic waves recently observed near the proton inertial length in high-speed solar wind. The observed waves are most likely produced in situ by these instabilities. A remarkable property of the proposed mechanism that may be of practical importance is that the magnetic helicity of the unstable waves has the same sign no matter whether the proton temperature anisotropy (T{sub p{sub perpendicular}}/T{sub p{sub ||}}) - 1 is positive or negative.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

A numerical study of shock waves generated through laser ablation of explosives

Shock waves resulting from irradiation of energetic materials with a pulsed ultraviolet laser source have been shown to be an effective indicator for explosives detection. In this study, the features of shock wave propagation are explored theoretically. The initial stage of the shock motion is simulated as a one-dimensional process. As the nonlinear wave expands to form a blast wave, a system of conservation equations, simplified to the Euler equations, is employed to model wave propagation. The Euler equations are solved numerically by the 5th order weighted essentially non-oscillatory finite difference scheme with the time integration carried out using the 3rd order total variation diminishing Runge Kutta method. The numerical results for the shock wave evolution are compared with those obtained from experiments with a meltcast 2,6-dinitrotoluene sample. The calculations lay a theoretical foundation for a recently investigated technique for photoacoustically sensing explosives using a vibrometer.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

Details of the neutral energy distribution and ionization source using spectrally resolved Balmer-alpha measurements on DIII-D

Spectrally resolved passive Balmer- α (D- α, H- α) measurements from the DIII-D 16 channel edge main-ion charge exchange recombination system confirm the presence of higher energy neutrals (“thermal” neutrals) in addition to the cold neutrals that recycle off the walls in the edge region of DIII-D plasmas. Charge exchange between thermal ions and edge neutrals transfers energy and momentum between the populations giving rise to thermal neutrals with energies approximating the ions in the pedestal region. Multiple charge exchange events in succession allow an electron to effectively take a random walk, transferring from ion to ion, providing a pathway of increasing energy and velocity, permitting a neutral to get deeper into the plasma before a final ionization event that contributes to the ion and electron particle fueling. Spectrally resolved measurements provide information about the density and velocity distribution of these neutrals, which has been historically valuable for validating Monte Carlo neutral models, which include the multi stage charge exchange dynamics. Here, in this study, a multi-channel set of such measurements is used to specifically isolate the details of the thermal neutrals that are responsible for fueling inside the pedestal top. Being able to separate the thermal from the cold emission overcomes several challenges associated with optical filter-based neutral density measurements. The neutral dynamics, deeper fueling by the thermal neutrals, and spectral measurement are modeled with the FIDASIM Monte Carlo collisional radiative code, which also produces synthetic spectra with a shape that is in close agreement with the measurements. By scaling the number of neutrals in the simulation to match the intensity of the thermal emission, we show it is possible to obtain local neutral densities and ionization source rates.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Mitigation of mode-one asymmetry in laser-direct-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions

Nonuniformities present in the laser illumination and target in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion experiments lead to an asymmetric compression of the target, resulting in an inefficient conversion of shell kinetic energy to thermal energy of the hot-spot plasma. In this paper, the effects of asymmetric compression of cryogenic deuterium tritium laser-direct-drive implosions are examined using a suite of nuclear and x-ray diagnostics on the OMEGA laser. The neutron-averaged hot-spot velocity (u → hs ) and apparent ion temperature (T i ) asymmetry are determined from neutron time-of-flight measurements of the primary deuterium tritium fusion neutron energy spectrum, while the areal density (ρR) of the compressed fuel surrounding the hot spot is inferred from measurements of the scattered neutron energy spectrum. Here, the low-mode perturbations of the hot-spot shape are characterized from x-ray self-emission images recorded along three quasi-orthogonal lines of sight. Implosions with significant mode-1 laser drive asymmetries show large hot-spot velocities (>100 km/s) in a direction consistent with the hot-spot elongation observed in x-ray images, measured T i asymmetry, and ρR asymmetry. Laser drive corrections have been applied through shifting the initial target location in order to mitigate the observed asymmetry. With the asymmetry corrected, a more-symmetric hot spot is observed with reduced u → hs , T i asymmetry, ρR asymmetry, and a 30% increase in the fusion yield.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The Primary Interaction Compton Couple algorithm for sorting GRETINA/GRETA interaction points

The Primary Interaction Compton Couple (PICC) algorithm is presented in this work. The algorithm is used to determine the first-interaction-point position for $γ$-ray events in GRETINA. The first-interaction-point position is crucial for in-beam $γ$-ray spectroscopy experiments with fast beams due to the effect of Doppler broadening on the in-beam energy resolution. The development of the algorithm and its performance compared to a tracking algorithm and the Main Interaction assumption is presented. The PICC algorithm is demonstrated with real data to outperform the $γ$-ray energy tracking algorithm used for comparison here and the Main Interaction assumption in first-interaction-point determinations.

GRETINA↗

On the Regionality of Moist Kelvin Waves and the MJO: The Critical Role of the Background Zonal Flow

Abstract A global model with superparameterized physics is used to shed light on the observed regionality of convectively coupled Kelvin waves and the Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO). A series of aquaplanet simulations over zonally uniform sea‐surface temperatures is performed, in which the axisymmetric structure of the background zonal flow is altered through nudging, while maintaining a quasi‐fixed rainfall climatology. Results show that nudging at the equator to match profiles typical of the Indo‐Pacific or eastern Pacific sectors yields eastward‐moving tropical rain spectra typical of those sectors. Two different mechanistic pathways are identified as being responsible for this mean‐flow dependence, in addition to Doppler shifting effects. The first is through shifts of the Rossby wave critical line in the subtropical upper troposphere that affect the lateral forcing of Kelvin‐mode circulations at the equator by eastward and equatorward‐propagating eddies impinging on the tropics from higher latitudes. The second is through changes in the strength of the mean cyclonic shear in the lower tropical troposphere that affect the degree to which intraseasonal fluctuations in Kelvin‐mode zonal winds modulate the activity of higher‐frequency equatorial Rossby‐type eddies. In cases where the mean low‐level cyclonic shear is enhanced, the strength of this modulation, referred to as “shear‐induced eddy modulation” or SIEM, is also seen to be enhanced, such that MJO‐like modes of variability are rendered either unstable or near neutral, depending on the strength of the shear.

Tulich, S. N.↗

Contained modes in mirrors with sheared rotation

In mirrors with ExB rotation, a fixed azimuthal perturbation in the laboratory frame can appear as a wave in the rotating frame. If the rotation frequency varies with radius, the plasma-frame wave frequency will also vary radially due to the Doppler shift. A wave that propagates in the high rotation plasma region might therefore be evanescent at the plasma edge. This can lead to radially localized Alfven eigenmodes with high azimuthal mode numbers. Contained Alfven modes are found both for peaked and nonpeaked rotation profiles. These modes might be useful for alpha channeling or ion heating, as the high azimuthal wave number allows the plasma wave frequency in the rotating frame to exceed the ion cyclotron frequency.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Laser Experiments for High Energy Density Science

High energy density science probes some of the most basic scientific questions that cut across traditional disciplines. The advent of table top, terawatt, femtosecond lasers promises to revolutionize this area by the use of precise experimental techniques on the one hand and testing of models and computer simulations on the other. In this paper, we present some of our results on hot electron generation, giant magnetic fields and ultrafast plasma dynamics using such experiments and theoretical modeling.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗