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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Support for the 2018 Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop (Final Report)

We organized the 18th Advanced Accelerator Concepts (AAC18) Workshop at the Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center in Breckenridge, Colorado on August 12–17, 2018. AAC18 was organized under the sponsorship of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity and managed under the supervision of IEEE 2018 Advanced Accelerator Conference Committee. Workshop day-to-day management, including financial, was handled by a qualified conference management company. The 2018 meeting was devoted to cross-disciplinary discussions of advanced accelerator concepts, including progress in various plasma acceleration methods, new methods of particle acceleration and high energy photon generation, techniques for production of ultra-high accelerating gradients in media other than plasmas, diagnostics and control of particle and photon beams and various associated particle beam, RF and energy sources. The Workshop had 278 attendees, including a record 96 students. Attendees came from 12 countries representing a wide range of institutions. The workshop format consisted of plenary sessions in the morning with topical leaders from around the world presenting the latest breakthroughs to the entire workshop. In the late morning and afternoons attendees broke out into eight different Working Groups for more detailed presentations and discussions that were summarized on the final day of the workshop. In addition, there were student tutorial presentations on two afternoons to provide in depth education and training for the next generation of accelerator scientists, as well as a poster session one evening.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Fermilab Project X nuclear energy application: Accelerator, spallation target and transmutation technology demonstration

The recent paper 'Accelerator and Target Technology for Accelerator Driven Transmutation and Energy Production' and report 'Accelerators for America's Future' have endorsed the idea that the next generation particle accelerators would enable technological breakthrough needed for nuclear energy applications, including transmutation of waste. In the Fall of 2009 Fermilab sponsored a workshop on Application of High Intensity Proton Accelerators to explore in detail the use of the Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) accelerator technology for Nuclear Energy Applications. High intensity Continuous Wave (CW) beam from the Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) Linac (Project-X) at beam energy between 1-2 GeV will provide an unprecedented experimental and demonstration facility in the United States for much needed nuclear energy Research and Development. We propose to carry out an experimental program to demonstrate the reliability of the accelerator technology, Lead-Bismuth spallation target technology and a transmutation experiment of spent nuclear fuel. We also suggest that this facility could be used for other Nuclear Energy applications.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Dielectric wakefield accelerator to drive to the future FEL light sourcei.

X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) are expensive instruments and the accelerator holds the largest portion of the cost of the entire facility. Using a high-energy gain dielectric wake-field accelerator (DWA) instead of the conventional accelerator may facilitate reduction of the facility size and significant cost saving. We show that a collinear dielectric wake-field accelerator can, in principle, accelerate low charge and high peak current electron bunches to a few GeV energy with up to 100 kHz bunch repetition rate. Several such accelerators can share the same tunnel and same CW superconducting linac (operating with a few MHz bunch repetition rate) whose sole purpose is feeding the DWAs with wake producing low energy, high charge electron bunches with a desirable periodicity. Then, ten or more x-ray FELs can operate independently, each using its own linac. In this paper, we present an initial case study of a single stage 850 GHz DWA based on a quartz tube with a {approx}100MV/m loaded gradient sufficient to accelerate a 50 pC main electron beam to 2.4 GeV at a 100 kHz bunch repetition rate in just under 30 meters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2010

The mechanisms of electron acceleration in antiparallel and guide field magnetic reconnection

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed to investigate electron dynamics in antiparallel and guide field (in the presence of a strong guide field) magnetic reconnection, and the mechanisms of electron acceleration are compared. In the antiparallel reconnection, the dominant acceleration occurs in the vicinity of the X line, where the magnetic field is weak. Most of these electrons come from the regions just outside of the separatrices, which move into the vicinity of the X line along the magnetic field lines. Electrons can also be nonadiabatically accelerated in the pileup region by the reconnection electric field, where the gyroradii of the electrons are comparable to the curvature radii of the magnetic field lines. Most of these electrons come from the regions inside of the separatrices, which move into the pileup region along the magnetic field lines. In the guide field reconnection, electrons are accelerated by the parallel electric field. They are firstly accelerated when moving toward the X line along the magnetic field lines, and then are further accelerated when they are funneled into the vicinity of the X line. Most of energetic electrons come from the region outside of the pair of the negative separatrices. The efficiency of such an acceleration mechanism is obviously higher than that in the antiparallel reconnection. In both the antiparallel and guide field reconnection, the mechanisms of electron acceleration favor the electrons with higher initial energy.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Silicon buried gratings for dielectric laser electron accelerators

This paper describes design and simulations of dielectric laser electron accelerators that achieve Gigavolt-per-meter (GV/m) accelerating gradients and wide electron channels (>1 μm). The accelerator design is based on a silicon buried grating structure that enables flexible phase synchronization, large electron channel fields, and low standing-wave ratio in the material. This design increases the accelerating gradients to more than double those of reported quartz grating accelerators, thereby reducing the input laser fluence by 60% for the same accelerating gradient. With a 100 fs pulsed laser, our silicon buried gratings can achieve a maximum gradient of 1.1 GV/m, indicating that these accelerators have potential for numerous electron-accelerator applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Ion acceleration and heating by kinetic Alfvén waves associated with magnetic reconnection

In a previous study on the generation and signatures of kinetic Alfv en waves (KAWs) associated with magnetic reconnection in a current sheet revealed that KAWs are a common feature during reconnection [Liang et al. J. Geophys. Res.: Space Phys. 121, 6526 (2016)]. In this paper, ion acceleration and heating by the KAWs generated during magnetic reconnection are investigated with a three-dimensional (3-D) hybrid model. It is found that in the outflow region, a fraction of inflow ions are accelerated by the KAWs generated in the leading bulge region of reconnection, and their parallel velocities gradually increase up to slightly super-Alfv enic. As a result of waveparticle interactions, an accelerated ion beam forms in the direction of the anti-parallel magnetic field, in addition to the core ion population, leading to the development of non-Maxwellian velocity distributions, which include a trapped population with parallel velocities consistent with the wave speed. We then heat ions in both parallel and perpendicular directions. In the parallel direction, the heating results from nonlinear Landau resonance of trapped ions. In the perpendicular direction, however, evidence of stochastic heating by the KAWs is found during the acceleration stage, with an increase of magnetic moment μ. The coherence in the T $\perp$ ion temperature and the perpendicular electric and magnetic fields of KAWs also provides evidence for perpendicular heating by KAWs. The parallel and perpendicular heating of the accelerated beam occur simultaneously, leading to the development of temperature anisotropy with the perpendicular temperature T $\perp$ >T $\parallel$ temperature. The heating rate agrees with the damping rate of the KAWs, and the heating is dominated by the accelerated ion beam. In the later stage, with the increase of the fraction of the accelerated ions, interaction between the accelerated beam and the core population also contributes to the ion heating, ultimately leading to overlap of the beams and an overall anisotropy with T $\perp$ >T $\parallel$ .

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

A detailed examination of laser-ion acceleration mechanisms in the relativistic transparency regime using tracers

Here we present a particle-in-cell study of linearly polarized laser-ion acceleration systems, in which we use both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulations to characterize the ion acceleration mechanisms in targets which become transparent to the laser pulse during irradiation. First, we perform a target length scan to optimize the peak ion energies in both 2D and 3D, and the predictive capabilities of 2D simulations are discussed. Tracer analysis allows us to isolate the acceleration into stages of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA), hole boring (HB), and break-out afterburner (BOA) acceleration, which vary in effectiveness based on the simulation parameters. The thinnest targets reveal that enhanced TNSA is responsible for accelerating the most energetic ions, whereas the thickest targets have ions undergoing successive phases of HB and TNSA (in 2D) or BOA and TNSA (in 3D); HB is not observed to be a dominant acceleration mechanism in the 3D simulations. It is in the intermediate optimal regime, both when the laser breaks through the target with appreciable amplitude and when there is enough plasma to form a sustained high density flow, that BOA is most effective and is responsible for the most energetic ions. Eliminating the transverse laser spot size effects by performing a plane wave simulation, we can isolate with greater confidence the underlying physics behind the ion dynamics we observe. Specifically, supplemented by wavelet and FFT analyses, we match the post-transparency BOA acceleration with a wave-particle resonance with a high-amplitude low-frequency electrostatic wave of increasing phase velocity, consistent with that predicted by the Buneman instability.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Nonthermal electron and ion acceleration by magnetic reconnection in large laser-driven plasmas

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that is thought to play a key role in the production of nonthermal particles associated with explosive phenomena in space physics and astrophysics. Experiments at high-energy-density facilities are starting to probe the microphysics of reconnection at high Lundquist numbers and large system sizes. We have performed particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to explore particle acceleration for parameters relevant to laser-driven reconnection experiments. We study particle acceleration in large system sizes that may be produced soon with the most energetic laser drivers available, such as at the National Ignition Facility. In these conditions, we show the possibility of reaching the multi-plasmoid regime, where plasmoid acceleration becomes dominant. Our results show the transition from X point to plasmoid-dominated acceleration associated with the merging and contraction of plasmoids that further extend the maximum energy of the power-law tail of the particle distribution for electrons. We also find for the first time a system-size-dependent emergence of nonthermal ion acceleration in driven reconnection, where the magnetization of ions at sufficiently large sizes allows them to be contained by the magnetic field and energized by direct X point acceleration. For feasible experimental conditions, electrons and ions can attain energies of ϵ max , e / k B T e > 100 and ϵ max , i / k B T i > 1000 . Using PIC simulations with binary Monte Carlo Coulomb collisions, we study the impact of collisionality on plasmoid formation and particle acceleration. The implications of these results for understanding the role reconnection plays in accelerating particles in space physics and astrophysics are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

ACCELERATION OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS FROM THREE-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF STEREO IMAGES

We employ a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technique for the first time to study the kinematics of six coronal mass ejections (CMEs), using images obtained from the COR1 and COR2 coronagraphs on board the twin STEREO spacecraft, and also the eruptive prominences (EPs) associated with three of them using images from the Extreme UltraViolet Imager. A feature in the EPs and leading edges (LEs) of all the CMEs was identified and tracked in images from the two spacecraft, and a stereoscopic reconstruction technique was used to determine the 3D coordinates of these features. True velocity and acceleration were determined from the temporal evolution of the true height of the CME features. Our study of the kinematics of the CMEs in 3D reveals that the CME LE undergoes maximum acceleration typically below 2 R{sub sun}. The acceleration profiles of CMEs associated with flares and prominences exhibit different behaviors. While the CMEs not associated with prominences show a bimodal acceleration profile, those associated with prominences do not. Two of the three associated prominences in the study show a high and increasing value of acceleration up to a distance of almost 4 R{sub sun}, but acceleration of the corresponding CME LE does not show the same behavior, suggesting that the two may not be always driven by the same mechanism. One of the CMEs, although associated with a C-class flare, showed unusually high acceleration of over 1500 m s{sup -2}. Our results therefore suggest that only the flare-associated CMEs undergo residual acceleration, which indicates that the flux injection theoretical model holds well for the flare-associated CMEs, but a different mechanism should be considered for EP-associated CMEs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

DIFFUSIVE PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN SHOCKED, VISCOUS ACCRETION DISKS: GREEN'S FUNCTION ENERGY DISTRIBUTION

The acceleration of relativistic particles in a viscous accretion disk containing a standing shock is investigated as a possible explanation for the energetic outflows observed around radio-loud black holes. The energy/space distribution of the accelerated particles is computed by solving a transport equation that includes the effects of first-order Fermi acceleration, bulk advection, spatial diffusion, and particle escape. The velocity profile of the accreting gas is described using a model for shocked viscous disks recently developed by the authors, and the corresponding Green's function distribution for the accelerated particles in the disk and the outflow is obtained using a classical method based on eigenfunction analysis. The accretion-driven, diffusive shock acceleration scenario explored here is conceptually similar to the standard model for the acceleration of cosmic rays at supernova-driven shocks. However, in the disk application, the distribution of the accelerated particles is much harder than would be expected for a plane-parallel shock with the same compression ratio. Hence the disk environment plays a key role in enhancing the efficiency of the shock acceleration process. The presence of the shock helps to stabilize the disk by reducing the Bernoulli parameter, while channeling the excess binding energy into the escaping relativistic particles. In applications to M87 and Sgr A*, we find that the kinetic power in the jet is {approx}0.01 M-dot c{sup 2}, and the outflowing relativistic particles have a mean energy {approx}300 times larger than that of the thermal gas in the disk at the shock radius. Our results suggest that a standing shock may be an essential ingredient in accretion onto underfed black holes, helping to resolve the long-standing problem of the stability of advection-dominated accretion disks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

ION ACCELERATION IN NON-RELATIVISTIC ASTROPHYSICAL SHOCKS

We explore the physics of shock evolution and particle acceleration in non-relativistic collisionless shocks using hybrid simulations. We analyze a wide range of physical parameters relevant to the acceleration of cosmic rays (CRs) in astrophysical shock scenarios. We show that there are fundamental differences between high and low Mach number shocks in terms of the electromagnetic turbulence generated in the pre-shock zone; dominant modes are resonant with the streaming CRs in the low Mach number regime, while both resonant and non-resonant modes are present for high Mach numbers. Energetic power-law tails for ions in the downstream plasma account for up to 15% of the incoming upstream flow energy, distributed over {approx}5% of the particles in a power law with slope -2 {+-} 0.2 in energy. Quasi-parallel shocks with {theta} {<=} 45 Degree-Sign are good ion accelerators, while power laws are greatly suppressed for quasi-perpendicular shocks, {theta} > 45 Degree-Sign . The efficiency of conversion of flow energy into the energy of accelerated particles peaks at {theta} = 15 Degree-Sign -30 Degree-Sign and M{sub A} = 6, and decreases for higher Mach numbers, down to {approx}2% for M{sub A} = 31. Accelerated particles are produced by diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) and by shock drift acceleration (SDA) mechanisms, with the SDA contribution to the overall energy gain increasing with magnetic inclination. We also present a direct comparison between hybrid and fully kinetic particle-in-cell results at early times. In supernova remnant (SNR) shocks, particle acceleration will be significant for low Mach number quasi-parallel flows (M{sub A} < 30, {theta} < 45). This finding underscores the need for an effective magnetic amplification mechanism in SNR shocks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

REVISITING ACCELERATION OF CHARGED GRAINS IN MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE

We study the acceleration of charged grains by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM). We begin with revisiting gyroresonance acceleration by taking into account the fluctuations of grain guiding center along a uniform magnetic field (i.e., nonlinear theory-NLT). We calculate grain velocities due to gyroresonance by fast MHD modes using the NLT for different phases of the ISM and compare them with results obtained using quasi-linear theory (QLT). We find for the parameters applicable to the typical ISM phases that the fluctuations of the grain guiding center reduce grain velocities by less than 15%, but they can be important for more special circumstances. We confirm that large grains can be accelerated to super-Alfvenic velocities through gyroresonance. For such super-Alfvenic grains, we investigate the effect of further acceleration via transit-time damping (TTD) by fast modes. We find that due to the broadening of the resonance condition in the NLT, the TTD acceleration is not only important for the cosines of grain pitch angle relative to the magnetic field {mu} > V{sub A}/v, but also for {mu} < V{sub A}/v where v is the grain velocity and V{sub A} is the Alfven speed. We show that the TTD acceleration is dominant over the gyroresonance for large grains, and can increase substantially grain velocities induced by gyroresonance acceleration. We quantify another stochastic acceleration mechanism arising from low-frequency Alfven waves. We discuss the range of applicability of the mechanisms and their implications.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

A CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FOR TURBULENT ACCELERATION PROCESSES IN SOLAR FLARES

We establish a classification scheme for stochastic acceleration models involving low-frequency plasma turbulence in a strongly magnetized plasma. This classification takes into account both the properties of the accelerating electromagnetic field, and the nature of the transport of charged particles in the acceleration region. We group the acceleration processes as either resonant, non-resonant, or resonant-broadened, depending on whether the particle motion is free-streaming along the magnetic field, diffusive, or a combination of the two. Stochastic acceleration by moving magnetic mirrors and adiabatic compressions are addressed as illustrative examples. We obtain expressions for the momentum-dependent diffusion coefficient D(p), both for general forms of the accelerating force and for the situation when the electromagnetic force is wave-like, with a specified dispersion relation {omega} = {omega}(k). Finally, for models considered, we calculate the energy-dependent acceleration time, a quantity that can be directly compared with observations of the time profile of the radiation field produced by the accelerated particles, such as those occuring during solar flares.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

EMITTING ELECTRONS SPECTRA AND ACCELERATION PROCESSES IN THE JET OF Mrk 421: FROM THE LOW STATE TO THE GIANT FLARE STATE

We investigate the electron energy distributions (EEDs) and the acceleration processes in the jet of Mrk 421 through fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in different active states in the frame of a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model. After assuming two possible EEDs formed in different acceleration models: the shock-accelerated power law with exponential cut-off (PLC) EED and the stochastic-turbulence-accelerated log-parabolic (LP) EED, we fit the observed SEDs of Mrk 421 in both low and giant flare states using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method which constrains the model parameters in a more efficient way. The results from our calculations indicate that (1) the PLC and LP models give comparably good fits for the SED in the low state, but the variations of model parameters from low state to flaring can be reasonably explained only in the case of the PLC in the low state; and (2) the LP model gives better fits compared to the PLC model for the SED in the flare state, and the intra-day/night variability observed at GeV-TeV bands can be accommodated only in the LP model. The giant flare may be attributed to the stochastic turbulence re-acceleration of the shock-accelerated electrons in the low state. Therefore, we may conclude that shock acceleration is dominant in the low state, while stochastic turbulence acceleration is dominant in the flare state. Moreover, our result shows that the extrapolated TeV spectra from the best-fit SEDs from optical through GeV with the two EEDs are different. It should be considered with caution when such extrapolated TeV spectra are used to constrain extragalactic background light models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Global numerical modeling of energetic proton acceleration in a coronal mass ejection traveling through the solar corona

The acceleration of protons and electrons to high (sometimes GeV/nucleon) energies by solar phenomena is a key component of space weather. These solar energetic particle (SEP) events can damage spacecraft and communications, as well as present radiation hazards to humans. In-depth particle acceleration simulations have been performed for idealized magnetic fields for diffusive acceleration and particle propagation, and at the same time the quality of MHD simulations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) has improved significantly. However, to date these two pieces of the same puzzle have remained largely decoupled. Such structures may contain not just a shock but also sizable sheath and pileup compression regions behind it, and may vary considerably with longitude and latitude based on the underlying coronal conditions. In this work, we have coupled results from a detailed global three-dimensional MHD time-dependent CME simulation to a global proton acceleration and transport model, in order to study time-dependent effects of SEP acceleration between 1.8 and 8 solar radii in the 2005 May 13 CME. We find that the source population is accelerated to at least 100 MeV, with distributions enhanced up to six orders of magnitude. Acceleration efficiency varies strongly along field lines probing different regions of the dynamically evolving CME, whose dynamics is influenced by the large-scale coronal magnetic field structure. We observe strong acceleration in sheath regions immediately behind the shock.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Muon acceleration in cosmic-ray sources

Many models of ultra-high energy cosmic-ray production involve acceleration in linear accelerators located in gamma-ray bursts, magnetars, or other sources. These transient sources have short lifetimes, which necessitate very high accelerating gradients, up to 10{sup 13} keV cm{sup –1}. At gradients above 1.6 keV cm{sup –1}, muons produced by hadronic interactions undergo significant acceleration before they decay. This muon acceleration hardens the neutrino energy spectrum and greatly increases the high-energy neutrino flux. Using the IceCube high-energy diffuse neutrino flux limits, we set two-dimensional limits on the source opacity and matter density, as a function of accelerating gradient. These limits put strong constraints on different models of particle acceleration, particularly those based on plasma wake-field acceleration, and limit models for sources like gamma-ray bursts and magnetars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

PARTICLE ACCELERATION AT LOW CORONAL COMPRESSION REGIONS AND SHOCKS

We present a study on particle acceleration in the low corona associated with the expansion and acceleration of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Because CME expansion regions low in the corona are effective accelerators over a finite spatial region, we show that there is a rigidity regime where particles effectively diffuse away and escape from the acceleration sites using analytic solutions to the Parker transport equation. This leads to the formation of broken power-law distributions. Based on our analytic solutions, we find a natural ordering of the break energy and second power-law slope (above the break energy) as a function of the scattering characteristics. These relations provide testable predictions for the particle acceleration from low in the corona. Our initial analysis of solar energetic particle observations suggests a range of shock compression ratios and rigidity dependencies that give rise to the solar energetic particle (SEP) events studied. The wide range of characteristics inferred suggests competing mechanisms at work in SEP acceleration. Thus, CME expansion and acceleration in the low corona may naturally give rise to rapid particle acceleration and broken power-law distributions in large SEP events.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Positron acceleration in plasma wakefields

Plasma acceleration has emerged as a promising technology for future particle accelerators, particularly linear colliders. Significant progress has been made in recent decades toward high-efficiency and high-quality acceleration of electrons in plasmas. However, this progress does not generalize to the acceleration of positrons, as plasmas are inherently charge asymmetric. Here, we present a comprehensive review of historical and current efforts to accelerate positrons using plasma wakefields. Proposed schemes that aim to increase energy efficiency and beam quality are summarized and quantitatively compared. A dimensionless metric that scales with the luminosity-per-beam power is introduced, indicating that positron-acceleration schemes are currently below the ultimate requirement for colliders. The primary issue is electron motion; the high mobility of plasma electrons compared to plasma ions, which leads to nonuniform accelerating and focusing fields that degrade the beam quality of the positron bunch, particularly for high efficiency acceleration. Finally, we discuss possible mitigation strategies and directions for future research.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗