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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

3D simulation of lower-hybrid drift waves in strong guide field asymmetric reconnection in laboratory experiments

The magnetic reconnection experiment has recently seen short wavelength ([Formula: see text]) lower-hybrid waves near the electron diffusion region in strong guide field reconnection. Based on plasma parameters from the experiment, we perform a three-dimensional fully kinetic simulation in order to investigate the generation of the lower-hybrid waves and their effects on the reconnection process. We find that the low-beta regions around the reconnection site are unstable to the lower-hybrid drift instability propagating in the outflow direction, driven by the difference between the electron and ion outflows. The waves modify the electron distributions, leading to periodic opening and closing of gaps in electron velocity space, and provide a small contribution to the anomalous resistivity. Finally, the simulation results are discussed in the context of space observations and laboratory experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Model Predictive Control-Based Trajectory Shaper for Safe and Efficient Adaptive Cruise Control

Recent studies show that commercially-available adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems are string-unstable, indicating that ACC-driven vehicles amplify speed fluctuations from downstream traffic and induce stop-and-go waves. Moreover, it is challenging to revise the original control algorithm of an ACC system to achieve string stability due to its internal complexity and powertrain uncertainties. To achieve desired control performance given a string-unstable ACC system and circumvent revising the original control algorithm, this study proposes a model predictive control-based trajectory shaper (MPC-TS), which only modifies the sensor-measured trajectory information (i.e., position and speed) of the preceding vehicle. The proposed MPC-TS leverages the input shaping technique to generate reference trajectory to improve string stability, while incorporating tracking errors and vehicle acceleration/deceleration magnitude in the MPC cost function and constraining fluctuations of vehicle speed and spacing to ensure desired car-following performance. Numerical experiments validate the control performance of ACC with the proposed MPC-TS in terms of string stability, safety, traffic efficiency, and comfort.

Zhou, Anye↗
DOE OSTI2024

O-Mode Instability for Non-Thermal Continuum Radiation Generated Near the Plasmapause

Analysis of the ordinary mode (O-mode) instability is performed to comprehend the nonthermal continuum (NTC) radiation near the plasmapause, taking into account the relativistic wave-electron resonance effect. The energy source is the anisotropy in the velocity of the minority suprathermal electron population. Numerical solutions demonstrate that the O-mode can be unstable with multiple narrow frequency bands located close to harmonics of the electron cyclotron frequency above the local electron plasma frequency. These waves have narrow beaming angle bands of nearly 90° relative to the ambient magnetic field. Our findings indicate that NTC radiation generated by this wave-electron resonance instability near the plasmapause can propagate nearer to the magnetic equator with multiple harmonics, which is in agreement with a recent statistical study using Van Allen Probes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

High-resolution particle-in-cell simulations of two-dimensional Bernstein–Greene–Kruskal modes

We present two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of 2D Bernstein–Greene–Kruskal modes, which are exact nonlinear steady-state solutions of the Vlasov–Poisson equations, on a 2D plane perpendicular to a background magnetic field, with a cylindrically symmetric electric potential localized on the plane. PIC simulations are initialized using analytic electron distributions and electric potentials from the theory. We confirm the validity of such solutions using high-resolutions up to a 20482 grid. We show that the solutions are dynamically stable for a stronger background magnetic field, while keeping other parameters of the model fixed, but become unstable when the field strength is weaker than a certain value. When a mode becomes unstable, we observe that the instability begins with the excitation of azimuthal electrostatic waves that ends with a spiral pattern.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fast Particle-Wave Interactions and Alfvén Eigenmodes in JET Tokamak Plasmas

This document serves as the closeout report of DOE Grant Award No. DE-FG02-99ER54563 with project period 1 April 2015 through 31 March 2020. The project comprised the international collaboration between MIT and EU scientists on the JET facility to improve our understanding of the physics of energetic particle-wave interactions by measuring the damping rates of stable Alfvén Eigenmodes (AEs) and unstable energetic particle driven modes. More specifically, this project involved the continued participation of MIT, the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, the Swiss Plasma Center, and theorists from various European laboratories and from UC Irvine. Past contributions from the University of São Paulo are gratefully acknowledged. The Alfvén Eigenmode Active Diagnostic (AEAD) on JET discharges was successfully upgraded in this period and has extracted physically useful information, in primarily deuterium plasma discharges. It is expected that such experiments would be continued during the DT campaign in CY 2021 to assess the damping rates of similar modes in the presence of alpha particles, a product of fusing burning plasma. Only JET would carry out such experiments in the near term in the world. It is important to note that this collaboration was continued under DOE Grant Award No. DE-SC0014264 from 1 April 2020 through the present. In this grant period, the AEAD was upgraded with a set of individual amplifiers for each of a set of six antennas in two toroidally opposite locations. These new amplifiers allowed targeted selection of the antennas’ toroidal spectrum for AEs of interest with toroidal mode number | n | ≤ 20. The resonant detection and measurement of the damping rates of AEs was obtained from magnetic probes that could be compared with theory and simulations. This is a key topic of investigation for ITER and all other next-step fusion experiments, where such modes will interact with energetic particles produced by fusion reactions (alpha particles), Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) and Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH). The majority of the observations during this period were of Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes (TAEs) as these are most commonly observed on JET; a number of measurements were made during dedicated TAE experiments. However, a new set of lower frequency band filters were procured with the goal of studying Geodesic Acoustic Modes (GAMs), Beta (Acoustic) AEs (BAE/BAAEs), and Reverse Shear AEs (RSAEs), also predicted by theory. Commissioning and optimizations were successfully completed in this period, and the diagnostic has been in operation during the more recent JET campaigns. Initial results have been obtained in dedicated TAE experiments and successfully compared to drift-kinetic theory. A wide range of theoretical studies have been undertaken in support of the upcoming JET campaigns experiments. To supplement the ongoing use of ideal MHD codes, such as MISHKA during the studies of TAEs, gyrokinetic simulations of low frequency AEs were performed in collaboration with UC Irvine. The Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code (GTC) was used to determine the structure, frequencies and stability of AEs in JET plasmas. Thus, a solid scientific foundation has been laid for future DT campaigns in JET in the 2021 operation period when the damping rates of relevant modes in the presence of alpha particles could be assessed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Close-Out Project Description for Koepke's Dept of Energy grant DE-SC0021405

Objectives: To establish, for lab & space conditions, EM-IEDDI’s (electromagnetic shear-driven instability's) dispersion relation, unstable range, instability threshold, and mode characteristics, we need LAPD’s Alfven-wave-favorable electromagnetic-style conditions, including higher "beta" (0.001 < beta ≤ 0.3) and low-collisionality. Also, we attempted to intentionally launch or spontaneously destabilize compressional and shear Alfven waves in the strong, localized, perpendicular-velocity-shear region at the interface between coaxial plasmas (one plasma cylinder inside an outer, otherwise hollow, tube, each having a different, controllable, value of plasma electrostatic potential, i.e., “space” potential (not to be confused with the temperature-dependent “floating” potential of an object immersed in the plasma). Nonlinear wave-wave interactions between same-family (EM-IEDD or Alfven) and cross-family (EM-IEDD-with-Alfven) fluctuations were targeted for documentation over a range of spectral overlap. Although laboratory experiments were conducted, the following theoretical work was left unfinished: Analytical non-modal prediction Computational non-modal prediction Check to see if Mikhailenko’s theory formulation leads to his published graphs

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Electron Mixing and Isotropization in the Exhaust of Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection With a Guide Field

In this work, we investigate an exhaust crossing of asymmetric guide field reconnection observed by Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission at Earth's dayside magnetopause. One MMS spacecraft (MMS 4) observes multicomponent electron distributions, including two counterstreaming electron beams, while the other three MMS spacecraft, with a separation of ~30 km, record nearly isotropic electron distributions. As counterstreaming electrons are unstable for the electron two-stream instability, our observations suggest that the electrostatic waves generated by the fast-growing electron two-stream instability can contribute to the rapid isotropization of electron distributions in the reconnection exhaust, indicating that wave-particle interactions play an important role in electron dynamics.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

A mountain-induced moist baroclinic wave test case for the dynamical cores of atmospheric general circulation models

Idealized test cases for the dynamical cores of atmospheric general circulation models are informative tools to assess the accuracy of the numerical designs and investigate the general characteristics of atmospheric motions. A new test case is introduced that is built upon a baroclinically unstable base state with an added orographic barrier. The topography is analytically prescribed and acts as a trigger of both baroclinic Rossby waves and inertia–gravity waves on a rotating, regular-sized planet. Both dry and idealized moist configurations are suggested. The latter utilizes the Kessler warm-rain precipitation scheme. The test case enhances the complexity of the existing test suite hierarchy and focuses on the impacts of two midlatitudinal mountain ridges on the circulation. Selected simulation examples from four dynamical cores are shown. These are the Spectral Element and Finite Volume dynamical cores, which are part of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM), versions 2.1.3 and 2.2, and the Cubed-Sphere Finite Volume dynamical cores, which is new to CESM version 2.2. In addition, the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) is tested. The overall flow patterns agree well in the four dynamical cores, but the details can vary greatly. The examples highlight the broad palette of use cases for the test case and reveal physics–dynamics coupling issues.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Exploring regular and turbulent flow states in active nematic channel flow via Exact Coherent Structures and their invariant manifolds

This work is a unified study of stable and unstable steady states of 2D active nematic channel flow using the framework of Exact Coherent Structures (ECS). ECS are stationary, periodic, quasiperiodic, or traveling wave solutions of the governing equations that, together with their invariant manifolds, organize the dynamics of nonlinear continuum systems. We extend our earlier work on ECS in the preturbulent regime by performing a comprehensive study of stable and unstable ECS for a wide range of activity values spanning the preturbulent and turbulent regimes. In the weakly turbulent regime, we compute more than 200 unstable ECS that co-exist at a single set of parameters, and uncover the role of symmetries in organizing the phase space geometry. We provide conclusive numerical evidence that in the preturbulent regime, generic trajectories shadow a series of unstable ECS before settling onto an attractor. Lastly, our studies hint at shadowing of quasiperiodic type ECS in the turbulent regime.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

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↗
DOE OSTI2022

GUTs, hybrid topological defects, and gravitational waves

The symmetry breaking of grand unified gauge groups in the early Universe often leaves behind relic topological defects such as cosmic strings, domain walls, or monopoles. For some symmetry breaking chains, hybrid defects can form where cosmic strings attach to domain walls or monopoles attach to strings. In general, such hybrid defects are unstable, with one defect "eating" the other via the conversion of its rest mass into the other's kinetic energy and, subsequently, decaying via gravitational waves. In this work, we determine the gravitational wave spectrum from 1) the destruction of a cosmic string network by the nucleation of monopoles which cut up and "eat" the strings, 2) the collapse and decay of a monopole-string network by strings that eat the monopoles, 3) the destruction of a domain wall network by the nucleation of string-bounded holes on the wall that expand and eat the wall, and 4) the collapse and decay of a string-bounded wall network by walls that eat the strings. We call the gravitational wave signals produced from the eating of one topological defect by another "gravitational wave gastronomy." We find that the four gravitational wave gastronomy signals considered yield unique spectra that can be used to narrow down the SO (10) symmetry breaking chain to the Standard Model and the scales of symmetry breaking associated with the consumed topological defects. Moreover, the systems we consider are unlikely to have a residual monopole or domain wall problem.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nonlinear coupling of tearing modes in reversed field pinch plasmas with stepped pressure profiles

A theory of the three-wave coupling of triplets of tearing modes in toroidal pinches [i.e., either reversed field pinches (RFPs) or tokamaks] was proposed by R. Fitzpatrick [Phys. Plasmas 6, 1168 (1999)]. However, this theory only applies to toroidal pinches with negligible equilibrium plasma pressure gradients. Such a limitation is particularly inappropriate to RFPs. This paper generalizes the analysis of R. Fitzpatrick [Phys. Plasmas 6, 1168 (1999)] in order to take the equilibrium pressure gradient into account. However, for the sake of simplicity, a stepped pressure profile, rather than a continuous profile, is employed. In the limit in which the number of steps becomes very large, the results obtained from the generalized theory are presumably equivalent to those that would have been achieved using a continuous pressure profile. The generalized theory is used to investigate the formation of the characteristic toroidally localized pattern of phase-locked m = 1 and m = 0 tearing modes in RFP plasmas that is known as the “slinky” pattern. The incorporation of the equilibrium plasma pressure into the analysis is found to be of crucial importance when determining the properties of the pattern. This is the case because the plasma pressure controls the number of unstable m = 1 and m = 0 tearing modes, and also significantly affects the strength of three-wave coupling, as well as the phase relation between the phase-locked m = 1 and m = 0 modes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hybrid Simulation of Proton Cyclotron Waves Upstream of Mars Generated by Pickup Ion Beam Distribution

Linear instability analysis as well as a corresponding two‐dimensional hybrid simulation are performed to examine the excitation of the proton cyclotron waves observed upstream of Mars. The waves are believed to be excited by the pickup ions produced from the ionization of the Martian hydrogen exosphere. And previous statistical analysis of wave observations suggested that the waves are mostly related to pickup ion beam velocity distributions. While earlier linear instability analysis of pickup ion beam distributions has mainly been focused on the parallel unstable modes, our analysis reveals that the maximum growth rate occurs at very oblique propagation. The corresponding hybrid simulation confirms the linear analysis results and further demonstrates that the pickup ions are scattered toward an isotropic shell velocity distribution by the waves excited. Interestingly, the waves at oblique propagation gradually damp out and the system is eventually dominated by waves of quasi‐parallel propagation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Observation of a Near-Threshold Proton Resonance in 11 B

A near-threshold proton resonance in 11 B at 𝐸 ex = 11.44 ± 0.04 MeV is observed via the reaction 10 Be⁢(𝑑,𝑛)⁢ 11 B → 10 Be + 𝑝 in inverse kinematics, measured with a beam of the radioactive isotope 10 Be. The resonance energy at 𝐸 res = 211⁢(40) keV is consistent with a proton signal observed by Ayyad et al. in the 𝛽-delayed proton decay of 11 Be. By comparison to a distorted wave Born approximation calculation, a 0.27(6) spectroscopic factor is extracted and a tentative (ℓ = 0) character is assigned for this resonance. The significant cross section in the proton-transfer (𝑑,𝑛) reaction, as well as the observation of its proton-decay signal, point to the threshold-resonance character of this state. The position of this state, its structure, and strong coupling to the 𝑠-wave continuum represent an ideal case to study quantum near-threshold many-body dynamics of unstable states. In conclusion, the presence of this state is an important step toward understanding the excessively large beta-delayed proton-decay branch of 11 Be.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Effect of Normal Stress Oscillations on Fault Slip Behavior Near the Stability Transition From Stable to Unstable Motion

Tectonic fault zones are subject to normal stress variations with a wide range of spatio-temporal scales. Stress perturbations cover a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes from high frequency seismic waves generated by earthquakes to low frequency transients associated with solid Earth tides. These perturbations can reactivate critically stressed faults and trigger earthquakes. Here, we describe lab experiments to illuminate the physics of such changes in friction and the mechanics of earthquake triggering and fault reactivation. Friction tests were done in a double direct shear configuration for conditions near the stability transition from stable to unstable motion. We studied simulated fault gouge composed of quartz powder and conducted experiments at reference normal stress from 10 to 13.5 MPa. After shearing to steady state sliding, we applied sinusoidal normal stress oscillations of amplitude 0.5–2 MPa, and period of 0.5–50 s. We performed numerical simulations using measured values of rate and state friction (RSF) parameters to assess our data. Our results show that low frequency stress oscillations cause a Coulomb-like response of shear strength that transitions from stable slip to slow lab earthquakes as frequency increases. At the critical frequency predicted by RSF we observe periodic stick-slip behavior. Perturbations of high amplitude and short period weaken the fault, while lower amplitudes strengthen the fault. We find that a modified RSF formulation is able to accurately match our laboratory data. Our findings highlight the complex effects of stress perturbations on fault strength and the mode of fault slip.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dynamic mode decomposition for gyrokinetic eigenmode analysis

Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) is a post-processing approach to decompose a complex time series into a set of modes via spectral analysis. DMD provides a new and powerful method to recover gyrokinetic drift-wave eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions based only on the solution of the gyrokinetic-Maxwell initial value problem with almost no added cost to the initial value solver. In the present paper, DMD is applied to the CGYRO gyrokinetic code using a newly-developed CGYRO-DMD post-processor. CGYRO-DMD is numerically efficient, even on a single CPU. It does not set any restrictions on the plasma shape, beta (ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic field pressure), collisionality or number of species, and allows one to resolve numerous eigenmodes, even of comparable growth rates. In addition, DMD is not limited to unstable modes, but rather can capture stable and unstable branches simultaneously. In this work, we illustrate the accuracy of DMD through gyrokinetic analysis of mode transition for electromagnetic drift wave instabilities.

drift-wave eigenmodes↗
DOE OSTI2022

Stable and unstable supersonic stagnation of an axisymmetric rotating magnetized plasma

The Naval Research Laboratory ‘Mag Noh problem’, described in this paper, is a self-similar magnetized implosion flow, which contains a fast magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) outward propagating shock of constant velocity. We generalize the classic Noh ( OSTI Tech. Rep. 577058, 1983) problem to include azimuthal and axial magnetic fields as well as rotation. Our family of ideal MHD solutions is five parametric, each solution having its own self-similarity index, gas gamma, magnetization, the ratio of axial to the azimuthal field and rotation. While the classic Noh problem must have a supersonic implosion velocity to create a shock, our solutions have an interesting three-parametric special case with zero initial velocity in which magnetic tension, instead of implosion flow, creates the shock at $t=0+$ . Our self-similar solutions are indeed realized when we solve the initial value MHD problem with the finite volume MHD code Athena. We numerically investigated the stability of these solutions and found both stable and unstable regions in parameter space. Stable solutions can be used to test the accuracy of numerical codes. Unstable solutions have also been widely used to test how codes reproduce linear growth, transition to turbulence and the practically important effects of mixing. Now we offer a family of unstable solutions featuring all three elements relevant to magnetically driven implosions: convergent flow, magnetic field and a shock wave.

Mechanics↗
DOE OSTI2026

Verification of global gyrokinetic simulation of low frequency mode excited by thermal plasma in spherical tokamak

A low frequency Alfven eigenmode in the ST40 spherical tokamak (ST) is found to be resonantly excited by thermal ions from global gyrokinetic GTC simulations. The analyses of phase-space resonances and wave-particle energy exchanges show that the Beta-induced Alfvén-Acoustic Eigenmode (BAAE) is primarily driven unstable by thermal ions, but is stabilized by energetic particles (EPs). When all kinetic effects are artificially suppressed, GTC simulations in the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) limit confirm the existence of the MHD eigenmode with a frequency in the BAAEs gap, as previously found by the ideal MHD code NOVA. The kinetic effects of thermal ions induce a frequency downshift compared to the stable BAAE in the MHD simulations. These results support the verification for global gyrokinetic simulations of the BAAE in the ST. However, the simulations do not explain the experimental observations of the BAAE in the ST40, possibly owing to the limitation of the collisionless gyrokinetic Monte Carlo model for the EPs.

Alfvén eigenmode↗