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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 811 records · Page 45
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Integral equation for electrostatic waves generated by a point source in a spatially homogeneous magnetized plasma

The electric field generated by a time varying point charge in a three-dimensional, unbounded, spatially homogeneous plasma with a uniform background magnetic field and a uniform (static) flow velocity is studied in the electrostatic approximation which is often valid in the near field. For plasmas characterized by Maxwell distribution functions with isotropic temperatures, the linearized Vlasov-Poisson equations may be formulated in terms of an equivalent integral equation in the time domain. The kernel of the integral equation has a relatively simple mathematical form consisting of elementary functions such as exponential and trigonometric functions (sines and cosines), and contains no infinite sums of Bessel functions. Consequently, the integral equation is amenable to numerical solutions and may be useful for the study of the impulse response of magnetized plasmas and, more generally, the response to arbitrary waveforms.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Electrostatic drift shocks and drift wave instability in inhomogeneous rotating electron-positron-ion plasmas

The electrostatic drift wave shocks are studied in inhomogeneous rotating e-p-i plasma of the pulsar atmosphere. In this regard, the dissipation due to ion-neutral collisions is considered, which facilitate the formation of shock structures. It is noticed that these structures can move with the velocity of the drift wave which is not possible without considering the rotational effects. Several limiting cases are also discussed. In addition, the drift wave instability is obtained when electrons and positrons could not cancel out the space charge effects along the magnetic field lines in the presence of electron-ion and positron-ion collisions. Further, it is found that this instability is sensitive to rotational frequency of the object. The importance of the results with relevance to astrophysical plasmas is also pointed out.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Head-on collisions of electrostatic solitons in multi-ion plasmas

Head-on collisions between two electrostatic solitons are dealt with by the Poincare-Lighthill-Kuo method of strained coordinates, for a plasma composed of a number of cold (positive and negative) ion species and Boltzmann electrons. The nonlinear evolution equations for both solitons and their phase shift due to the collision, resulting in time delays, are established. A Korteweg-de Vries description is the generic conclusion, except when the plasma composition is special enough to replace the quadratic by a cubic nonlinearity in the evolution equations, with concomitant repercussions on the phase shifts. Applications include different two-ion plasmas, showing positive or negative polarity solitons in the generic case. At critical composition, a combination of a positive and a negative polarity soliton is possible.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Freely decaying turbulence in two-dimensional electrostatic gyrokinetics

In magnetized plasmas, a turbulent cascade occurs in phase space at scales smaller than the thermal Larmor radius ('sub-Larmor scales') [Tatsuno et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 015003 (2009)]. When the turbulence is restricted to two spatial dimensions perpendicular to the background magnetic field, two independent cascades may take place simultaneously because of the presence of two collisionless invariants. In the present work, freely decaying turbulence of two-dimensional electrostatic gyrokinetics is investigated by means of phenomenological theory and direct numerical simulations. A dual cascade (forward and inverse cascades) is observed in velocity space as well as in position space, which we diagnose by means of nonlinear transfer functions for the collisionless invariants. We find that the turbulence tends to a time-asymptotic state, dominated by a single scale that grows in time. A theory of this asymptotic state is derived in the form of decay laws. Each case that we study falls into one of three regimes (weakly collisional, marginal, and strongly collisional), determined by a dimensionless number D{sub *}, a quantity analogous to the Reynolds number. The marginal state is marked by a critical number D{sub *}=D{sub 0} that is preserved in time. Turbulence initialized above this value become increasingly inertial in time, evolving toward larger and larger D{sub *}; turbulence initialized below D{sub 0} become more and more collisional, decaying to progressively smaller D{sub *}.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Nonlinear, stationary electrostatic ion cyclotron waves: Exact solutions for solitons, periodic waves, and wedge shaped waveforms

The theory of fully nonlinear stationary electrostatic ion cyclotron waves is further developed. The existence of two fundamental constants of motion; namely, momentum flux density parallel to the background magnetic field and energy density, facilitates the reduction of the wave structure equation to a first order differential equation. For subsonic waves propagating sufficiently obliquely to the magnetic field, soliton solutions can be constructed. Importantly, analytic expressions for the amplitude of the soliton show that it increases with decreasing wave Mach number and with increasing obliquity to the magnetic field. In the subsonic, quasi-parallel case, periodic waves exist whose compressive and rarefactive amplitudes are asymmetric about the 'initial' point. A critical 'driver' field exists that gives rise to a soliton-like structure which corresponds to infinite wavelength. If the wave speed is supersonic, periodic waves may also be constructed. The aforementioned asymmetry in the waveform arises from the flow being driven towards the local sonic point in the compressive phase and away from it in the rarefactive phase. As the initial driver field approaches the critical value, the end point of the compressive phase becomes sonic and the waveform develops a wedge shape. This feature and the amplitudes of the compressive and rarefactive portions of the periodic waves are illustrated through new analytic expressions that follow from the equilibrium points of a wave structure equation which includes a driver field. These expressions are illustrated with figures that illuminate the nature of the solitons. The presently described wedge-shaped waveforms also occur in water waves, for similar 'transonic' reasons, when a Coriolis force is included.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Threshold conditions for lasing of a free electron laser oscillator with longitudinal electrostatic wiggler

The system of the nonlinear non-stationary equations describing spatial-temporal dynamics of the amplitudes of an ondulator radiation and a space-charge wave of a relativistic electron beam in the resonator is obtained. A free electron laser resonator with longitudinal electrostatic wiggler is considered. In the linear approximation, the threshold conditions of lasing for Raman and Compton regimes under excitation of forward and backward electromagnetic wave are achieved. In the various physical situations, the variation of the minimum length of the resonator with the amplitude of wiggler, density of electron beam, and with the reflection coefficients of resonator's mirrors is investigated.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Simulation and optimization of a 10 A electron gun with electrostatic compression for the electron beam ion source

Increasing the current density of the electron beam in the ion trap of the Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) in BNL's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider facility would confer several essential benefits. They include increasing the ions' charge states, and therefore, the ions' energy out of the Booster for NASA applications, reducing the influx of residual ions in the ion trap, lowering the average power load on the electron collector, and possibly also reducing the emittance of the extracted ion beam. Here, we discuss our findings from a computer simulation of an electron gun with electrostatic compression for electron current up to 10 A that can deliver a high-current-density electron beam for EBIS. The magnetic field in the cathode-anode gap is formed with a magnetic shield surrounding the gun electrodes and the residual magnetic field on the cathode is (5 Division-Sign 6) Gs. It was demonstrated that for optimized gun geometry within the electron beam current range of (0.5 Division-Sign 10) A the amplitude of radial beam oscillations can be maintained close to 4% of the beam radius by adjusting the injection magnetic field generated by a separate magnetic coil. Simulating the performance of the gun by varying geometrical parameters indicated that the original gun model is close to optimum and the requirements to the precision of positioning the gun elements can be easily met with conventional technology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Comment on 'Undamped electrostatic plasma waves'[Phys. Plasmas 19, 092103 (2012)]

The relevance of linear 'corner modes' for the description of coherent electrostatic structures, as proposed by Valentini et al.[Phys. Plasmas 19, 092103 (2012)], is questioned. Coherency in their on-dispersion simulation is instead found to be caused by particle trapping in agreement with Schamel's nonlinear wave model [Phys. Plasmas 19, 020501 (2012)]. The revealed small amplitude structures are hence of cnoidal electron hole type exhibiting vortices in phase space. They are ruled by trapping nonlinearity rather than by linearity or quasi-linear effects, as commonly assumed. Arguments are presented, which give preference to these cnoidal hole modes over Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal modes. To fully account for a realistic theoretical scenario, however, at least four ingredients are mandatory. Several corrections of the conventional body of thought about the proper kinetic wave description are proposed. They may prove useful for the general acceptance of this 'new' nonlinear wave concept concerning structure formation, updating several prevailing concepts such as the general validity of a linear wave Ansatz for small amplitudes, as assumed in their paper. It is conjectured that this nonlinear trapping model can be generalized to the vortex structures of similar type found in the more general setting of driven turbulence of magnetized plasmas. They appear as eddies in both, the phase and the position spaces, embedded intermittently on the Debye length scale.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Effect of dust charge fluctuations on current-driven electrostatic ion-cyclotron instability in a collisional magnetized plasma

Current-driven electrostatic ion-cyclotron (EIC) instability is studied in a collisional magnetized dusty plasma. The growth rate and unstable mode frequencies were evaluated based on existing physical parameters relevant to ion cyclotron waves in dusty plasmas. It is found that the unstable mode frequency and growth rate of current-driven EIC instability increase with δ (ion-to-electron density ratio). Moreover, the increase in electron neutral collisional frequency (ν{sub e}) has no effect on the unstable mode frequency while the normalized growth rate has linear dependence on ν{sub e}.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Spherical ion oscillations in a positive polarity gridded inertial-electrostatic confinement device

A pulsed, positive polarity gridded inertial electrostatic confinement device has been investigated experimentally, using a differential emissive probe and potential traces as primary diagnostics. Large amplitude oscillations in the plasma current and plasma potential were observed within a microsecond of the discharge onset, which are indicative of coherent ion oscillations about a temporarily confined excess of recirculating electron space charge. The magnitude of the depth of the potential well in the established virtual cathode was determined using a differential emissive Langmuir probe, which correlated well to the potential well inferred from the ion oscillation frequency for both hydrogen and argon experiments. It was found that the timescale for ion oscillation dispersion is strongly dependent on the neutral gas density, and weakly dependent on the peak anode voltage. The cessation of the oscillations was found to be due to charge exchange processes converting ions to high velocity neutrals, causing the abrupt de-coherence of the oscillations through an avalanche dispersion in phase space.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Phase-mixing of electrostatic modes in a cold magnetized electron-positron plasma

In a fluid description, we study space-time evolution of electrostatic oscillations in a cold magnetized electron-positron plasma. Nonlinear results up to third order, obtained by employing a simple perturbation technique, indicate phase-mixing and thus breaking of excited oscillations, and provide an expression for the phase-mixing time. It is shown that an increase in the strength of ambient magnetic field results in an increase in the phase-mixing time. The results of our investigation will be of relevance to astrophysical environments as well as laboratory experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electrostatic wave structures in a magnetized superthermal plasma with two-temperature electrons

The linear and nonlinear excitation of arbitrary amplitude ion-acoustic (IA) solitary waves in a magnetized plasma comprising two-temperature electrons and cold ions are studied. The oblique propagation properties of two possible modes (in the linear regime) are investigated. It is found that the electron superthermality reduces the phase velocities of both modes, whereas obliqueness leads to an increase in the separation between two modes. In the nonlinear regime, an energy-like equation describes the evolution of IA solitary waves in the present model. The combined effects of the electron superthermality, magnitude of magnetic field, obliqueness and electron population are incorporated in the study of the existence domain of solitary waves and the soliton characteristics. It is shown that the small values of the hot electron population shift the permitted interval of Mach number to the lower values. Both compressive and rarefactive solitary structures are found to exist in the presence of two temperature electrons. The present investigation contributes to the physics of electrostatic wave structures in Saturn's magnetosphere in which two temperature electrons with kappa distribution exist.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electrostatic attraction of charged drops of water inside dropwise cluster

Based on the analytical solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation, we demonstrate that inside the electrically neutral system of charges an electrostatic attraction can occur between the like-charged particles, where charge Z ≫ 1 (in terms of elementary charge) and radius R > 0, whereas according to the literature, only repulsion is possible inside non-electrically neutral systems. We calculate the free energy of the charged particles of water inside a cluster and demonstrate that its minimum is when the interdroplet distance equals several Debye radii defined based on the light plasma component. The deepest minimum depth is in a cluster with close spatial packing of drops by type, in a face-centered cubic lattice, if almost all the electric charge of one sign is concentrated on the drops and that of the other sign is concentrated on the light compensation carriers of charge, where the charge moved by equilibrium carriers is rather small.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Eulerian simulations of collisional effects on electrostatic plasma waves

The problem of collisions in a plasma is a wide subject with a huge historical literature. In fact, the description of realistic plasmas is a tough problem to attack, both from the theoretical and the numerical point of view. In this paper, a Eulerian time-splitting algorithm for the study of the propagation of electrostatic waves in collisional plasmas is presented. Collisions are modeled through one-dimensional operators of the Fokker-Planck type, both in linear and nonlinear forms. The accuracy of the numerical code is discussed by comparing the numerical results to the analytical predictions obtained in some limit cases when trying to evaluate the effects of collisions in the phenomenon of wave plasma echo and collisional dissipation of Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal waves. Particular attention is devoted to the study of the nonlinear Dougherty collisional operator, recently used to describe the collisional dissipation of electron plasma waves in a pure electron plasma column [M. W. Anderson and T. M. O'Neil, Phys. Plasmas 14, 112110 (2007)]. Finally, for the study of collisional plasmas, a recipe to set the simulation parameters in order to prevent the filamentation problem can be provided, by exploiting the property of velocity diffusion operators to smooth out small velocity scales.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Mapping Electrostatic Profiles Across Axial p-n Junctions in Si Nanowires using Off-Axis Electron Holography

Si nanowires (NWs) with axial p-n junctions were grown by the vapor-liquid-solid method. Transmission electron microscopy and electron holography were used to characterize the microstructure and electrostatic properties. Measurement of the potential profile showed the presence of a p-n junction with a height of 1.0±0.3V. A Schottky barrier was observed at the end of the NW due to the Au catalyst particle. Comparison with simulations indicated dopant concentrations of 1019cm-3 for donors and 1017cm-3 for acceptors. These results confirm the benefit of combining off-axis electron holography with simulations for determining localized information about the electrically active dopant distributions in nanowire structures.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electrostatic solitary waves in dusty pair-ion plasmas

The propagation of electrostatic waves in an unmagnetized collisionless pair-ion plasma with immobile positively charged dusts is studied for both large- and small-amplitude perturbations. Using a two-fluid model for pair-ions, it is shown that there appear two linear ion modes, namely the “fast” and “slow” waves in dusty pair-ion plasmas. The properties of these wave modes are studied with different mass (m) and temperature (T) ratios of negative to positive ions, as well as the effects of immobile charged dusts (δ). For large-amplitude waves, the pseudopotential approach is performed, whereas the standard reductive perturbation technique is used to study the small-amplitude Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) solitons. The profiles of the pseudopotential, the large amplitude solitons as well as the dynamical evolution of KdV solitons, are numerically studied with the system parameters as above. It is found that the pair-ion plasmas with positively charged dusts support the propagation of solitary waves (SWs) with only the negative potential. The results may be useful for the excitation of SWs in laboratory dusty pair-ion plasmas, electron-free industrial plasmas as well as for observation in space plasmas where electron density is negligibly small compared to that of negative ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Molecular electrostatic potentials by systematic molecular fragmentation

A simple method is presented for estimating the molecular electrostatic potential in and around molecules using systematic molecular fragmentation. This approach estimates the potential directly from the electron density. The accuracy of the method is established for a set of organic molecules and ions. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by estimating the binding energy of a water molecule in an internal cavity in the protein ubiquitin.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Zero-multipole summation method for efficiently estimating electrostatic interactions in molecular system

The zero-multipole summation method has been developed to efficiently evaluate the electrostatic Coulombic interactions of a point charge system. This summation prevents the electrically non-neutral multipole states that may artificially be generated by a simple cutoff truncation, which often causes large amounts of energetic noise and significant artifacts. The resulting energy function is represented by a constant term plus a simple pairwise summation, using a damped or undamped Coulombic pair potential function along with a polynomial of the distance between each particle pair. Thus, the implementation is straightforward and enables facile applications to high-performance computations. Any higher-order multipole moment can be taken into account in the neutrality principle, and it only affects the degree and coefficients of the polynomial and the constant term. The lowest and second moments correspond respectively to the Wolf zero-charge scheme and the zero-dipole summation scheme, which was previously proposed. Relationships with other non-Ewald methods are discussed, to validate the current method in their contexts. Good numerical efficiencies were easily obtained in the evaluation of Madelung constants of sodium chloride and cesium chloride crystals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗