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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

SMALL-SCALE AND GLOBAL DYNAMOS AND THE AREA AND FLUX DISTRIBUTIONS OF ACTIVE REGIONS, SUNSPOT GROUPS, AND SUNSPOTS: A MULTI-DATABASE STUDY

In this work, we take advantage of 11 different sunspot group, sunspot, and active region databases to characterize the area and flux distributions of photospheric magnetic structures. We find that, when taken separately, different databases are better fitted by different distributions (as has been reported previously in the literature). However, we find that all our databases can be reconciled by the simple application of a proportionality constant, and that, in reality, different databases are sampling different parts of a composite distribution. This composite distribution is made up by linear combination of Weibull and log-normal distributions—where a pure Weibull (log-normal) characterizes the distribution of structures with fluxes below (above) 10{sup 21}Mx (10{sup 22}Mx). Additionally, we demonstrate that the Weibull distribution shows the expected linear behavior of a power-law distribution (when extended to smaller fluxes), making our results compatible with the results of Parnell et al. We propose that this is evidence of two separate mechanisms giving rise to visible structures on the photosphere: one directly connected to the global component of the dynamo (and the generation of bipolar active regions), and the other with the small-scale component of the dynamo (and the fragmentation of magnetic structures due to their interaction with turbulent convection)

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

ACCRETION DISK DYNAMO AS THE TRIGGER FOR X-RAY BINARY STATE TRANSITIONS

Magnetohydrodynamic accretion disk simulations suggest that much of the energy liberated by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) can be channeled into large-scale toroidal magnetic fields through dynamo action. Under certain conditions, this field can dominate over gas and radiation pressure in providing vertical support against gravity, even close to the midplane. Using a simple model for the creation of this field, its buoyant rise, and its coupling to the gas, we show how disks could be driven into this magnetically dominated state and deduce the resulting vertical pressure and density profiles. Applying an established criterion for MRI to operate in the presence of a toroidal field, we show that magnetically supported disks can have two distinct MRI-active regions, separated by a “dead zone” where local MRI is suppressed, but where magnetic energy continues to flow upward from the dynamo region below. We suggest that the relative strengths of the MRI zones, and the local poloidal flux, determine the spectral states of X-ray binaries. Specifically, “intermediate” and “hard” accretion states occur when MRI is triggered in the hot, upper zone of the corona, while disks in “soft” states do not develop the upper MRI zone. We discuss the conditions under which various transitions should take place and speculate on the relationship of dynamo activity to the various types of quasi-periodic oscillations that sometimes appear in the hard spectral components. The model also explains why luminous accretion disks in the “soft” state show no signs of the thermal/viscous instability predicted by standard α-models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A 77-118 GHz RESONANCE-FREE SEPTUM POLARIZER

Measurements of polarized radiation often reveal specific physical properties of emission sources, such as the strengths and orientations of magnetic fields offered by synchrotron radiation and Zeeman line emission, and the electron density distribution caused by free-free emission. Polarization-capable, millimeter/sub-millimeter telescopes are normally equipped with either septum polarizers or ortho-mode transducers (OMT) to detect polarized radiation. Though the septum polarizer is limited to a significantly narrower bandwidth than the OMT, it possesses advantageous features unparalleled by the OMT when it comes to determining astronomical polarization measurements. We design an extremely wide-band circular waveguide septum polarizer, covering 42% bandwidth, from 77 GHz to 118 GHz, without any undesired resonance, challenging the conventional bandwidth limit. Stokes parameters, constructed from the measured data between 77 GHz and 115 GHz, show that the leakage from I to Q and U is below ±2%, and the Q – U mutual leakage is below ±1%. Such a performance is comparable to other modern polarizers, but the bandwidth of this polarizer can be at least twice as wide. This extremely wide-band design removes the major weakness of the septum polarizer and opens up a new window for future astronomical polarization measurements.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

MAPPING THE LINEARLY POLARIZED SPECTRAL LINE EMISSION AROUND THE EVOLVED STAR IRC+10216

We present spectro-polarimetric observations of several molecular lines obtained with the Submillimeter Array toward the carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch star IRC+10216. We have detected and mapped the linear polarization of the CO 3-2, SiS 19-18, and CS 7-6 lines. The polarization arises at a distance of {approx_equal} 450 AU from the star and is blueshifted with respect to the Stokes I. The SiS 19-18 polarization pattern appears to be consistent with a locally radial magnetic field configuration. However, the CO 3-2 and CS 7-6 line polarization suggests an overall complex magnetic field morphology within the envelope. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using spectro-polarimetric observations to carry out tomographic imaging of the magnetic field in circumstellar envelopes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

DIRECT OBSERVATIONS OF TETHER-CUTTING RECONNECTION DURING A MAJOR SOLAR EVENT FROM 2014 FEBRUARY 24 TO 25

Using multi-wavelength data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we investigated two successive solar flares, a C5.1 confined flare and an X4.9 ejective flare with a halo coronal mass ejection, in NOAA active region 11990 from 2014 February 24 to 25. Before the confined flare onset, EUV brightening beneath the filament was detected. As the flare began, a twisted helical flux rope (FR) wrapping around the filament moved upward and then stopped, and in the meantime an obvious X-ray source below it was observed. Prior to the ejective X4.9 flare, some pre-existing loop structures in the active region interacted with each other, which produced a brightening region beneath the filament. Meanwhile, a small flaring loop appeared below the interaction region and some new helical lines connecting the far ends of the loop structures were gradually formed and continually added into the former twisted FR. Then, due to the resulting imbalance between the magnetic pressure and tension, the new FR, together with the filament, erupted outward. Our observations coincide well with a tether-cutting model, suggesting that the two flares probably have the same triggering mechanism, i.e., tether-cutting reconnection. To our knowledge, this is the first direct observation of tether-cutting reconnection occurring between pre-existing loops in an active region. In the ejective flare case, the erupting filament exhibited an Ω-like kinked structure and underwent an exponential rise after a slow-rise phase, indicating that the kink instability might be also responsible for the eruption initiation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Stability of nonstationary states of spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates

The stability of nonstationary states of homogeneous spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates is studied by performing Bogoliubov analysis in a frame of reference where the state is stationary. In particular, the effect of an external magnetic field is examined. It is found that a nonzero magnetic field introduces instability in a {sup 23}Na condensate. The wavelengths of this instability can be controlled by tuning the strength of the magnetic field. In a {sup 87}Rb condensate this instability is present already at zero magnetic field. Furthermore, an analytical bound for the size of a stable condensate is found, and a condition for the validity of the single-mode approximation is presented. Realization of the system in a toroidal trap is discussed, and the full time development is simulated.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Effects of Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity in Magnetohydrodynamics Simulations of a Reversed-Field Pinch

A compressible magnetohydrodynamics simulation of the reversed-field pinch is performed including anisotropic thermal conductivity. When the thermal conductivity is much larger in the direction parallel to the magnetic field than in the perpendicular direction, magnetic field lines become isothermal. As a consequence, as long as magnetic surfaces exist, a temperature distribution is observed displaying a hotter confined region, while an almost uniform temperature is produced when the magnetic field lines become chaotic. To include this effect in the numerical simulation, we use a multiple-time-scale analysis, which allows us to reproduce the effect of a large parallel thermal conductivity. The resulting temperature distribution is related to the existence of closed magnetic surfaces, as observed in experiments. The magnetic field is also affected by the presence of an anisotropic thermal conductivity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic field distribution in the plasma flow generated by a plasma focus discharge

The magnetic field in the plasma jet propagating from the plasma pinch region along the axis of the chamber in a megajoule PF-3 plasma focus facility is studied. The dynamics of plasma with a trapped magnetic flow is analyzed. The spatial sizes of the plasma jet region in which the magnetic field concentrates are determined in the radial and axial directions. The magnetic field configuration in the plasma jet is investigated: the radial distribution of the azimuthal component of the magnetic field inside the jet is determined. It is shown that the magnetic induction vector at a given point in space can change its direction during the plasma flight. Conclusions regarding the symmetry of the plasma flow propagation relative to the chamber axis are drawn.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Synthesis and simulation of a two-level magnetic control system for tokamak-reactor plasma

Synthesis and simulation of a hierarchical (two-level) magnetic system for controlling a tokamakreactor plasma throughout the entire divertor discharge stage, including the plasma current ramp-up phase, are carried out. The plasma vertical velocity is stabilized about zero by using a proportional controller in a scalar control loop. The gain of the controller-the coefficient that ensures the required stability margins-is found by using a second-order linear model constructed by solving the identification problem on the basis of numerical experiments carried out with the DINA plasmophysical computer code. The internal cascade (the lower level of the system) for tracking the scenario currents in the poloidal magnetic field coils is synthesized by using the complete dynamic channel decoupling method. The external cascade (the upper level of the system) for tracking the plasma current and shape is synthesized by using the method of pseudoseparation of the control channels and the multidimensional diagonal proportional-integral controller, with proportional, integrating, and double integrating units connected in parallel in each channel. In the hierarchical control system, the lower level (the internal cascade) is subordinated to the upper level (the external cascade). The external cascade acts on the internal one by the signals that set the required currents in the coils of the central solenoid and of the poloidal magnetic field in order to ensure the required plasma current and shape in accordance with the output signals from the plant, which are transmitted through the vector feedback channel. The lower level is aimed exclusively at tracking the reference inputs by tracking the currents in the control coils. An operating mode of the system under the conditions of current saturation in the control coils is proposed and implemented. Results are presented from numerical simulations of the two-level (cascade) control system for reference scenario no. 2 of the ITER database (www.iter.org) with the DINA nonlinear code.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Radial force on the vacuum chamber wall during thermal quench in tokamaks

The radial force balance during a thermal quench in tokamaks is analyzed. As a rule, the duration τ{sub tp} of such events is much shorter than the resistive time τ{sub w} of the vacuum chamber wall. Therefore, the perturbations of the magnetic field B produced by the evolving plasma cannot penetrate the wall, which makes different the magnetic pressures on its inner and outer sides. The goal of this work is the analytical estimation of the resulting integral radial force on the wall. The plasma is considered axially symmetric; for the description of radial forces on the wall, the results of V.D. Shafranov’s classical work [J. Nucl. Energy C 5, 251 (1963)] are used. Developed for tokamaks, the standard equilibrium theory considers three interacting systems: plasma, poloidal field coils, and toroidal field coils. Here, the wall is additionally incorporated with currents driven by ∂B/∂t≠0 accompanying the fast loss of the plasma thermal energy. It is shown that they essentially affect the force redistribution, thereby leading to large loads on the wall. The estimates prove that these loads have to be accounted for in the disruptive scenarios in large tokamaks.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1977

A long-lived coronal X-ray arcade

A large, long-lived, soft X-ray emitting arch system observed during a Skylab mission is analyzed. The supposition is that these arches owe their stability to the stable coronal magnetic-field configuration. A global constant alpha force-free magnetic field analysis, is used to describe the arches which stayed in the same approximate position for several solar rotations. A marked resemblance is noted between the theoretical magnetic field configuration and the observed X-ray emmitting feature.

Mcguire, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The lower hybrid drift instability in nonantiparallel reversed field plasmas

The lower hybrid drift instability is investigated in nonantiparallel reversed field plasmas, i.e., the magnetic fields on either side of a neutral line are not antiparallel. Such a magnetic field configuration contains magnetic shear, which has a stabilizing influence on the lower hybrid drift instability. It is found that magnetic shear has an inhibiting effect on the linear penetration of the lower hybrid drift mode toward the neutral line. The implications of this result to reconnection processes in the magnetosphere (i.e., the nose and the magnetotail) are discussed.

Huba, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Studies of the configuration of the Venus ionospheric magnetic field

The dayside ionospheric magnetic field of Venus has been modeled from two different points of view. The Cloutier et al. electrodynamic model makes specific predictions about the behavior of the global magnetic field configuration that can be compared with those expected from the alternate diffusion/convection model. Although the diffusion/convection model is currently only one-dimensional, it is found that it is consistent with the observations in several areas where the three-dimensional electrodynamic model is not.

Luhmann, J. G.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dynamics of the transition corona

Magnetic reconnection between the open and closed magnetic fields in the corona is believed to play a crucial role in the corona/heliosphere coupling. At large scale, the exchange of open/closed connectivity is expected to occur in pseudo-streamer (PS) structures. However, there is neither clear observational evidence of how such coupling occurs in PSs, nor evidence for how the magnetic reconnection evolves. Using a newly developed technique, we enhance the off-limb magnetic fine structures observed with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and identify a PS-like feature located close to the northern coronal hole. We first identify that the magnetic topology associated with the observation is a PS, null-point (NP) related topology bounded by the open field. By comparing the magnetic field configuration with the EUV emission regions, we determined that most of the magnetic flux associated with plasma emission are small loops below the PS basic NP and open field bounding the PS topology. In order to interpret the evolution of the PS, we referred to a three-dimensional MHD interchange reconnection modeling the exchange of connectivity between small closed loops and the open field. The observed PS fine structures follow the dynamics of the magnetic field before and after reconnecting at the NP obtained by the interchange model. Moreover, the pattern of the EUV plasma emission is the same as the shape of the expected plasma emission location derived from the simulation. These morphological and dynamical similarities between the PS observations and the results from the simulation strongly suggest that the evolution of the PS, and in particular the opening/closing of the field, occurs via interchange/slipping reconnection at the basic NP of the PS. Besides identifying the mechanism at work in the large-scale coupling between the open and closed fields, our results highlight that interchange reconnection in PSs is a gradual physical process that differs from the impulsive reconnection of the solar-jet model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

QSL Squasher: A Fast Quasi-separatrix Layer Map Calculator

Quasi-Separatrix Layers (QSLs) are a useful proxy for the locations where current sheets can develop in the solar corona, and give valuable information about the connectivity in complicated magnetic field configurations. However, calculating QSL maps, even for two-dimensional slices through three-dimensional models of coronal magnetic fields, is a non-trivial task, as it usually involves tracing out millions of magnetic field lines with immense precision. Thus, extending QSL calculations to three dimensions has rarely been done until now. In order to address this challenge, we present QSL Squasher—a public, open-source code, which is optimized for calculating QSL maps in both two and three dimensions on graphics processing units. The code achieves large processing speeds for three reasons, each of which results in an order-of-magnitude speed-up. (1) The code is parallelized using OpenCL. (2) The precision requirements for the QSL calculation are drastically reduced by using perturbation theory. (3) A new boundary detection criterion between quasi-connectivity domains is used, which quickly identifies possible QSL locations that need to be finely sampled by the code. That boundary detection criterion relies on finding the locations of abrupt field-line length changes, which we do by introducing a new Field-line Length Edge (FLEDGE) map. We find FLEDGE maps useful on their own as a quick-and-dirty substitute for QSL maps. QSL Squasher allows construction of high-resolution 3D FLEDGE maps in a matter of minutes, which is two orders of magnitude faster than calculating the corresponding 3D QSL maps. We include a sample of calculations done using QSL Squasher to demonstrate its capabilities as a QSL calculator, as well as to compare QSL and FLEDGE maps.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

VECTOR TOMOGRAPHY FOR THE CORONAL MAGNETIC FIELD. II. HANLE EFFECT MEASUREMENTS

In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of saturated coronal Hanle effect vector tomography or the application of vector tomographic inversion techniques to reconstruct the three-dimensional magnetic field configuration of the solar corona using linear polarization measurements of coronal emission lines. We applied Hanle effect vector tomographic inversion to artificial data produced from analytical coronal magnetic field models with equatorial and meridional currents and global coronal magnetic field models constructed by extrapolation of real photospheric magnetic field measurements. We tested tomographic inversion with only Stokes Q, U, electron density, and temperature inputs to simulate observations over large limb distances where the Stokes I parameters are difficult to obtain with ground-based coronagraphs. We synthesized the coronal linear polarization maps by inputting realistic noise appropriate for ground-based observations over a period of two weeks into the inversion algorithm. We found that our Hanle effect vector tomographic inversion can partially recover the coronal field with a poloidal field configuration, but that it is insensitive to a corona with a toroidal field. This result demonstrates that Hanle effect vector tomography is an effective tool for studying the solar corona and that it is complementary to Zeeman effect vector tomography for the reconstruction of the coronal magnetic field.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗