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At least 1,639 records · Page 91

Mirroring of fast solar flare electrons on a downstream corotating interaction region

We discuss an example of confinement of fast solar electrons by a discrete solar wind-interplanetary magnetic field structure on February 22, 1991. The structure is about 190,000 km in width and is clearly defined by changes in the direction of the magnetic field at the Ulysses spacecraft. This structure carries electrons moving toward the Sun as well as away from the Sun. A loss cone in the angular distribution of the fast electrons shows that mirroring, presumably magnetic, takes place downstream from the spacecraft. Following passage of this narrow structure, the return flux vanishes for 21 min after which time the mirroring resumes and persists for several hours. We identify the enhanced magnetic field region lying downstream from the Ulysses spacecraft that is responsible for the mirroring to be a corotating stream interaction region. Backstreaming suprathermal electron measurements by the Los Alamos National Laboratory plasma experiment on the Ulysses spacecraft support this interpretation.

Anderson, K. A.↗

Frontiers of Life Sciences: The Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars

The rapid development of the productive processes after World War II extended human settlements into new ecological niches. Advances in Life Sciences played a decisive role supporting the establishment of human presence in areas of the planet where human life could have not existed otherwise. The evolution of life support systems, and the fabrication of new materials and technologies has enabled humans to inhabit Polar Regions, ocean surfaces and depths; and to leave Earth and occupy Low Earth Orbit. By the end of the 20 th Century, stations in the Antarctic and Arctic, off shore oil platforms, submarines, and space stations had become the ultimate demonstration of human ability to engineer habitats at Earth extreme environments and outer space. As we enter the 21st Century, the next development of human settlements will occur through the exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The major risks of space exploration derive from long exposure of humans and other life systems to radiation, microgravity, isolation and confinement, dependence on artificial life support systems, and unknown effects (e.g., altered magnetic fields, ultrahigh vacuum on bacteria, fungi, etc.). Countermeasures will require a complete characterization of human and other biological systems adaptation processes. To sustain life in transit and on the surface of the Moon and Mars will require a balance of spacecraft, cargo, astronaut crews, and the use of in situ resources. Limitations on the number of crewmembers, payloads, and the barrenness of the terrain require a novel design for the capabilities needed in transit and at exploration outpost sites. The planned destinations have resources that may be accessed to produce materials, food, shelter, power, and to provide an environment compatible with successful occupation of longterm exploration sites. Once more, the advancements of Life Sciences will be essential for the design of interplanetary voyages and planetary surface operations. This presentation delineates the role of Life Sciences and its frontiers, especially Cell Science, in the context of human exploration. Life support systems, food production, and medical equipment encompass many of vital aspects related to the new vision for NASA.

North, Regina M.↗

Tunable spin wave spectra in two-dimensional Ni{sub 80}Fe{sub 20} antidot lattices with varying lattice symmetry

Ferromagnetic antidot lattices are important systems for magnetic data storage and magnonic devices, and understanding their magnetization dynamics by varying their structural parameters is an important problems in magnetism. Here, we investigate the variation in spin wave spectrum in two-dimensional nanoscale Ni{sub 80}Fe{sub 20} antidot lattices with lattice symmetry. By varying the bias magnetic field values in a broadband ferromagnetic resonance spectrometer, we observed a stark variation in the spin wave spectrum with the variation of lattice symmetry. The simulated mode profiles showed further difference in the spatial nature of the modes between different lattices. While for square and rectangular lattices extended modes are observed in addition to standing spin wave modes, all modes in the hexagonal, honeycomb, and octagonal lattices are either localized or standing waves. In addition, the honeycomb and octagonal lattices showed two different types of modes confined within the honeycomb (octagonal) units and between two such consecutive units. Simulated internal magnetic fields confirm the origin of such a wide variation in the frequency and spatial nature of the spin wave modes. The tunability of spin waves with the variation of lattice symmetry is important for the design of future magnetic data storage and magnonic devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Study of the Insulating Magnetic Field in an Accelerating Ion Diode

The results of examination of the insulating magnetic field in an accelerating ion diode are presented. This field is produced in order to suppress the electron current and thus enhance the neutron yield of the D(d, n){sup 3}He nuclear reaction. The following two designs are discussed: a gas-filled diode with inertial electrostatic confinement of ions and a vacuum diode with a laser-plasma ion source and pulsed magnetic insulation. Although the insulating field of permanent magnets is highly nonuniform, it made it possible to extend the range of accelerating voltages to U = 200 kV and raise the neutron yield to Q = 10{sup 7} in the first design. The nonuniform field structure is less prominent in the device with pulsed magnetic insulation, which demonstrated efficient deuteron acceleration with currents up to 1 kA at U = 400 kV. The predicted neutron yield is as high as 109 neutrons/pulse.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

The Roles and Developments needed for Diagnostics in the ITER Fusion Device

Harnessing the power from Fusion on earth is an important and challenging task. Excellent work has been carried out in this area over the years with several demonstrations of the ability to produce power. Now, a new large device is being constructed in the south of France. This is called ITER. ITER is a large-scale scientific experiment that aims to demonstrate a possibility to produce commercial energy from fusion. This project is now well underway with the many teams working on the construction and completing various aspects of the design. This device will carry up to 15 MA of plasma current and produce about 500 MW of power, 400 MW approximately in high energy neutrons. The typical temperatures of the electrons inside this device are in the region of a few hundred million Kelvin. It is maintained using a magnetic field. This device is pushing several boundaries from those currently existing. As a result of this, several technologies need to be developed or extended. This is especially true for the systems or diagnostics that measure the performance and provide the control signals for this device. A diagnostic set will be installed on the ITER machine to provide the measurements necessary to control, evaluate and optimize plasma performance in ITER and to further the understanding of plasma physics. These include amongst others, measurements of the plasma shape, temperature, density, impurity concentration, and particle and energy confinement times. The system will comprise about 45 individual measuring systems drawn from the full range of modern plasma diagnostic techniques, including magnetics, lasers, X-rays, neutron cameras, impurity monitors, particle spectrometers, radiation bolometers, pressure and gas analysis, and optical fibres. These devices will have to be made to work in the new and challenging environment inside the vacuum vessel. These systems will have to cope with a range of phenomena that extend the current knowledge in the Fusion field. One amongst them is the parasitic effect of the neutrons on the while all the performing with great accuracy and precision. The levels of neutral particle flux, neutron flux and neutron fluence will be respectively about 5, 10 and 10,000 times higher than the harshest experienced in today's machines. The pulse length of the fusion reaction-or the amount of time the reaction is sustained-will be about 100 times longer. (authors)

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Magnetic brightening and nanoscale imaging of spin-polarized helical edge modes in ZrTe 5

Efficient charge transport remains a fundamental challenge for nanoelectronic devices, as their performance is constrained by high dissipation and the impedance mismatch between high-frequency signal sources and nanoscale circuit interfaces. Although topologically protected helical edge modes offer a dissipationless and backscattering-resilient alternative, achieving nanoscale control over these modes requires direct visualization of their spatial electrodynamics, especially under high-frequency operation. Here, by utilizing cryogenic magneto-infrared scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (cm-IR-sSNOM), we image spin-polarized helical edge channels in ZrTe 5 at the nanoscale, revealing magnetic-field-induced brightening as a high-frequency electrodynamic signature of robust topological edge modes. Operating at 1.8 K and under a magnetic field of up to 5 T, we observe the emergence of edge-state polarizability at infrared frequencies that is notably resilient to the magnetic gaps that typically quench d.c. and microwave edge transport. Our results reveal a topological ‘two-lane’ spatial reorganization in which an external magnetic field induces a spin-population imbalance between counterpropagating edge modes. Favoured helical branches are confined against physical boundaries to activate a net infrared near-field contrast. This electrodynamic response scales linearly with the number of atomic layers, which confirms that individual layers in ZrTe 5 preserve their discrete quantum spin Hall identities. These findings may be useful for developing topological spintronic devices, as the magnetic infrared tunability of helical edge channels provides a pathway for low-loss nanoscale interconnects and high-speed information processing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Integrated simulations of premagnetized and self-magnetizing dynamic screw pinch-driven MagLIF

Magnetically driven implosions such as in magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) on the Z accelerator suffer from magneto-Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities (MRTI) that dynamically redistribute liner mass during implosion, limiting fusion fuel compression and confinement, which ultimately degrades performance. Driving the implosion with an initially helical drive field that dynamically shifts the direction of the magnetic field surrounding the liner (i.e., a dynamic screw pinch, DSP) is a method proposed to mitigate MRTI in-flight and improve target performance. In DSPs, the axial drive magnetic field component implodes the liner and diffuses through the shocked, melted liner material into the fuel throughout the implosion. Liners can be designed to enable enough axial magnetic flux to diffuse through the liner material to effectively magnetize the fuel region without the need of an initial axial magnetic field (i.e., from external field coils). We present results from three-dimensional radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of MagLIF implosions employing drive magnetic fields composed of axial and azimuthal components (a helical drive field). These simulated DSP-driven MagLIF targets demonstrate improved fuel conditions and thermonuclear yield compared to a traditional MagLIF target implosion. Synthetic x-ray radiography of the imploding liner material and x-ray emission images of the fuel region at the time of peak neutron yield rate indicate superior implosion morphology for DSP-MagLIF implosions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Structure of Magnetic Plasma Fluctuations in the Uragan-3M Torsatron at Rare Collision Frequencies

Fluctuations of the poloidal component of the plasma magnetic field in the frequency range of 0.5–50 kHz are studied in the Uragan-3M (U-3M) torsatron. Hydrogen plasma is produced and heated by RF fields at frequencies close to that of the ion cyclotron. The studies are carried out using a set of 15 magnetic sensors installed in one of the torus cross sections. RF heating provided the plasma with rare collision frequencies and the presence of the bootstrap current. The study is carried out when the maximum amplitude of magnetic fluctuations is observed and their connection with the plasma energy content is noticeable. Two types of vibrations are observed. In the first type, the current structure rotates with a certain frequency mainly in the direction of the rotation of electrons in the magnetic field, and the amplitude varies slowly with time (the rotating structure). For the second type, the spatial structure does not rotate, but its amplitude changes with a certain frequency (the standing structure). The frequencies of fluctuations and rotations are close for structures with a given poloidal wave number. The standing vibration structures with different poloidal wave numbers in this frequency range are correlated. The maximum amplitude of the rotating structures is observed with m = 2, and for the standing structures with m = 3 and reaches the values of B-tilde ≤ 0.3 G in the confinement region. The vibration frequency does not depend on poloidal wave number m for the studied cases; m = 0, 1, 2, 3.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Magnetic field dependence of high- T c interface superconductivity in L a 1.55 S r 0.45 Cu O 4 / L a 2 Cu O 4 heterostructures

Heterostructures made of a layer of a cuprate insulator La 2 CuO 4 on the top of a layer of a nonsuperconducting cuprate metal La 1.55 Sr 0.45 CuO 4 show high-T c interface superconductivity confined within a single CuO 2 plane. Given this extreme quasi-two-dimensional quantum confinement, it is of interest to find out how interface superconductivity behaves when exposed to an external magnetic field. With this motivation, we have performed contactless tunnel-diode-oscillator-based measurements in pulsed magnetic fields up to 56 T as well as measurements of the complex mutual inductance between a spiral coil and the film in static fields up to 3 T. Remarkably, we observe that interface superconductivity survives up to very high perpendicular fields, in excess of 40 T. Additionally, the critical magnetic field H m (T) reveals an upward divergence with decreasing temperature, in line with vortex melting as in bulk superconducting cuprates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DESTABILIZATION OF A SOLAR PROMINENCE/FILAMENT FIELD SYSTEM BY A SERIES OF EIGHT HOMOLOGOUS ERUPTIVE FLARES LEADING TO A CME

Homologous flares are flares that occur repetitively in the same active region, with similar structure and morphology. A series of at least eight homologous flares occurred in active region NOAA 11237 over 2011 June 16–17. A nearby prominence/filament was rooted in the active region, and situated near the bottom of a coronal cavity. The active region was on the southeast solar limb as seen from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, and on the disk as viewed from the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory/EUVI-B. The dual perspective allows us to study in detail behavior of the prominence/filament material entrained in the magnetic field of the repeatedly erupting system. Each of the eruptions were mainly confined, but expelled hot material into the prominence/filament cavity system (PFCS). The field carrying and containing the ejected hot material interacted with the PFCS and caused it to inflate, resulting in a step-wise rise of the PFCS approximately in step with the homologous eruptions. The eighth eruption triggered the PFCS to move outward slowly, accompanied by a weak coronal dimming. As this slow PFCS eruption was underway, a final “ejective” flare occurred in the core of the active region, resulting in strong dimming in the EUVI-B images and expulsion of a coronal mass ejection (CME). A plausible scenario is that the repeated homologous flares could have gradually destabilized the PFCS, and its subsequent eruption removed field above the acitive region and in turn led to the ejective flare, strong dimming, and CME.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Magnetically induced cylindrical stress waves in a thermoelastic conductor

The problem of stress wave generation in a linear thermoelastic solid by a pulsed magnetic field is investigated both analytically and experimentally for a cylindrically symmetric conducting solid. A dynamic response analysis is developed to correlate magnetic, thermal, and stress fields in the solid with the time history of the electric current. In the experiment, a transient magnetic field was applied normal to a large conducting plate with a circular hole. Initially the field was confined to the interior of the circular hole. The field was generated by discharging a large capacitor bank through a solenoidal coil. The plane-stress cylindrical stress waves are 1-D in nature. The relative effects of the magnetic body force and thermoelastic stresses, both generated by the electromagnetic field, are assessed.

Chian, C. T.↗

Constraining Quirky Tracks with Conventional Searches

Quirks are particles that are charged both under the standard model and under a new confining group. The quirk setup assumes there are no light flavors of the new confining group, so that while the theory is in a confining phase, the quirk-antiquirk distance can be macroscopic. In this Letter, we reinterpret existing collider limits, those from monojet and heavy stable charged particle searches, as limits on quirks. Additionally, we propose a new search in the magnetic-field-less CMS data for quirks and estimate the sensitivity. We focus on the region where the confinement scale is roughly between 1 and 100 eV and find mass constraints in the TeV range, depending on the quirk’s quantum numbers.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Observation of trapped-electron-mode microturbulence in reversed field pinch plasmas

Density fluctuations in the large-density-gradient region of improved confinement Madison Symmetric Torus reversed field pinch (RFP) plasmas exhibit multiple features that are characteristic of the trapped-electron mode (TEM). Core transport in conventional RFP plasmas is governed by magnetic stochasticity stemming from multiple long-wavelength tearing modes. Using inductive current profile control, these tearing modes are reduced, and global confinement is increased to that expected for comparable tokamak plasmas. Under these conditions, new short-wavelength fluctuations distinct from global tearing modes appear in the spectrum at a frequency of f ~ 50 kHz, which have normalized perpendicular wave numbers k ⊥ ρ s ≲0.2 and propagate in the electron diamagnetic drift direction. They exhibit a critical-gradient threshold, and the fluctuation amplitude increases with the local electron density gradient. These characteristics are consistent with predictions from gyrokinetic analysis using the Gene code, including increased TEM turbulence and transport from the interaction of remnant tearing magnetic fluctuations and zonal flow.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

High-resolution measurements of the DT neutron spectrum using new CD foils in the Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility

The Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility measures the DT neutron spectrum from cryogenically layered inertial confinement fusion implosions. Yield, areal density, apparent ion temperature, and directional fluid flow are inferred from the MRS data. This paper describes recent advances in MRS measurements of the primary peak using new, thinner, reduced-area deuterated plastic (CD) conversion foils. The new foils allow operation of MRS at yields 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously possible, at a resolution down to ∼200 keV FWHM.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Radial confinement of deeply trapped particles in a non-symmetric magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium

Quasisymmetry and omnigeneity of an equilibrium magnetic field are two distinct properties proposed to ensure radial localization of collisionless trapped particles in any stellarator. These constraints are incompletely explored, but have stringent restrictions on a magnetic geometry. This work employs an analytical approach to understand the implications of the constraints. The particles move in an intrinsically three dimensional equilibrium whose representation is given by the earlier work of Weitzner and its extension here. For deeply trapped particles, a local equilibrium expansion around a minimum of the magnetic field strength along a magnetic line suffices. This analytical non-symmetric equilibrium solution enables explicit representation of the constraints. The results show that it is far easier to satisfy the omnigeneity condition than the quasisymmetry requirement. Correspondingly, there exists a large class of equilibrium close to quasisymmetry that remains omnigeneous while allowing inclusion of error fields, which may destroy quasisymmetry.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Site-Controlled Quantum Emitters in Monolayer MoSe 2

Atomically thin semiconductors provide a highly attractive platform for quantum emitters (QEs): They can be combined with arbitrary substrates, can be spatially aligned with photonic structures, and can be electrically driven. All QEs reported to date in these materials have, however, relied on nominally spin-forbidden transitions, with radiative rates falling substantially below those of other solid-state QE systems. In this work, we employ strain confinement in monolayer MoSe 2 to produce engineered QEs, as confirmed in photon antibunching measurements. We discuss spin-allowed versus spin-forbidden transitions based on magneto- and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. We calculate a radiative rate for spin-allowed quantum emission greater than 1 ns –1 , which exceeds reported radiative rates of WSe 2 QEs by 2 orders of magnitude.

2D materials↗

Experiment-theory comparison for low frequency BAE modes in the strongly shaped H-1NF stellarator

Here, recent advances in the modeling, analysis, and measurement of fluctuations have significantly improved the diagnosis and understanding of Alfvén eigenmodes in the strongly shaped H-1NF helical axis stellarator. Experimental measurements, including 3D tomographic inversions of high resolution visible light images, are in close agreement with beta-induced Alfvén eigenmodes (BAEs) calculated using the compressible ideal MHD code, CAS3D. This is despite the low β in H-1NF, providing experimental evidence that these modes can exist due to compression that is induced by the strong shaping in stellarators, in addition to high β, as is the case in tokamaks. This is confirmed using the CONTI and CAS3D codes, which show significant gap structures at lower frequencies which contain BAE and beta-acoustic Alfvén eigenmodes (BAAEs). The BAEs are excited in the absence of a well confined energetic particle source, further confirming previous studies that thermal particles, electrons, or even radiation fluctuations can drive these modes. Datamining of magnetic probe data shows the experimentally measured frequency of these modes has a clear dependence on the rotational transform profile, which is consistent with a frequency dependency due to postulated confinement related temperature variations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The role of photospheric magnetic fields in the variation of solar oscillation eigenfrequencies

The frequencies of solar oscillations have been found to be higher at the peak of the solar cycle, their variation being consistent with that expected from a change in the solar structure confined to the Sun's outer layers. In this work, a technique is introduced for estimating the effect of the highly inhomogeneous photospheric magnetic field on solar oscillation eigenfrequencies, and its results are compared with the solar data. It is found that the observed steep rise in frequency shift at low frequency and the leveling of or decline at high frequency are well reproduced by the model. The correct order of magnitude for the frequency changes is also reproduced, at least at low frequency. The model implies a particular functional form for the variation of the frequency changes with order and degree, and it is suggested that future advances in observation and theory will therefore allow this model to be confirmed or refuted.

Rosenthal, C. S.↗