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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 1,639 records · Page 91
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Spontaneous focusing of plasma flow in a weak perpendicular magnetic field

Structure formation of high-beta plasma flow in a perpendicular magnetic field is investigated in the ion kinetic regime by a fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulation. We demonstrate that directional plasma flow is spontaneously focused to form a sharp density structure. The primary focusing process comes from field-aligned electron inflow associated with the whistler mode and plasma confinement due to a self-generated magnetic field. The resulting concave magnetic field lines modulate ion gyration to cause a secondary focusing process with significant plasma concentration. Required conditions for these processes are determined by a dimensionless parameter α ≡ β{sub i0}(Δ{sub W}/ρ{sub i0}), where β{sub i0}, Δ{sub W}, and ρ{sub i0} denote the plasma kinetic beta, window size, and ion gyration radius, respectively. The focusing process is apparent for small α, whereas diamagnetic expansion is dominant for large α. This condition describes a transition between diamagnetic cavity formation and the focusing process.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Weakly relativistic electromagnetic solitons in warm plasmas

For slowly propagating electromagnetic solitons, validity of the cold plasma model is addressed using a more realistic model involving effects arising due to temperature as well as ion dynamics. Small amplitude single peak structures which are quasineutral are studied, and different regions of existence of bright and dark classes of solitons are delineated. Influence of temperature on spectral characteristics of the solitary structures is presented.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Energetic particle modes of q = 1 high-order harmonics in tokamak plasmas with monotonic weak magnetic shear

Linear and nonlinear simulations of high-order harmonics q=1 energetic particle modes excited by trapped energetic particles in tokamaks are carried out using kinetic/magnetohydrodynamic hybrid code M3D-K. It is found that with a flat safety factor profile in the core region, the linear growth rate of high-order harmonics (m=n>1) driven by energetic trapped particles can be higher than the m/n=1/1 component. The high m=n>1 modes become more unstable when the pressure of energetic particles becomes higher. Moreover, it is shown that there exist multiple resonant locations satisfying different resonant conditions in the phase space of energetic particles for the high-order harmonics modes, whereas there is only one precessional resonance for the m/n=1/1 harmonics. The fluid nonlinearity reduces the saturation level of the n=1 component, while it hardly affects those of the high n components, especially the modes with m=n=3,4. The frequency of these modes does not chirp significantly, which is different with the typical fishbone driven by trapped particles. Lastly, in addition, the flattening region of energetic particle distribution due to high-order harmonics excitation is wider than that due to m/n=1/1 component, although the m/n=1/1 component has a higher saturation amplitude.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Erratum: Electrokinetic detection for x-ray spectra of weakly interacting liquids: n-decane and n-nonane [J. Chem. Phys. 140, 234202 (2014)]

Here, the peak centered at 287.8 eV was incorrectly assigned to a C(1s) → σ* (C–C) transition. This peak corresponds to a second C(1s) → σ* (C–H) transition orthogonal to the peak at 287.2 eV as can be seen with the revisualized isosurfaces for the two states. The revisualized isosurfaces use the same calculated volumetric data for the core-excited electron density from the original article. This erroneous assignment appears in the last paragraph on page 4 and in Fig. 4. An updated Fig. 4 with the revisualized isosurfaces is presented here.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of calcium ions on the interactions between surfaces end-grafted with weak polyelectrolytes

We study the interactions between two planar surfaces end-tethered with poly(acrylic acid) polymers in electrolyte solutions containing calcium ions, using a molecular theory. We found that by adding divalent calcium ions to an aqueous solution of monovalent ions leads to a dramatic reduction in the size and range of effective interactions between the two polymer layers. This is caused by the formation of favorable calcium bridges, i.e., complexes of one calcium ion and two carboxylic acid monomers, that reduce the effective charge of the polymer layers and, at sufficient calcium ion concentrations, can cause the polymer layers to collapse. For calcium ion concentrations above approximately 1 mM, the repulsions between the opposing end-grafted surfaces disappear and attractions occur. These attractions are correlated with the occurrence of interlayer divalent calcium bridges and do not occur for poly(acrylic acid) layers in contact with reservoir solutions containing only monovalent ions. This result indicates the suitability of divalent calcium ions to control and change the interaction range and strength, which is a useful property that is desirable in the design of stimuli-responsive nanomaterials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Mean force kinetic theory: A convergent kinetic theory for weakly and strongly coupled plasmas

A new closure of the BBGKY hierarchy is developed, which results in a convergent kinetic equation that provides a rigorous extension of plasma kinetic theory into the regime of strong Coulomb coupling. The approach is based on a single expansion parameter which enforces that the exact equilibrium limit is maintained at all orders. Because the expansion parameter does not explicitly depend on the range or the strength of the interaction potential, the resulting kinetic theory does not suffer from the typical divergences at short and long length scales encountered when applying the standard kinetic equations to Coulomb interactions. Here, the approach demonstrates that particles effectively interact via the potential of mean force and that the range of this force determines the size of the collision volume. When applied to a plasma, the collision operator is shown to be related to the effective potential theory [S. D. Baalrud and J. Daligault, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 235001 (2013)]. In addition to the collision operator, this systematic derivation reveals a second term that is related to the excess (nonideal) components of the pressure and internal energy in the hydrodynamic limit. The relationship between this and previous kinetic theories is discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Potential vorticity transport in weakly and strongly magnetized plasmas

Tangled magnetic fields, often coexisting with an ordered mean field, have a major impact on turbulence and momentum transport in many plasmas, including those found in the solar tachocline and magnetic confinement devices. We present a novel mean field theory of potential vorticity mixing in β-plane magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and drift wave turbulence. Our results show that mean square stochastic fields strongly reduce Reynolds stress coherence. This decoherence of potential vorticity flux due to stochastic field scattering leads to suppression of momentum transport and zonal flow formation. A simple calculation suggests that the breaking of the shear-eddy tilting feedback loop by stochastic fields is the key underlying physics mechanism. Furthermore, a dimensionless parameter that quantifies the increment in power threshold is identified and used to assess the impact of stochastic field on the L-H transition. We discuss a model of stochastic fields as a resisto-elastic network.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Strong-Weak Duality via Jordan-Wigner Transformation: Using Fermionic Methods for Strongly Correlated su(2) Spin Systems

The Jordan-Wigner transformation establishes a duality between $su(2)$ and fermionic algebras. We present qualitative arguments and numerical evidence that when mapping spins to fermions, the transformation makes strong correlation weaker, as demonstrated by the Hartree-Fock approximation to the transformed Hamiltonian. This result can be rationalized in terms of rank reduction of spin shift terms when transformed to fermions. Conversely, the mapping of fermions to qubits makes strong correlation stronger, complicating its solution when one uses qubit-based correlators. The presence of string operators poses challenges to the implementation of quantum chemistry methods on classical computers, but these can be dealt with using established techniques of low computational cost. Here, our proof of principle results for XXZ and J1-J2 Heisenberg (in 1D and 2D) indicate that the JW transformed fermionic Hamiltonian has reduced complexity in key regions of their phase diagrams, and provides a better starting point for addressing challenging spin problems.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Evolution of coupled weakly driven waves in a dissipative plasma

The nonlinear collisional dynamics of coupled driven plasma waves in the presence of background dissipation is studied analytically within kinetic theory. Sufficiently near marginal stability, phase space correlations are poorly preserved and time delays become unimportant. The system is then shown to be governed by two first-order coupled autonomous differential equations of cubic order for the wave amplitudes and two complementary first-order equations for the evolution of their phases. That system of equations can be decoupled and further simplified to a single second-order differential equation of Liénard's type for each amplitude. Numerical solutions for this equation are obtained in the general case, while analytic solutions are obtained for special cases in terms of parameters related to the spacing of the resonances of the two waves in frequency space, e.g., wave lengths and oscillation frequencies. These parameters are further analyzed to find classes of quasi-steady saturation and pulsating scenarios. To classify equilibrium points, local stability analysis is applied, and bifurcation conditions are determined. When the two waves saturate at similar amplitude levels, their combined signal is shown to invariably exhibit amplitude beating and phase jumps of nearly π. In conclusion, the obtained analytical results can be used to benchmark simulations and to interpret eigenmode amplitude measurements in fusion experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mesoscale simulation of granular materials under weak shock compaction–pore size distribution effects

This research established a systematic method to generate various pore-size distributions (PSDs) and studied the effect of PSDs on the shock compaction response of granular materials using two-dimensional mesoscale simulations under identical porosity. Simulations utilized various PSDs for three particle shapes (circle, ellipse, and square). Contacting particle configurations using three PSDs, characterized by spatially uniform distributed pores to heterogeneous distributed pores, and non-contacting particle configurations under a single case of PSD were tested. The PSD of generated particle sets was characterized using coordination number, mean diameter, and bimodality coefficient as statistical metrics. Mesoscale simulations showed that regardless of the conditions of pore distributions, shock compaction of granular materials consistently demonstrates a precursor, shock compaction front, and end. However, the shock compaction velocity of contacting particles was dependent on the PSDs despite the constant initial porosity. The compaction velocity was faster in particle configurations with relatively uniform pore distributions than in heterogeneous pore distributions, which our study demonstrated can be attributed to particle rearrangement during compaction. Circular-shaped particles had high sensitivity in shock compaction response to the various PSDs. Furthermore, a contacting particle configuration tended to propagate the shock compaction wave relatively faster than particles that were in a non-contact configuration. This study established the relative importance of considering PSD as a metric over the coordination number in studies of the shock compaction response of granular materials. Further, insights are provided on the evolving shock substructure to characterize the shock compaction response of granular materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Generation of quasi-monochromatic beams of accelerated electrons during interaction of weak-contrast intense femtosecond laser radiation with a metal-foil edge

The formation of monoenergetic beams of accelerated electrons by focusing femtosecond laser radiation with an intensity of 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 17} W cm{sup -2} onto an edge of aluminium foil has been experimentally demonstrated. The electrons had energy distributions peaking in the range from 0.2 to 0.8 MeV and an energy spread less than 20 %. The acceleration mechanism related to the generation of a plasma wave as a result of self-modulation instability of the laser pulse in the subcritical plasma formed the prepulse of the laser system (arriving 10 ns before the main pulse) is considered. Onedimensional PIC simulation of the interaction between the laser radiation and plasma with a concentration of 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3} showed that effective excitation of a plasma wave, as well as the trapping and acceleration of the electron beam with an energy on the order of 1 MeV, may occur in the presence of inhomogeneities in the density at the plasma boundary and in the temporal shape of the beam. (extreme light fields and their applications)

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Optimisation of external cavity parameters of a weak absorption laser spectrometer

We consider some peculiar features of the optimisation procedure of external optical cavity parameters of a laser spectrometer, caused by the use of a three-beam measurement scheme and the presence of losses in the mirrors. It is found that the maximum sensitivity to the absorption of an intracavity medium can be achieved only at a certain choice of the value and the ratio of the reflection coefficients of the mirrors. For example, registration of the spectra of the methane impurity in the atmosphere shows that in accordance with the calculation model, for the same resonator Q-factor the use of an input mirror with a smaller reflection coefficient allows the measurement sensitivity to be increased by approximately two times. (laser spectroscopy)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Study of an electrodynamic system consisting of a laser cavity and an external weakly reflecting element

The behaviour of the electromagnetic field in a three-mirror laser cavity is described using the method of integral equations. The results of numerical calculations and experimental studies for particular examples implementing the considered configuration are presented. The conditions for optimal tuning of a laser interferometer-deformograph with a three-mirror cavity are determined. The contribution of the reflected and scattered light and arising additional seismic noises to the resulting error of laser gravitational wave detectors is studied. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

TURBULENCE IN THE OUTER REGIONS OF PROTOPLANETARY DISKS. I. WEAK ACCRETION WITH NO VERTICAL MAGNETIC FLUX

We use local numerical simulations to investigate the strength and nature of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks, where ambipolar diffusion is the dominant non-ideal MHD effect. The simulations include vertical stratification and assume zero net vertical magnetic flux. We employ a super time-stepping technique to ameliorate the Courant restriction on the diffusive time step. We find that in idealized stratified simulations, with a spatially constant ambipolar Elsasser number Am, turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) behaves in a similar manner as in prior unstratified calculations. Turbulence dies away for Am {<=} 1, and becomes progressively more vigorous as ambipolar diffusion is decreased. Near-ideal MHD behavior is recovered for Am {>=} 10{sup 3}. In the intermediate regime (10 {<=} Am {<=} 10{sup 3}) ambipolar diffusion leads to substantial increases in both the period of the MRI dynamo cycle and the characteristic scales of magnetic field structures. To quantify the impact of ambipolar physics on disk accretion, we run simulations at 30 AU and 100 AU that include a vertical Am profile based upon far-ultraviolet (FUV) ionized disk models. These models develop a vertically layered structure analogous to the Ohmic dead zone that is present at smaller radii. We find that, although the levels of surface turbulence can be strong (and consistent with constraints on turbulent line widths at these radii), the inferred accretion rates are at least an order of magnitude smaller than those observed in T Tauri stars. This discrepancy is very likely due to the assumption of zero vertical magnetic field in our simulations and suggests that vertical magnetic fields are essential for MRI-driven accretion in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗