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NASA NTRS2016

Penetration of Magnetosheath Plasma into Dayside Magnetosphere: Magnetic Field in Plasma Filaments - 2.

In this paper, we examined plasma structures (filaments), observed in the dayside magnetosphere but containing magnetosheath plasma. These filaments show the stable antisunward motion (while the ambient magnetospheric plasma moved in the opposite direction) and the existence of a strip of magnetospheric plasma, separating these filaments from the magnetosheath. These results, however, contradict both theoretical studies and simulations by Schindler (1979), Ma et al. (1991), Dai and Woodward (1994, 1998), and other researchers, who reported that the motion of such filaments through the magnetosphere is possible only when their magnetic field is directed very close to the ambient magnetic field, which is not the situation that is observed. In this study, we show that this seeming contradiction may be related to different events as the theoretical studies and simulations are related to the case when the filament magnetic field is about aligned with filament orientation, whereas the observations show that the magnetic field in these filaments may be rotating. In this case, the rotating magnetic field, changing incessantly its direction, drastically affects the penetration of plasma filaments into the magnetosphere. In this case, the filaments with rotating magnetic field, even if in each moment it is significantly inclined to the ambient magnetic field, may propagate through the magnetosphere, if their average (for the rotation period) magnetic field is aligned with the ambient magnetic field. This shows that neglecting the rotation of magnetic field in these filaments may lead to wrong results.

Lyatsky, Wladislaw↗

NASA NTRS2008

Localized arc filament plasma actuators for noise mitigation and mixing enhancement

A device for controlling fluid flow. The device includes an arc generator coupled to electrodes. The electrodes are placed adjacent a fluid flowpath such that upon being energized by the arc generator, an arc filament plasma adjacent the electrodes is formed. In turn, this plasma forms a localized high temperature, high pressure perturbation in the adjacent fluid flowpath. The perturbations can be arranged to produce vortices, such as streamwise vortices, in the flowing fluid to control mixing and noise in such flows. The electrodes can further be arranged within a conduit configured to contain the flowing fluid such that when energized in a particular frequency and sequence, can excite flow instabilities in the flowing fluid. The placement of the electrodes is such that they are unobtrusive relative to the fluid flowpath being controlled.

Samimy, Mohammad↗

NASA NTRS2010

Localized arc filament plasma actuators for noise mitigation and mixing enhancement

Samimy, Mohammad↗

NASA NTRS2011

LES of a Jet Excited by the Localized Arc Filament Plasma Actuators

The fluid dynamics of a high-speed jet are governed by the instability waves that form in the free-shear boundary layer of the jet. Jet excitation manipulates the growth and saturation of particular instability waves to control the unsteady flow structures that characterize the energy cascade in the jet.The results may include jet noise mitigation or a reduction in the infrared signature of the jet. The Localized Arc Filament Plasma Actuators (LAFPA) have demonstrated the ability to excite a high-speed jets in laboratory experiments. Extending and optimizing this excitation technology, however, is a complex process that will require many tests and trials. Computational simulations can play an important role in understanding and optimizing this actuator technology for real-world applications. Previous research has focused on developing a suitable actuator model and coupling it with the appropriate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods using two-dimensional spatial flow approximations. This work is now extended to three-dimensions (3-D) in space. The actuator model is adapted to a series of discrete actuators and a 3-D LES simulation of an excited jet is run. The results are used to study the fluid dynamics near the actuator and in the jet plume.

Brown, Clifford A.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Scalability of Localized Arc Filament Plasma Actuators

Temporal flow control of a jet has been widely studied in the past to enhance jet mixing or reduce jet noise. Most of this research, however, has been done using small diameter low Reynolds number jets that often have little resemblance to the much larger jets common in real world applications because the flow actuators available lacked either the power or bandwidth to sufficiently impact these larger higher energy jets. The Localized Arc Filament Plasma Actuators (LAFPA), developed at the Ohio State University (OSU), have demonstrated the ability to impact a small high speed jet in experiments conducted at OSU and the power to perturb a larger high Reynolds number jet in experiments conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center. However, the response measured in the large-scale experiments was significantly reduced for the same number of actuators compared to the jet response found in the small-scale experiments. A computational study has been initiated to simulate the LAFPA system with additional actuators on a large-scale jet to determine the number of actuators required to achieve the same desired response for a given jet diameter. Central to this computational study is a model for the LAFPA that both accurately represents the physics of the actuator and can be implemented into a computational fluid dynamics solver. One possible model, based on pressure waves created by the rapid localized heating that occurs at the actuator, is investigated using simplified axisymmetric simulations. The results of these simulations will be used to determine the validity of the model before more realistic and time consuming three-dimensional simulations are conducted to ultimately determine the scalability of the LAFPA system.

Brown, Clifford A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Energy transport by energetic electrons released during solar flares. II - Current filamentation and plasma heating

Two-dimensional electrostatic particle simulations are performed in order to investigate energy transport associated with the propagation of energetic electrons through a flaring flux tube. Results indicate that as the energetic electrons flow outward, a return current of ambient plasma electrons is drawn inward (to maintain quasi-neutrality) which can be spatially separate from the primary current carried by the energetic electrons. Return current electrons are shown to accumulate on either side of the acceleration region of the energetic electrons, and depletions of ambient plasma electrons develop in the return current regions. Plasma ions accelerate across the field lines to produce current closure or charge neutralization, achieving energies comparable to those of the energetic electrons.

Winglee, R. M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The nonlinear evolution of magnetized solar filaments

Thermal instability driven by optically thin radiation is believed to initiate the formation of plasma filaments in the solar corona. The fact that filaments are observed generally to separate regions of opposite, line-of-sight, magnetic polarity in the underlying photosphere suggests that filament formation requires the presence of a highly sheared, local magnetic field. Two-dimensional, nonlinear, magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the local genesis and growth of solar filaments in a force-free, sheared, magnetic field were performed, and the evolution of generic perturbations possessing broad spatial profiles was traced. It was found that simulations of the evolution of initial random-noise perturbations produce filamentary plasma structures that exhibit densities and temperatures characteristic of observed solar filaments. Furthermore, in each of these simulations, the filament axis lies at a finite angle with respect to the local magnetic field, consistent with solar observations.

Sparks, L.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Artificial plasma density structures produced by energetic electron beams from rockets and spacecraft

Recent rocket and Space Shuttle experiments have demonstrated the capability to launch electron beams of moderate power (100 W to 10 kW) into the earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere. This letter describes how such beams, when fired from rockets or satellites, can create significant ionization in the E- and F-regions of the ionosphere. Through proper selection of beam-related parameters, an interesting variety of plasma density structures, including plasma sheets and plasma filaments, can be created and studied over periods of 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the rate of plasma recombination and the density of the ambient plasma. Observations of these structures can give new information relating to the physics of plasma density structures in the ionosphere, and the effects these features have upon the scattering of radio waves. It is also possible that observations of the density structures will provide a new means for studying neutral winds and electrodynamic phenomena in the ionosphere.

Banks, P. M.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Flow and Noise Control in High Speed and High Reynolds Number Jets Using Plasma Actuators

The idea of manipulating flow to change its characteristics is over a century old. Manipulating instabilities of a jet to increase its mixing and to reduce its radiated noise started in the 1970s. While the effort has been successful in low-speed and low Reynolds number jets, available actuators capabilities in terms of their amplitude, bandwidth, and phasing have fallen short in control of high-speed and high Reynolds number jets of practical interest. Localized arc filament plasma actuators have recently been developed and extensively used at Gas Dynamics and Turbulence Laboratory (GDTL) for control of highspeed and high Reynolds number jets. While the technique has been quite successful and is very promising, all the work up to this point had been carried out using small high subsonic and low supersonic jets from a 2.54 cm diameter nozzle exit with a Reynolds number of about a million. The preliminary work reported in this paper is a first attempt to evaluate the scalability of the technique. The power supply/plasma generator was designed and built in-house at GDTL to operate 8 actuators simultaneously over a large frequency range (0 to 200 kHz) with independent control over phase and duty cycle of each actuator. This allowed forcing the small jet at GDTL with azimuthal modes m = 0, 1, 2, 3, plus or minus 1, plus or minus 2, and plus or minus 4 over a large range of frequencies. This power supply was taken to and used, with minor modifications, at the NASA Nozzle Acoustic Test Rig (NATR). At NATR, 32 actuators were distributed around the 7.5 in. nozzle (a linear increase with nozzle exit diameter would require 60 actuators). With this arrangement only 8 actuators could operate simultaneously, thus limiting the forcing of the jet at NATR to only three azimuthal modes m = plus or minus 1, 4, and 8. Very preliminary results at NATR indicate that the trends observed in the larger NASA facility in terms of the effects of actuation frequency and azimuthal modes are similar in both small GDTL and larger NASA jets. However, the actuation authority seems to fall short in the larger jet at higher Mach numbers, resulting in decreased amplitude response compared to the small jet, which is attributed at this point to the lack of sufficient number of actuators. The preliminary results seem also to suggest that amplitude of actuation tones is similar in both the small and larger jets.

Samimy, M.↗

NASA NTRS2019

First Detection of Plasmoids from Breakout Reconnection on the Sun

Transient collimated plasma ejections (jets) occur frequently throughout the solar corona, in active regions, quiet Sun, and coronal holes. Although magnetic reconnection is generally agreed to be the mechanism of energy release in jets, the factors that dictate the location and rate of reconnection remain unclear. Our previous studies demonstrated that the magnetic breakout model explains the triggering and evolution of most jets over a wide range of scales, through detailed comparisons between our numerical simulations and high-resolution observations. An alternative explanation, the resistive-kink model, invokes breakout reconnection without forming and explosively expelling a flux rope. Here we report direct observations of breakout reconnection and plasmoid formation during two jets in the fan-spine topology of an embedded bipole. For the first time, we observed the formation and evolution of multiple small plasmoids with bidirectional flows associated with fast reconnection in 3D breakout current sheets (BCSs) in the solar corona. The first narrow jet was launched by reconnection at the BCS originating at the deformed 3D null, without significant flare reconnection or a filament eruption. In contrast, the second jet and release of cool filament plasma were triggered by explosive breakout reconnection when the leading edge of the rising flux rope formed by flare reconnection beneath the filament encountered the preexisting BCS. These observations solidly support both reconnection-driven jet models: the resistive kink for the first jet, and the breakout model for the second explosive jet with a filament eruption.

Kumar, Pankaj↗

NASA NTRS1995

The microscopic state of the solar wind: Links between composition, velocity distributions, waves and turbulence

An overview is given of the microscopic state of the solar wind with emphasis on recent Ulysses high-latitude observations and previous Helios in-ecliptic observations. The possible links between composition, ionization state. velocity distribution functions of electrons, protons and heavy ions. kinetic plasma waves and MHD-scale turbulence are elaborated. Emphasis is placed on a connection of interplanetary kinetic-scale phenomena with their generating microscopic processes in the corona. The fast streams seem to consist of mesoscale pressure-balanced plasma filaments and magnetic flux tubes, reminiscent of the supergranular-size structures building the open corona, from which copious Alfven waves emanate. The wind from the magnetically structured and active corona shows developed compressive turbulence and considerable abundance and ionization state variations. Some modelling attempts to explain the observed element fractionation are briefly reviewed. The causes of the nonthermal particle features. such as proton-ion differential streaming, ion beams. temperature anisotropies, and skewed distributions associated with collisionless heat conduction, are ultimately to be searched in the fact, that the corona is never quiescent but fundamentally variable in space and time. Consequently, the radial evolution of the internal state of the wind resembles at all latitudes a complicated relaxation process, in the course of which the free (in comparison with LTE conditions) particle kinetic energy is converted into plasma waves and MHD turbulence on a wide range of scales. This leads to intermittent wave-particle interactions and unsteady anomalous transport, mixed with the weak effects of the rare Coulomb collisions. Spherical expansion and large-scale inhomogeneity forces the wind to attain microscopically a complex internal state of dynamic statistical equilibrium.

Marsch, E.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Observation of reconnection phenomena at synchronous orbit

SCATHA satellite observations of large-amplitude magnetic field oscillations in the magnetosheath and in the associated plasma are studied. Large-amplitude variations in the magnetosheath magnetic field intensity with a quasi-period of 10 s were observed. Nearly static structures of high-beta plasma associated with the magnetic field minima and low-beta plasma associated with the magnetic field maxima were observed convecting toward the earth. The morphology of charged particle data for the transition between the magnetosphere and the magnetosheath for a northward magnetosheath magnetic field is presented. A convection electric field of about 9 mV/m was inferred from the spectral difference between solar and antisolar drifting ions in the magnetosheath near a magnetopause rotational discontinuity. A trapped component was observed in the magnetosheath plasma during both northward and southward magnetosheath magnetic fields. It is concluded that flux transfer events arise from the interaction of the earthward convecting plasma filaments with the magnetospheric magnetic field at the magnetopause.

Croley, D. R., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Interaction of solar wind with the magnetopause-boundary layer and generation of magnetic impulse events

The transport of mass, momentum, energy and waves from the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere takes place in the magnetopause-boundary layer region. Various plasma processes that may occur in this region have been proposed and studied. In this paper, we present a brief review of the plasma processes in the dayside magnetopause-boundary layer. These processes include (1) flux transfer events at the dayside magnetopause, (2) formation of plasma vortices in the low-latitude boundary layer by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and coupling to the polar ionosphere, (3) the response of the magnetopause to the solar wind dynamic pressure pulses, and (4) the impulsive penetration of solar wind plasma filaments through the dayside magnetopause into the magnetospheric boundary layer. Through the coupling of the magnetopause-boundary layer to the polar ionosphere, those above processes may lead to occurrence of magnetic impulse events observed in the high-latitude stations.

Lee, L. C.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Acceleration of electrons and ions by strong lower-hybrid turbulence in solar flares

One of the outstanding problems in solar flare theory is how to explain the 10-20 keV and greater hard x-ray emissions by a thick target bremsstrahlung model. The model requires the acceleration mechanism to accelerate approximately 10(exp 35) electrons sec(exp -l) with comparable energies, without producing a large return current which persists for long time scales after the beam ceases to exist due to Lenz's law, thereby, producing a self-magnetic field of order a few mega-Gauss. In this paper, we investigate particle acceleration resulting from the relaxation of unstable ion ring distributions, producing strong wave activity at the lower hybrid frequency. It is shown that strong lower hybrid wave turbulence collapses in configuration space producing density cavities containing intense electrostatic lower hybrid wave activity. The collapse of these intense nonlinear wave packets saturate by particle acceleration producing energetic electron and ion tails. There are several mechanisms whereby unstable ion distributions could be formed in the solar atmosphere, including reflection at perpendicular shocks, tearing modes, and loss cone depletion. Numerical simulations of ion ring relaxation processes, obtained using a 2 1/2-D fully electromagnetic, relativistic particle in cell code are discussed. We apply the results to the problem of explaining energetic particle production in solar flares. The results show the simultaneous acceleration of both electrons and ions to very high energies: electrons are accelerated to energies in the range 10-500 keV, while ions are accelerated to energies of the order of MeVs, giving rise to x-ray emission and gamma-ray emission respectively. Our simulations also show wave generation at the electron cyclotron frequency. We suggest that these waves are the solar millisecond radio spikes. The strong turbulence collapse process leads to a highly filamented plasma producing many localized regions for particle acceleration and resulting in approximately 10(exp 17) electron 'beamlets' of width approximately equal to 10 lambda sub De which eliminates the production of large magnetic fields. In this paper, we demonstrate that the model produces an energetic electron spectrum with the right flux to account for the hard x-ray observations.

Spicer, D. S.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Hinode-IRIS HOP for Searching for Possible Solar Jet Sources for Switchbacks Observed in the Near-Sun Solar Wind by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP)

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) detects “switchback” magnetic structures in the near-Sun solar wind. A candidate for the source of these is solar coronal jets. Recent studies show that coronal jets are frequently made by eruptions of small-filament-carrying flux ropes, or mini filament flux-rope eruptions, that can inject a magnetic twist wave onto high-reaching ambient magnetic field(Sterling et al. 2015; Moore et al 2015).That is, many coronal jets evidently result from the eruption of a small-scale flux rope of twisted field that holds a mini filament of chromospheric-temperature plasma. The erupting flux rope reconnects with ambient far-reaching field, ejecting both reconnection-heated plasma and cool filament plasma (forming the multi-temperature jet spire), and transferring its twist onto the far-reaching field via a mechanism proposed by Shibata & Uchida(1986).If the far-reaching field opens into the heliosphere, it is plausible that the twist propagates out into the solar wind, possibly appearing as a switchback in the magnetic field in the solar wind (Sterling & Moore 2020).As part of the "Connecting Heliophysics Observatories and Models with PSP" (CHOMP)investigation led by Pete Riley and funded by NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory Connect (HSOC) Program, we are currently We are currently running a joint Hinode-IRIS HOP, HOP 410, for coordinated observations of the Sun during times of PSP perihelia. An output from this study is a series of soft X-ray movies from Hinode/XRT. If PSP sees a strong switchback during any of its front-side or partly-front-side perihelia, we will examine the corresponding XRT movies to see whether exceptional jet activity occurred at the expected time and location of the potential source of the switchback on the Sun. This work is supported by the NASA HSOC and HGI programs, and by the MSFC Hinode project.

Alphonse C Sterling↗

NASA NTRS1987

A method for overcoming the velocity space filamentation problem in collisionless plasma model solutions

The solution of filtered Vlasov-Maxwell equations, rather than the Vlasov-Maxwell equations themselves, is shown to ameliorate the velocity space filamentation problem in collisionless plasma models. Exact field solutions and filtered velocity distribution functions are obtained without introducing errors. Proper selection of the filter width is demonstrated to inhibit development of velocity space filamentation and, it is conjectured, position space filamentation. The results of sample calculations of both filtered and nonfiltered field solutions illustrate a high degree of agreement between both solutions, with significant savings in computational time and memory requirements with the filtered solutions.

Klimas, Alexander J.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Cosmic plasma

Attention is given to experimental and theoretical approaches to plasma physics, plasma phenomena in laboratory and space, field and particle aspects of plasmas, the present state of the classical theory, boundary conditions and circuit dependence, and cosmology. Electric currents in space plasmas are considered, taking into account dualism in physics, particle-related phenomena in plasma physics, magnetic field lines, filaments, local plasma properties and the circuit, electric double layers, field-aligned currents as 'cables', an expanding circuit, different types of plasma regions, the cellular structure of space, and the fine structure of active plasma regions. Other topics discussed are related to circuits, the theory of cosmic plasmas, the origin of the solar system, the coexistence of matter and antimatter, annihilation as a source of energy, the Hubble expansion in a Euclidean space, and a model for the evolution of the Metagalaxy.

Alfven, H.↗

NASA NTRS1981

The field and plasma configuration of a filament overlying a solar bipolar magnetic region

This paper presents an analytic model for a finite-size straight filament suspended horizontally in a steady state over a bipolar magnetic region. The equations of magnetostatic equilibrium are integrated exactly. The solution obtained illustrates the roles played by the electric current, magnetic field, pressure, and plasma weight in the balance of force everywhere in space. A specific example of a filament of diameter 50,000 km, with a density two orders of magnitude over the corona and supported by a magnetic field of about 4 gauss is included. The filament temperature can take values ranging from a small fraction to a few times the coronal temperature, depending on the internal electric current of the filament. To produce a cool filament, such as the quiescent prominence, the solution is required to have an internal field with a strong component along the filament, giving rise to helical structures. A hot filament such as the X-ray coronal loop can be produced as a twisted magnetic flux tube embedded in a strong background field aligned parallel to the filament and having lower density and temperature. The basic steps of construction can be used to develop models more realistic than the ones presented for their analytic simplicity.

Low, B. C.↗