Direction of impurity pinch and auxiliary heating in tokamak plasmas

A mechanism of particle pinch for trace impurities in tokamak plasmas, arising from the effect of parallel velocity fluctuations in the presence of a turbulent electrostatic potential, is identified analytically by means of a reduced fluid model and verified numerically with a gyrokinetic code for the first time. The direction of such a pinch reverses as a function of the direction of rotation of the turbulence in agreement with the impurity pinch reversal observed in some experiments when moving from dominant auxiliary ion heating to dominant auxiliary electron heating.     

Particle pinch in gyrokinetic simulations of closed field-line systems

Gyrokinetic simulations of small-scale turbulent transport in a closed magnetic field-line plasma geometry are presented. The simulations are potentially applicable to dipolar systems such as the levitated dipole experiment (LDX) [J. Kesner, Plasma Phys. Rep. 23, 742 (1997).] and planetary magnetospheres, as well as simpler systems such as the Z pinch. We report here for the first time the existence of a robust particle (and weaker temperature) pinch regime, in which the particles are transported up the density gradient. The particle pinch is driven by non-MHD entropy-mode turbulence at k(⊥) ρ(i) ～ 1 and particle pinch appears at larger η ≡ L(n)/L(T) ? 0.7, consistent with quasilinear theory. Our results suggest that entropy-mode transport will drive the LDX plasma profiles toward a state with η ～ 0.7 and pressure gradients that are near marginal ideal MHD interchange-mode stability.     

Gyrokinetic simulations of solar wind turbulence from ion to electron scales

A three-dimensional, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulation of plasma turbulence resolving scales from the ion to electron gyroradius with a realistic mass ratio is presented, where all damping is provided by resolved physical mechanisms. The resulting energy spectra are quantitatively consistent with a magnetic power spectrum scaling of k(-2.8) as observed in in situ spacecraft measurements of the "dissipation range" of solar wind turbulence. Despite the strongly nonlinear nature of the turbulence, the linear kinetic Alfvén wave mode quantitatively describes the polarization of the turbulent fluctuations. The collisional ion heating is measured at subion-Larmor radius scales, which provides evidence of the ion entropy cascade in an electromagnetic turbulence simulation.     

Influence of the static Dynamic Ergodic Divertor on edge turbulence properties in TEXTOR

Systematic measurements on the edge turbulence and turbulent transport have been made by Langmuir probe arrays on TEXTOR under various static Dynamic Ergodic Divertor (DED) configurations. Common features are observed. With the DED, in the ergodic zone the local turbulent flux reverses sign from radially outwards to inwards. The turbulence properties are profoundly modified by energy redistribution in frequency spectra and suppression of large scale eddies. The fluctuation poloidal phase velocity changes direction from electron to ion diamagnetic drift, consistent with the observed reversal of the Er x B flow. In the laminar region, the turbulence is found to react to an observed reduced flow shear.     

Classical impurity ion confinement in a toroidal magnetized fusion plasma

High-resolution measurements of impurity ion dynamics provide first-time evidence of classical ion confinement in a toroidal, magnetically confined plasma. The density profile evolution of fully stripped carbon is measured in MST reversed-field pinch plasmas with reduced magnetic turbulence to assess Coulomb-collisional transport without the neoclassical enhancement from particle drift effects. The impurity density profile evolves to a hollow shape, consistent with the temperature screening mechanism of classical transport. Corroborating methane pellet injection experiments expose the sensitivity of the impurity particle confinement time to the residual magnetic fluctuation amplitude.     

Self-regulation of E x B flow shear via plasma turbulence

The momentum balance has been applied to the ExB flow in the edge region of a reversed field pinch (RFP) configuration. All terms, including those involving fluctuations, have been measured in stationary condition in the edge region of the Extrap-T2R RFP experiment. It is found that the component of the Reynolds stress driven by electrostatic fluctuations is the term playing the major role in driving the shear of the ExB flow to a value marginal for turbulent suppression, so that the results are in favor of a turbulence self-regulating mechanism underlying the momentum balance at the edge. Balancing the sheared flow driving and damping terms, the plasma viscosity is found anomalous and consistent with the diffusivity due to electrostatic turbulence.     

Time resolved studies on X-rays and charged particles emission from a low energy plasma focus device

The time resolved studies on soft X-ray, hard X-ray, electron beam and ion beam emissions from a low energy plasma focus device are carried out simultaneously by employing a photodiode X-ray spectrometer, a scintillator photomultiplier tube, a combination of Faraday cup and Rogowski coil assembly and a biased Faraday cup, respectively. The soft X-ray is seen to be emitted in short multiple pulses corresponding to different pinch stages where as it is a single for hard X-ray, which corresponds to only maximum pinch stage. Similarly, multiple pulses of electron beam is found, which also corresponds to different pinch stages and these pulses are analogous with the soft X-ray pulses. The effective hard X-ray photon energy is estimated by foil absorption technique and found to be around 110 keV, which is consistent with the observed electron beam energy distribution. The simultaneous investigation of the electron and ion beam shows that both are accelerated by the same local field generated during the pinching process. The detailed results of time resolved studies on various radiations are incorporated in this Letter.     

Acoustic double layers in multispecies plasma

Particle simulation in a one-dimensional bounded system is used to examine the formation of acoustic double layers in the presence of two ion species. Double-layer formation depends critically on the details of the distribution functions of the supporting ion populations, and their relative drifts with respect to the electrons. The effect of having two ion components, an H⁺ and an O⁺ beam, on double-layer evolution from ion acoustic turbulence driven by an electron drift relative to the H⁺ beam of ≈0.5u _e, where uu_e is the electron thermal speed, is examined. The ratio of ion drifts is taken to be consistent with acceleration by a quasi-static auroral potential drop (i.e. V _H/V_O=√M_O/ M_H=4.0). Acoustic double layers form in either ion species on the time scale τ≈100ω_ps^-1, where ω_ps is the ion plasma frequency for species `s' and s=H or O, and for drifts relative to the electrons lower than that required for double layer formation in simulations of single ion component plasma     

Role of the velocity frame of reference in thermodiffusion in liquid mixtures

The role and significance of the velocity frame of reference in the interpretation, modeling and formulation of thermodiffusion in multicomponent liquid mixtures were investigated, focused on the nonequilibrium thermodynamics modeling approach. The effect of the velocity frame of reference on the phenomenological equations and thermodiffusion coefficients and expressions is explored. Theoretically and also by the aid of representative calculations, it is shown that while in binary mixtures transformation from one frame to another does not affect the sign and magnitude of the thermodiffusion coefficients, in multicomponent mixtures (ternary and higher), even the sign of the thermodiffusion coefficients may change when an alternative frame is used. This implies that in multicomponent mixtures for either experimental data or model estimations, the employed velocity frame for the thermodiffusion coefficients plays an important role in calculations. The Soret coefficients and the thermodiffusion factors are independent of the frame of reference.     

Anomalous transport due to drift-wave turbulence

The anomalous transport of particles and thermal energy is analyzed for the electron and ion temperature gradient driven drift-wave turbulence. The entropy production from the anomalous flows is calculated. Approximate formulas for the fluctuation spectra are briefly compared with a microwave scattering experiment in a low beta tokamak.     

Experimental study of trapped-electron-mode properties in tokamaks: threshold and stabilization by collisions

Trapped electron modes are one of the candidates to explain turbulence driven electron heat transport observed in tokamaks. This instability has two characteristics: a threshold in normalized gradient and stabilization by collisions. Experiments using modulated electron cyclotron heating in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak demonstrate explicitly the existence of the threshold. The stabilization with increasing collisionality is evidenced by a strong decrease of the propagation of heat pulses, explained by a transition to ion temperature gradient driven transport. These results are supported by linear gyrokinetic calculations.     

矩形分布高斯-谢尔模型列阵光束的等效曲率半径

 推导出矩形分布高斯-谢尔模型（GSM）列阵光束通过湍流大气传输的等效曲率半径的解析表达式。研究表明,等效曲率半径由湍流强度、GSM列阵光束参数及光束的叠加方式等因素共同确定。湍流使得等效曲率半径减小,但湍流对交叉谱密度函数叠加时等效曲率半径的影响要比光强叠加时大。在自由空间中,交叉谱密度函数叠加时GSM列阵光束的等效曲率半径要比光强叠加时的大。但是,随着湍流的增强,交叉谱密度函数叠加时GSM列阵光束的等效曲率半径可以大于、等于或小于光强叠加时的等效曲率半径。此外,若光束相干参数和子光束数目越大,则等效曲率半径受湍流的影响越大。GSM列阵光束的等效曲率半径受湍流的影响比高斯列阵光束要小。     

阴阳极等离子体运动对强箍缩离子束二极管束流特性的影响

 主要研究了阴阳极等离子体运动对“闪光二号”加速器强箍缩离子束二极管束流特性的影响。给出了考虑阴阳极产生的等离子体运动对二极管间隙影响的Child-langmuir流、弱聚焦流、强聚焦流和饱和顺位流4个阶段的离子流和二极管总束流修正公式，利用这些修正公式计算的二极管总束流和离子束流强度与实测结果符合很好，在此基础上分析了提高离子束流强度和效率的方法，通过调整加速器参数，实验得到了峰值能量约500 keV，峰值电流约160 kA的高功率离子束。     

Thermodiffusion and Vaporization of Metal from Levitated Droplet V. Determination of Condensation Rate and Thermodiffusion Parameters of Mn, Fe, and Ni Vapours

In the present paper the experimental data of vaporization from levitated droplet for Mn, Co, Ni in the flow of argon obtained from the bibliography were evaluated by means of the new method published in the previous work [Czech. J. Phys. 50 (2000) 737]. The rate constants of condensation, thermodiffusion ratios, thermodiffusion coefficients and the corresponding temperature dependencies were determined together with other physical quantities for Mn vapour at the temperature 2000 K and for Fe, Ni at 2200 K. The rate constant of condensation and the thermodiffusion ratio are higher for Ni than for Fe. The value of thermodiffusion coefficient determined for Mn is rather high and the rate constant of condensation is higher than for Ni. The increase of vaporization resulting from condensation and thermodiffusion for Mn was only 2.7-times and for Fe and Ni (5.5-5.65)-times. The process of vaporization from a levitated droplet includes molecular diffusion and convective diffusion, molecular thermodiffusion with vapour condensation and condensation without thermodiffusion. The proportions of these processes were for Mn in the range (37-29) condensation dominated and its share was over 70 accurate experimental data and this is the reason why the evaluation of the Co vaporization was unsuccessful. The work also presents some proposals of experimental procedures leading to the data accuracy improvement.     

On the transverse dispersion of a relativistic electron beam in the evolution of ion hose instability in the ion focusing regime

We investigate the transverse expansion of a relativistic electron beam propagating in a rarefied gas-plasma medium in the ion focusing regime during the development of ion hose instability. The expression is constructed for the pinch potential of the beam as a function of the amplitude of transverse deviation of the beam and on the parameter characterizing the ratio of the characteristic radial scales of the ion channel and of the electron beam. It is shown that this potential becomes substantially lower upon an increase in the hose oscillation amplitude and when the ion channel expands relative to the transverse size of the beam cross section.     

Two types of definitions for Rayleigh range

A comparison of the Rayleigh range between the two types of definitions (defined by the mean-squared beam width and the effective radius of curvature) is studied analytically and numerically, where the propagation of partially coherent beams both in free space and in atmospheric turbulence are considered. It is shown that the two types of the Rayleigh range definitions are consistent in free space. However, in turbulence the Rayleigh range defined by the mean-squared beam width is smaller than that defined by the effective radius of curvature. The main results obtained in this paper are illustrated by numerical calculation examples, where partially coherent Hermite–Gaussian (PCH–G) beams are considered.     

Experimental evidence for gradient length-driven electron transport in tokamaks

Energy transport by the electrons in a tokamak is examined in steady-state and power modulation experiments using electron cyclotron heating. The results are consistent with the assumption that temperature profiles are limited by a critical gradient length, leading to "stiff" profiles. The modulation experiments show that the stiffness factor increases with temperature. They strongly suggest that turbulence driven by the electron temperature gradient may be a dominant mechanism of electron transport. Although possibly not universal, these results are valid under various plasma conditions.     

The Localized Pinch Model as a High Energy Ion Collective Acceleration Mechanism

We present analytic and numerical calculations of the localized pinch model for ion collective acceleration by intense relativistic electron beams. These studies demonstrate the model's postulated synchronous acceleration of the ion clump and beam pinch. However, the configuration is found to be phase unstable, terminating the acceleration process before significant ion energy is acheived. Therefore, although the localized pinch model may be an appropriate explanation for some previous experimental observations of collectively accelerated MeV ions, it does not appear to be a suitable mechanism for high energy ion acceleration.     

部分空间相干光束在非Kolmogorov湍流大气中的有效曲率半径

激光在湍流大气中的传输有重要的理论研究和实际应用意义.以高斯-谢尔模型(GSM)光束作为部分空间相干光的典型例,基于非Kolmogorov谱和广义惠更斯-菲涅耳原理, 推导出GSM光束在非Kolmogorov湍流中的有效曲率半径的解析表达式. 重点研究了湍流参数(包括广义指数α,内尺度l₀,和外尺度L₀) 和传输距离z分别对GSM光束有效曲率半径的影响.结果表明, 有效曲率半径R_x(z)随α和z增加先减小然后再增大, 随L₀的减小而增大(3.6<α< 4),随l₀的增加而增大.并对结果做了物理解释.     

Scattering of Low-Energy Electrons by Positive Ions in a Magnetic Field. I. Quantum Calculation of Transition Probabilities

We analyze electron–ion collisions in a magnetic field at a low temperature, for which the electron’s Larmor radius is less than the characteristic impact parameter of close collisions without the magnetic field. This ratio of spatial scales is realized in the photospheres of magnetic white dwarfs and in the experiments of antihydrogen creation. Under considered conditions, an electron transits from the initial to the final state via an intermediate quasibound state. We put forward an approximate analytical procedure for the quantum-mechanical calculation of the probabilities for an electron to transit between Landau levels due to a collision with an ion. We reduce the calculation to the inversion of finite-dimension matrices. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 512–525, June 2008.