Evolution of a vortex in gas-discharge plasma with allowance for gas compressibility

The dynamics of a vortex tube in a compressible medium with the Rayleigh energy release mechanism has been considered theoretically. The analytic theory of this phenomenon is constructed and various approximations have been considered. The range of applicability conditions for the vortex formation theory has been extended substantially. It has been shown based on the model of a plasma as a Rayleigh medium that, for a certain relative orientation of the vortex axis and the electric field vector at an air pressure of tens of Torr, a vortex tube in the glow discharge plasma is destroyed over time intervals on the order of hundredths of a second. It has been found that allowance for the compressibility leads to an increase in the rate of vortex destruction. For this medium, the time dependences of the tangential velocity in a vortex tube have been calculated for various initial parameters. The similarity rules for the given phenomena and the universal dependence of the vortex tube dynamics have been obtained.     

Rotation of a single vortex in dusty plasma

A single vortex is obtained in radio-frequency capacitive discharge in argon gas. The dust subsystem is confined in the horizontal plane with an asymmetrical saw structure placed on the lower electrode. The vortex rotates as a whole along the long side of the saw-teeth. Asymmetry of the saw structure plays an important role in the rotation of the vortex. Nonzero curl of the total force resulting from the local ion flow and the electric field in the plasma sheath could be attributed to the persistent rotation of vortex.     

Ballooning vortex in a magnetized plasma

The existence of a ballooning solitary vortex in an inhomogeneous plasma immersed in crossed magnetic and gravitational fields is demonstrated.     

小孔等离子体运动实验方法

在间接驱动惯性约束聚变的黑腔中,辐射烧蚀的高Z等离子体的流体力学运动过程对激光注入黑腔的效率、辐射场均匀性和通过诊断口的黑腔辐射温度诊断都有显著影响。为研究诊断口在黑腔辐射场中的等离子体缩口过程,用激光产生X光辐射加热低Z泡沫填充的金黑腔诊断口,以激光辐照钛平面靶产生的2～5 keV高能段窄能区X光作为背光源,用X光分幅相机获得了源靶和小孔靶两种靶型的小孔等离子体运动过程图像,研究了X光烧蚀的小孔等离子体的流体力学运动过程,探索了定量测量小孔等离子体面密度的空间分布与时间演化过程的实验诊断方法,初步给出小孔等离子体的面密度。     

Viscoelastic effects on asymmetric two‐dimensional vortex patterns in a strongly coupled dusty plasma

Strongly coupled dusty plasma medium is often described as a viscoelastic fluid that retains its memory. In a flowing dusty plasma medium, vortices of different sizes appear when the flow does not remain laminar. The vortices also merge to transfer energy between different scales. In the present work, we study the effect of viscoelasticity and compressibility over a localized vortex structure and multiple rotational vortices in a strongly coupled viscoelastic dusty plasma medium. In case of single rotating vortex flow, a transverse wave is generated from the localized vortex source and the evolution time of generated waves is found to be reduced due to finite viscoelasticity and compressibility of the medium. It is found that the viscoelasticity suppresses the dispersion of vorticity. In the presence of multiple vortices, we find, the vortex mergers get highly affected in the presence of memory effect of the fluid, and thus the dynamics of the medium gets completely altered compared to a non‐viscoelastic fluid. For a compressible fluid, viscoelasticity dampens the energy in the sonic waves generated in the medium. Thus a highly viscoelastic and compressible fluid, in some cases, behaves similarly to an incompressible viscoelastic fluid. The wave‐front like rings propagate in elliptical orbits keeping the footprint of the earlier position of the point‐vortex. The rings collide with each other even within the patch vortex region forming regions of high vorticity at the point of intersection and pass through each other.     

Formation of an out-of-electrode plasma in a high-voltage gas discharge

The formation of an out-of-electrode plasma in a high-voltage gas discharge is studied. The occurrence and self-maintenance of a gas discharge and its associated plasma fluxes on the straight portions of electrical field lines are predicted theoretically and confirmed experimentally. It is shown that the focusing of the gas discharge and plasma fluxes is provided by increasing the length of the field line straight portions toward the symmetry axis of a hole in the anode. It is found that, when the discharge power (more specifically, an accelerating voltage applied to the electrodes of the gas-discharge tube) rises, the straight portions of the field lines elongate and concentrate near the symmetry axis of the hole in the anode. Recommendations are given on using the out-of-electrode plasma in surface micro- and nanostructuring.     

Equilibrium of a gravitating plasma in a dipolar magnetic field

The equilibria of plasma in a dipolar magnetic field under the gravitational influence of a massive body (a star or black hole) and a self gravitating plasma are considered. Analytical solutions are found that can be useful for understanding the physics of plasma flows in accretion disks and star formation.     

Effect of a plasma layer on the vortex structures in a gas flow

Questions related to the effect of a plasma layer on the vortex structures in a gas flow are considered for the case in which the layer forms in a turbulent flow or in a flow of a mixed type. It is shown that the onset of a plasma layer in the turbulent flow leads to the efficient suppression of the low-frequency components of the turbulent spectrum and to the displacement of the spectrum toward higher frequencies.     

Separation of water-steam plasma in steam-vortex plasmatorches

The possibility of separation of the water-steam plasma in a centrifugal force field of a vortex stream is under consideration. We obtained the formulas to compute the radial distribution of the plasma mixture components and also to determine the dependence of the pressure and its gradient on the distance to the axis for the regions of solid-state and potential rotation of the vortex. The examples of poor arc stabilization and the proposals for its perfection are presented. The effect of the gas kind on the voltage of the vortex-stabilized arc is shown. The influence of the water-steam plasma individual components, regarding the separation, on the water-steam plasma energy characteristics is explained.     

Formation and relaxation of two-dimensional vortex crystals in a magnetized pure-electron plasma

Systematic examinations are carried out experimentally about the contribution of background vorticity distributions (BGVD's) to the spontaneous formation and decay of ordered arrays (vortex crystals) composed of strong vortices (clumps) by using a pure-electron plasma. It is found that the BGVD level needs to be higher for an increasing number of clumps to form vortex crystals and that the number of the clumps constituting the crystal decreases in time as proportional to gamma lnt in contrast to proportional to t (-xi) with xi approximately 1 as accepted well in turbulence models. The decay rate gamma increases with the BGVD level. The observed configurations of the clumps cover the theoretically predicted catalogue of vortex arrays in superfluid helium, suggesting a possible relaxation path of the crystal states.     

Localized density clumps generated in a magnetized nonneutral plasma

The final, nonlinear, saturated state of the diocotron instability is investigated experimentally in a magnetized, annular, nonneutral plasma. As the wave grows to large amplitude, the plasma is organized into vortices. In the limit of high magnetic fields, and moderate central conductor biases, the diocotron modes compress the plasma into dense (n 3.5n₀) localized clumps. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell computer simulations confirm the physical picture of vortex formation by resonant particle trapping.     

Superdiffusion and viscoelastic vortex flows in a two-dimensional complex plasma

Viscoelastic vortical fluid motion in a strongly coupled particle system has been observed experimentally. Optical tracking of particle motion in a complex plasma monolayer reveals high grain mobility and large scale vortex flows coexistent with partial preservation of the global hexagonal lattice structure. The transport of particles is superdiffusive and ascribed to Lévy statistics on short time scales and to memory effects on the longer scales influenced by cooperative motion. At these longer time scales, the transport is governed by vortex flows covering a wide spectrum of temporal and spatial scales.     

Generation of harmonics of intense laser radiation in a transparent collisionless plasma

The spectral composition of a relativistically strong uniform nonlinear electromagnetic wave in a transparent collisionless plasma is analyzed. The vortex and potential components of the wave field are shown to contain only odd and even harmonics, respectively; in a transparent plasma, the wave remains quasi-monochromatic, since the intensities of the harmonics decrease exponentially with increasing harmonic number. An equation that includes diffraction effects is derived to describe the propagation of wavepackets. The results obtained are compared with experimental data.     

Diffraction of relativistic vortex harmonics with fractional average orbital angular momentum

Vortex harmonics with fractional average orbital angular momentum are generated when a relativistic fractional vortex beam is incident on and reflected from an over-dense plane plasma target. A two-step model is presented to explain the far-field patterns of the harmonics. In the first step, a fundamental spot-shaped hole is produced during the hole-boring stage, and harmonics are generated simultaneously. In the second step, different order harmonics are diffracted by the hole and propagate to the far field. This process can be accurately described by the Fraunhofer diffraction theory. This work facilitates a basic recognition of fractional vortex beams.     

Intensity distribution properties of Gaussian vortex beam propagation in atmospheric turbulence

By using wave optics numerical simulation, the intensity-hole effect, beam spreading and wandering properties of Gaussian vortex beam propagation in atmospheric turbulence are investigated quantitatively. It is found that an intensity hole in the center of the beam pattern appears gradually as a Gaussian vortex beam propagates. The size of the intensity hole increases with the increase of the topological charge of the vortex phase. However, the intensity hole could to some extent be filled with optical energy by atmospheric turbulence, especially in strong turbulence. The radius of the intensity hole first decreases and then increases with the growth of turbulence strength. The effective radius of vortex beam with larger topological charge is greater than with a smaller topological charge. But the topological charge has no evident influence on beam wandering.     

Low-frequency transition radiation from a short laser pulse at the plasma boundary

The transition radiation that appears when a short laser pulse crosses the vacuum-plasma boundary and that is attributable to an vortex electric current produced at the plasma boundary by averaged ponderomotive forces has been considered for the first time. The spectral, angular, and spatiotemporal characteristics of the transition radiation in a vacuum are analyzed. It is shown that under typical conditions of present-day laser plasma experiments, the frequency of the transition radiation lies in the terahertz range and its power can reach several megawatts.     

Electron transport and permittivity in a plasma with an arbitrary ionic charge

Based on the solution of a linearized kinetic equation for electrons with a Landau collision integral, we develop a theory of electron transport for small perturbations in a completely ionized plasma with an arbitrary ionic charge that is free from any constraints on the characteristic perturbation time and length scales. We calculate the potential and vortex electron fluxes for an arbitrary electron collision frequency that allow the spatial and temporal nonlocal transport to be described. We also derive expressions for the longitudinal and transverse electron permittivities of a collisional plasma with an arbitrary ionic charge that are suitable for describing the plasma response to small perturbations with an arbitrary frequency and wave vector. Using the transverse permittivity, which allows the absorption of an electromagnetic wave to be described in the entire range of plasma parameters (from the strongly collisional to the collisionless one), as an example, we provide a detailed comparison with previously known models.     

Transient vortex structures in low frequency magnetized plasma turbulence

The nonlinear transient state of drift vortices often observed in computer simulations and experiments on low frequency magnetized plasma turbulence has been investigated. The essential problem is studied by considering a model in which a vortex is embedded in a strained perpendicular and parallel flow. In the axisymmetric limit the diffusion equation is solved exactly to display vortex generation, stretching and dissipation. In the nonaxisymmetric case, a perturbative solution is obtained which displays essentially the same features.