Limiter Biasing Experiments in TEXTOR-94

Particle collection by the ALT-II belt limiter in the TEXTOR-94 tokamak is exclusively limited to the parallel outflux because the scoop walls that are oriented parallel to the field lines obstruct the poloidal E×B mass flow. With normal B _tor direction (E×B towards the scoops), a threefold decrease of plenum pressure is measured during negative biasing, while with reversed B _tor (E×B away from the scoops), a 60% pressure increase is observed. This behaviour is exactly opposite to that observed in X-point divertors. A simple fluid model explains this apparent contradiction, and gives good quantitative agreement with measurements of the parallel Mach number in the SOL. The essential physics is governed by the Bohm-Chodura criterion.     

The Role of Radial Electric Fields in the Tokamaks TEXTOR-94, CASTOR, and T-10

Radial electric fields (E _r) and their role in the establishment of edge transport barriers and improved confinement have been studied in the tokamaks TEXTOR-94 and CASTOR, where E _r is externally applied to the plasma in a controlled way using a biased electrode, as well as in the tokamak T-10 where an edge transport barrier (H-mode) is obtained during electron-cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) of the plasma.The physics of radial currents was studied and the radial conductivity in the edge of TEXTOR-94 (R = 1.75 m, a = 0.46 m) was found to be dominated by recycling (ion-neutral collisions) at the last closed flux surface (LCFS) and by parallel viscosity inside the LCFS. From a performance point of view (edge engineering), such electrode biasing was shown to induce a particle transport barrier, a reduction of particle transport, and a concomitant increase in energy confinement. An H-mode-like behaviour can be induced both with positive and negative electric fields. Positive as well as negative electric fields were shown to strongly affect the exhaust of hydrogen, helium, and impurities, not only in the H-mode-like regime.The impact of sheared radial electric fields on turbulent structures and flows at the plasma edge is investigated on the CASTOR tokamak (R = 0.4 m, a = 0.085 m). A non-intrusive biasing scheme that we call "separatrix biasing" is applied whereby the electrode is located in the scrape-off layer (SOL) with its tip just touching the LCFS. There is evidence of strongly sheared radial electric field and E×B flow, resulting in the formation of a transport barrier at the separatrix. Advanced probe diagnosis of the edge region has shown that the E×B shear rate that arises during separatrix biasing is larger than for standard edge plasma biasing. The plasma flows, especially the poloidal E×B drift velocity, are strongly modified in the sheared region, reaching Mach numbers as high as half the sound speed. The corresponding shear rates ( 5×10⁶ s^-1) derived from both the flow and electric field profiles are in excellent agreement and are at least an order of magnitude higher than the growth rate of unstable turbulent modes as estimated from fluctuation measurements.During ECRH in the tokamak T-10 (R = 1.5 m, a = 0.3 m), a regime of improved confinement is obtained with features resembling those in the H-mode in other tokamaks. Using a heavy ion beam probe, a narrow potential well is observed near the limiter together with the typical features of the L-H transition. The time evolution of the plasma profiles during L-H and H-L transitions is clearly correlated with that of the density profile and the formation of a transport barrier near the limiter. The edge electric field is initially positive after the onset of ECRH. It changes its sign during the L-H transition and grows till a steady condition is reached. Similar to the biasing experiments in TEXTOR-94 and CASTOR, the experimentally observed transport barrier is a barrier for particles.     

The Brauer group of Sweedler's Hopf algebra

We calculate the Brauer group of the four dimensional Hopf algebra introduced by M. E. Sweedler. This Brauer group is defined with respect to a (quasi-) triangular structure on , given by an element . In this paper is a field . The additive group of is embedded in the Brauer group and it fits in the exact and split sequence of groups: where is the well-known Brauer-Wall group of . The techniques involved are close to the Clifford algebra theory for quaternion or generalized quaternion algebras.

     

Bases for Cooperations in K-Theory

Gaussian polynomials are used to define bases with good multiplicative properties for the algebra K _*(K) of cooperations in K-theory and for the invariants under conjugation.     

A comparison of F-actin labeling methods for light microscopy in different plant specimens: multiple techniques supplement each other

Different detection methods for F-actin labeling were compared on a range of plant specimens: cultured cells, whole organ mounts and sectioned material. For cultured cells, microinjection of labeled phalloidin yielded the most detailed picture but careful permeation methods come close, while immunocytochemical methods always gave relatively poor detail, especially on the level of the fine filaments. For whole organ mounts and sectioned material, permeation methods and immunolocalization are the methods of choice, however never reaching the level of resolution of permeation methods in single cells. It is clear that there is no general and universal good method and multiple techniques are needed, especially when working with different specimens and with different aims.     

The filtering approach to solvent peak suppression in MRS: a critical review

Suppressing the solvent peak is important in many applications of biomedical NMR spectroscopy in order to quantify the metabolites with a great accuracy. Among the postprocessing methods proposed in the literature, many deal with the concept of filtering. However, several proposals lack a theoretical perspective and some have not been explicitly applied to quantification problems. The present article is intended to bridge this gap: five methods are analyzed from a theoretical perspective. Subsequently the different methods are applied to the same set of data, and then the latter are quantified using the model fitting method AMARES. With our set, the scheme proposed by T. Sundin et al. (J. Magn. Reson. 139(2), 189-204 (1999)) proved to be the most reliable method.     

Matrix Continued Fraction for the Resolvent Function of the Band Operator

The aim of this paper is the expansion of a matrix function in terms of a matrix-continued fraction as defined by Sorokin and Van Iseghem. The function under study is the Weyl function or resolvent function of an operator, given in the standard basis by a bi-infinite band matrix, with p subdiagonals and q superdiagonals, where the p + q – 1 intermediate diagonals are zero. The main goal of this paper is to find, for the moments, an explicit form in terms of the coefficients of the continued fraction, called genetic sums, which lead to a generalization of the notion of a Stieltjes continued fraction. These results are extension of some results already found for the vector case (p = 1) and are a step in the direction towards the solution of the direct and inverse spectral problem. The actual computation of the approximants of the given function as the convergents of the continued fraction is shown to be effective. Some possible extensions are considered.     

Uniformly Packed Codes and More Distance Regular Graphs from Crooked Functions

Let V and W be n-dimensional vector spaces over GF(2). A function Q : V W is called crooked (a notion introduced by Bending and Fon-Der-Flaass) if it satisfies the following three properties:

Fonctions séparément harmoniques,un théorème de type Terada

Given D a domain in , G an open set in and E a subset of D verifying the harmonic analogue of Local Polynomial Condition of Leja at some point in D. We prove that if f(x, y) is a complex function defined on D × G such that– f(x, ) is harmonic on G for every fixed x E,– f(, y) is harmonic on D for every fixed y G,then f is harmonic in (x, y) on D × G.     

A conjugated infinite element method for half-space acoustic problems

Many acoustic problems (especially in environmental acoustics) involve half-space domains bounded by a plane subjected to normal admittance boundary conditions. In the "low" frequency domain, the numerical treatment of such problems usually relies on boundary element methods based on a particular Green's function suited for the half-(admittance) plane. In the present paper, an alternative hybrid finite/infinite element scheme is proposed. The method relies on a direct treatment of nonhomogeneous boundary conditions along infinite element edges (or faces). The procedure is validated through comparisons with an available reference solution.