On a new scenario for the saturation of the low-threshold two-plasmon parametric decay instability of an extraordinary wave in the inhomogeneous plasma of magnetic traps

The most probable scenario for the saturation of the low-threshold two-plasmon parametric decay instability of an electron cyclotron extraordinary wave has been analyzed. Within this scenario two upperhybrid plasmons at frequencies close to half the pump wave frequency radially trapped in the vicinity of the local maximum of the plasma density profile are excited due to the excitation of primary instability. The primary instability saturation results from the decays of the daughter upper-hybrid waves into secondary upperhybrid waves that are also radially trapped in the vicinity of the local maximum of the plasma density profile and ion Bernstein waves.     

Parametric Mechanism of Anomalous Microwave Power Absorption in Experiments on Electron Cyclotron Heating in Toroidal Magnetic Traps

The nonlinear stage of the parametric decay instability of an extraordinary wave is analyzed in the presence of a nonmonotonic density profile. The decay excites an electron Bernstein wave, which is localized in the vicinity of a local density maximum, and an ion Bernstein wave, which leaves a nonlinear interaction region and is absorbed by ions in the vicinity of the harmonics of the ion cyclotron frequency. The main mechanism of instability saturation is considered to be a cascade of decays of a primary daughter electron Bernstein wave, which leads to the excitation of localized secondary electron Bernstein waves and ion cyclotron (Bernstein) waves. The localization of electron Bernstein waves causes a significant decrease in the secondary- decay excitation threshold, which is thought to provide saturation of the primary instability at the lowest level. The saturation of the primary parametric decay instability of a pump wave and the anomalous absorption of the pump power are analytically estimated. A numerical simulation is performed using the parameters that are typical of the experiments on the electron cyclotron resonance heating of plasma at the second resonance harmonic in TCV tokamak.     

Runaway-Ströme hoher Intensität in einer toroidalen Entladung

Intensive currents of runaway electrons with energies of 50 keV or more have been observed at high pressures in a plasma betatron in addition to betatron accelerated electrons at lower pressures. The measurements agree with the assumption that these electrons are accelerated in the external field while they are guided by the self magnetic field of the plasma current. Macroscopic instabilities and plasma waves can be excluded as accelerating mechanisms. The strong dependence of the runaway flux upon the gas pressure and the electric field can be explained by collisions between electrons and the other plasma particles. Furthermore the influence of the external magnetic field on the movement of the plasma current to the torus wall was investigated. A maximum circulating runaway current of more than 2000 A (Xenon) appeared when the plasma current was kept approximately in balance by the external magnetic field.     

Parametric Instability of Surface Waves on the Second Harmonic of Electron Cyclotron Frequency in a Plasma Layer

The parametric instability of surface waves on the second harmonic of electron cyclotron frequency (SWCF) in a plasma filled dielectric wave guide is examined in a kinetic approximation. The studied surface waves are extraordinary polarized modes and propagate across the external steady magnetic field. The amplitude of the electrical pump wave is assumed to be small. Simple expressions for increments of the parametric instability of the SWCF are calculated. The otained results can be used in controlled fusion researches in order to avoid undesirable regimes of plasma periphery heating in that fusion devices which use the resonance electron cyclotron heating method.     

Parametric generation of low-frequency waves by plasma electrons accelerated under electron cyclotron resonance conditions

It has been shown experimentally that the diamagnetic effect appearing when electrons of a magnetized plasma in the antenna near field are accelerated under electron cyclotron resonance conditions can be used to generate low-frequency waves. The amplitude modulation of a signal supplied to the antenna is accompanied by the modulation of the diamagnetic effect and leads to the emission of waves at the modulation frequency to the surrounding plasma. In this process, the extended plasma region containing accelerated electrons serves as a parametric bodiless antenna. The results of the model laboratory experiments make it possible to propose a method for the parametric generation of low-frequency whistler waves in the Earth’s ionosphere by a powerful amplitude-modulated signal supplied to the satellite-borne antenna.     

Current-Driven Kink-Like Instability in Collisional Plasmas

The stability of left-hand circularly polarized waves propagating along an external magnetic field with wavelengths much larger than the ion Larmor radius is studied for fully-ionized collisional plasmas carrying a field-aligned current. It is found that, in the presence of electron-ion collisions, this "kink-like" instability has two branches of unstable wavenumbers: a main branch and a resistive branch. The resistive branch owes its existence to electron-ion collisions, but its growth rate is much smaller than that of the main branch, which is typically some fraction of the ion cyclotron frequency. The effect of collisions on the main branch is to reduce its maximum growth rate while extending the range of unstable wavenumbers to larger values. However, these changes are significant only when the electron-ion collision frequency is comparable to the electron cyclotron frequency. The dispersion relation is solved numerically for plasma and magnetic field parameters appropriate to the UCLA arcjet plasma. The results show that, within the framework of an infinite and homogeneous theory, the kink-like instability should occur in this plasma device.     

Numerical Modeling of the Process of Parametric Generation of the Cyclotron Radiation in a Reactive Medium

We present the results of numerical modeling of the effect of amplification of coherent bichromatic radiation due to its cyclotron parametric interaction with a modulated ensemble of electrons in the absence of partial synchronism of waves and particles. The numerical results agree with the analytical conclusions. We find that under certain conditions, the developing parametric instability is accompanied by “driving” of the wave frequencies to the resonance with the particles, which results in significant “peaking” of the instability.     

Multiple acceleration of ionospheric electrons in the approximation of continuous energy losses due to collisions

The multiple acceleration of electrons during active experiments in the ionosphere is related to their returning to a thin layer of the turbulent plasma, created by the powerful radio wave, due to elastic collisions with neutral particles. This effect depends on the magnitude and type of collisional energy losses by the electrons. In this paper, we formulate a system of equations that allows one to describe the process of multiple electron acceleration taking into account collisions of the accelerated particles with thermal electrons and assuming that collisional energy losses are continuous. The above-mentioned collisions become important at small energies where the primary electron acceleration takes place. We obtain asymptotic solutions of the formulated equations using the model power-law dependence of the collision frequency on electron energy. These solutions show that the effect of multiple acceleration of electrons in the ionospheric F-layer can lead to the formation of a slowly-varying high-energy “tail” in the distribution of the accelerated particles at energies of about tens of electron-volts. Institute for Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radio Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Troitsk, Moscow Region, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 3–16, January 2000.     

Ion beam driven instabilities in unmagnetized and strongly magnetized plasmas

In this paper, the dissipative instabilities in the interaction of an ion beam with unmagnetized and strongly magnetized plasmas are investigated. In both cases, relevant dispersion equations of high-frequency and ion acoustic waves are obtained. In addition, the resonance frequencies and growth rates of the instabilities are derived. It is shown that the thermal motion of charged particles has positive effects on the resonance frequency but its influence on the growth rate of an instability depends on the plasma conditions. Although in all cases the collisions are found to have a stabilizing effect, it is shown that the dominant type of collisions (electron-neutral or ion-neutral collisions) depends on the frequency range. It is also indicated that the resonance frequency and the growth rate of an instability in the unmagnetized plasma is higher than in the strongly magnetized plasma for non-zero propagation angles.     

电子回旋共振放电的电离特性PIC/MCC模拟(Ⅱ)——数值模拟与结果讨论

采用粒子模拟与蒙特卡罗相结合(PIC/MCC)的方法，应用电磁模型，编写了准三维的电子回旋共振(ECR)放电电离过程的模拟程序，得到了ECR放电过程中电子与离子的相空间分布、电磁场分布.通过对这些分布随时间演化的分析，得出ECR加热发生在ω≈ω_c0且垂直于轴向的区域；ECR区域，微波能量几乎全部耦合给电子，获得能量的电子通过与中性粒子的电离碰撞产生了大量的带电粒子；随着放电的进行，大量带电粒子通过频繁的碰撞，分布由各向异性逐渐趋于各向同性. 关键词： 电子回旋共振放电 粒子模拟 蒙特卡罗 电离     

Return current instability and its effects on beam-plasma system

The return current induced in a plasma by a relativisitc electron beam generates a new electron-ion two-stream instability (return current instability). Although the effect of these currents on the beam-plasma e-e instability is negligible, there exists a range of wave numbers which is unstable only to return current (RC) instability and not to e-e instability. The electromagnetic waves propagating along the direction of the external magnetic field, in which the plasma is immersed, are stabilized by these currents but the e.m. waves with frequencies,ω ²≪Ω _e ² ≪ω _pe ² (Ω _e andω _pe being cyclotron and plasma frequency for the electrons of the plasma respectively) propagating transverse to the magnetic field get destabilized. Heuristic estimates of plasma heating, due to RC instability and due to decay of ion-acoustic turbulence generated by the return current, are made. The fastest time scale on which the return current delivers energy to the plasma due to the scattering of ion-sound waves by the electrons can be ∼ω _pi ⁻¹ (ω _pi being the plasma frequency for the ions).     

Estimates of the electron density in an ECR source of calcium plasma

A technique is proposed for estimating parameters of the plasma produced by a source based on the electron cyclotron resonance. The analysis is made for the ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) facility designed for separating calcium isotopes. It is assumed that the resonance condition for an extraordinary wave is fulfilled for electrons moving towards the wave. The plasma optical thickness, the transverse energy of resonance electrons, and its dependence on the longitudinal velocity are determined. The charged particle density in the plasma flow is estimated in terms of the balance of the electrons generated as a result of vapor ionization in the discharge zone and the electron losses due to longitudinal ambipolar diffusion.     

逃逸电子和不稳定性波反常多普勒共振实验研究

利用电子回旋辐射诊断系统并结合其他相关诊断研究了HL-2A托卡马克中逃逸电子与波间的反常多普勒共振作用.结果显示:欧姆放电下提高等离子密度能抑制逃逸电子束的不稳定性,但等离子密度的再次降低导致逃逸电子又会激发不稳定性波,并耦合不稳定性波发生二次反常多普勒共振作用.利用统计方法分析了HL-2A上不同放电阶段逃逸电子反常多普勒共振阈值(ωpe/ωce)区间大致都在0.17-0.54范围内.此共振机制导致逃逸电子在速度空间被波散射,平行能量转化到垂直能量,pitch角增加,同步辐射功率增强,逃逸电子能量限制在反常多普勒效应的阈值能量附近.基于反常多普勒共振的逃逸抑制能有效减轻逃逸电子对装置第一壁的损坏.     

Resistive Electrostatic Ion Cyclotron Instability in Plasmas

The stability of electrostatic ion cyclotron waves propagating obliquely with respect to the background magnetic field is studied for collisional, fully-ionized plasmas in which there is a relative field-aligned streaming between electrons and ions. It is found that electron-ion collisions, in conjunction with electron streaming, provides a mechanism for instability. The role of electron streaming is to supply a source of free energy and the role of electron-ion collisions is to restrict the field-aligned mobility of the electrons, thus preventing them from establishing a Boltzmann equilibrium. Ion-ion collisions and finite ion Larmor radius are found to exert a stabilizing influence. The instability is analyzed for both current-carrying plasmas and counterstreaming-beam-plasma systems.     

On the effect of collisions on the propagation of plasma waves near the harmonics of the electron gyrofrequency

The transverse propagation of plasma waves in a magnetically active plasma near the harmonics of the electron gyrofrequency is considered for the condition that the wavelength is shorter than the gyroradius of an electron. Besides relativistic effects [14], collisions of electrons with other particles are taken into account. The derived dispersion equation is analyzed in the particular cases of weak and strong collisions, and likewise as a function of the resonant frequency detuning.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 517–520, April, 1972.The author thanks B. N. Gershman for his constant help with the work.     

Kinetic Nonlinear Buneman's Instability in Field-Free Isothermal Collisonal Plasma

A nonlinear dispersion relation is derived and solved for a 1-D electron-ion two-stream (Buneman) instability excited in an isothermal field-free plasma. The major nonlinear mechanism is the qualilinear modification of the background distribution function. We take into consideration the effect of Coulomb collisions which describes the broadening of the Cherenkov interaction of waves with particles. Nonlinear effects seem to lead, in field-free plasma, to the increase in the current velocity and consequently, to the growth of the instability and a rapid turbulent heating of plasma electrons. The methods used here to solve the Vlasov's kinetic equation may also be used to investigate other types of current micro-instabilities in plasmas.     

托卡马克中等离子体频率附近的增强辐射现象

实验提出托卡马克中的等离子体频率附近的增强辐射现象与高能逃逸电子有关,但是辐射的机制尚未完全弄清。本文讨论了两种可能的机制。一种是诱发辐射,这是来自逃逸电子与波的反常迴旋共振。另一种是自发辐射,主要来自契仑柯夫共振。前者要求逃逸电子的能量比后者为大,因此,自发辐射理论更引人注意。在很宽的参数变化范围内对辐射率作了数值计算。对于等离子体频率大于迴旋频率的情况也作了讨论。 关键词：     

捕获电子对低杂波与电子回旋波的协同效应的影响

电子回旋波和低杂波的协同效应可有效地提高两只波的电流驱动效率.本文数值研究了捕获电子效应对电子回旋波和低杂波协同的影响.结果显示,随着捕获角的增大,双波协同驱动电流会减小,且协同因子也会明显减小,即捕获角对两只波协同驱动流的影响要比其对单独驱动电流的影响更加敏感.通过加宽低杂波共振区可减弱电子回旋波电流驱动对捕获角的依赖,同时发现随着电子回旋波功率的增加,捕获角对电子回旋波电流驱动的影响也会变小.     

Nonlinear dynamical modelling of chaotic electrostatic ion cyclotron oscillations by jerk equations

Plasma being a nonlinear and complex system, is capable of sustaining a wide spectrum of waves, oscillations and instabilities. These fluctuations interact nonlinearly amongst themselves and also with particles: electrons/ions and thus lead to nonlinear wave-wave or wave-particle interaction. In the presence of coherent waves the particles are accelerated whereas irregular oscillations can give rise to particle heating which is also called stochastic heating. Particle orbits are known to be randomized by the wave fields such that their motion can also become stochastic. For fusion to be sustained one needs a very high temperature plasma for an extended duration. It quite common to deploy external waves like electron cyclotron waves or ion cyclotron waves for plasma heating and current drive. These external waves also work only in certain regimes. Conventional plasma techniques have been able to answer several of the observations of the above processes related to heating transport etc, but nonlinear dynamics as a tool has helped in comprehending the plasma oscillations better. We have for the first time obtained a Third Order nonlinear ordinary differential equation (TONLODE) also known as jerk equation to describe the electrostatic ion cyclotron plasma oscillations in a magnetic field. The interesting feature of this equation is that it does not require an external forcing term to obtain chaotic behaviour.