Near perpendicular propagation of ion cyclotron modes in a deuterium-hydrogen-oxygen fusion plasma

A dispersion relation for the near perpendicular propagation of the electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave has been derived in a fusion plasma that has deuterium as a majority species, hydrogen as a minority species and fully ionized oxygen as an impurity constituent; all being modelled by loss cone distribution functions. The wave has a frequencyω around the deuterium ion gyrofrequency-Ω_D and a wavelength much longer than its Larmor radiusγ _LD(k _⊥ γ _LD<1); the plasma itself being characterized by large ion plasma frequencies (ω _PD ² >Ω _D ² ). Two modes, a low frequency (LF) and a high frequency (HF) mode of opposite electrical energy can propagate in the plasma; the instabilities that arise are thus due to an interaction of modes of opposite energies. We find that while hydrogen tends to destabilize the plasma, the impurity oxygen ions have the reverse effect. Also the plasma is most stable when the ratios of the perpendicular components of oxygen-to-deuterium and hydrogen-to-deuterium temperatures are kept low. Detailed studies of the wave propagation characteristics and energy reveal the close resemblance of a loss cone plasma containing oxygen to a stable Maxwellian plasma in regard to wave stability, propagation and energy.     

Low-frequency fluctuations in a pure toroidal magnetized plasma

A magnetized, low-β plasma in pure toroidal configuration is formed and extensively studied with ion mass as control parameter. Xenon, krypton and argon plasmas are formed at a fixed toroidal magnetic field of 0.024 T, with a peak density of ∼10¹¹ cm⁻³, ∼4 × 10¹⁰ cm ⁻³ and ∼2 × 10¹⁰ cm ⁻³ respectively. The experimental investigation of time-averaged plasma parameter reveals that their profiles remain insensitive to ion mass and suggests that saturated slab equilibrium is obtained. Low-frequency (LF) coherent fluctuations (ω < ω _ci) are observed and identified as flute modes. Here ω _ci represents ion cyclotron frequency. Our results indicate that these modes get reduced with ion mass. The frequency of the fluctuating mode decreases with increase in the ion mass. Further, an attempt has been made to discuss the theory of flute modes to understand the relevance of some of our experimental observations.     

Stimulated brillouin scattering of electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves in a plasma

Using the fluid model for the nonlinear response of ions, we have studied the nonlinear scattering of an electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave off the ion acoustic wave in a plasma. The low frequency nonlinearity arises through the parallel ponderomotive force on ions and the high frequency nonlinearity arises through the nonlinear current density of ions. For a typical nonisothermal plasma (T _e/T _i∼10) the threshold for this instability in a uniform plasma is ∼1mW/cm². At power densities ≳10² W/cm², the growth rate for backscatter turns out to be ∼10⁴s⁻¹.     

Speed and shape of solitary waves in relativistic warm plasma

Large-amplitude solitary waves are investigated in a relativistic plasma with finite ion-temperature. The mass of electron is also considered. The Sagdeev’s pseudopotential is determined in terms ofu, the ion speed. It is found that there exists a critical value ofu ₀, the value ofu at which (u′)²=0, beyond which the solitary waves cease to exist. The critical value also depends on the parameters likeν, the soliton velocity;μ, the electronion mass ratio orσ, the temperature ratio of ion to electron. This result reproduces our previous result [Czech. J. Phys., Vol. 54 (2004), No. 4, 489–496] when the ion temperature is neglected.     

Dependences of the drift velocity of electrons and the magnetoresistance effect on the ionization-degrees and the active radii of the Coulomb force of an ion sphere in an intermediately ionized plasma of a helium gas

Two weakly ionized plasmas (the ionization-degree a′′ = 10^-6 and 10^-5) and an intermediately ionized plasma (a′′ = 10^-4) are investigated. In previous work, the negative magnetoresistance effect (the increase-phenomenon of the discharge current) in a gas plasma in the case where electrons are scattered only by heavy neutral atoms was only touched upon. In this work, under the condition that electrons are scattered by heavy neutral atoms and by the Coulomb force of heavy helium ions, the dependences of “the drift velocity of electrons” and “the increase-phenomenon of the discharge current in the magnetoresistance effect” on the ionization-degrees and the active radii of the Coulomb force of a helium ion are examined. And it is pointed out that the increase-phenomenon of the discharge current in the magnetoresistance effect appears from neither the wellknown Langevin equation nor the Fokker-Planck equation.     

Shear mechanical anisotropy of side chain liquid-crystal elastomers: Influence of sample preparation

We study the mechanical anisotropy of a series of uniaxial side chain nematic elastomers prepared with the same chemical composition but with different preparation protocols. For all the compounds, the experiments performed as a function of temperature show no discontinuity in both G' _// and G' _⊥ (the labels // and ⊥ stand for the director parallel, respectively perpendicular to the shear displacement) around the nematic-isotropic (N-I) phase transition temperature determined by DSC. They also all show a small decrease in G' _// starting at temperatures well above this temperature (from ∼ 4^° C to ∼ 20^° C depending on the compound studied) and leading to a small hydrodynamic value of the G' _⊥/G' _// ratio. The measurements taken as a function of frequency show that the second plateau in G' _// and the associated dip in G _//” expected from dynamic semi-soft elasticity are not observed. These results can be described by the de Gennes model, which predicts small elastic anisotropy in the hydrodynamic and linear regimes. They correspond to the behavior expected for compounds beyond the mechanical critical point, which is consistent with the NMR and specific heat measurements taken on similar compounds. We also show that a reduction in the cross-linking density does not change the non-soft character of the mechanical response. From the measurements taken as a function of frequency at several temperatures we deduce that the time-temperature superposition method does not apply. From these measurements, we also determine the temperature dependence of the longest relaxation time τ_E of the network for the situations where the director is either parallel or perpendicular to the shear velocity. Finally, we discuss the influence on the measurements of the mechanical constraint associated with the fact that the samples cannot change their shape around the pseudo phase transition, because of their strong adherence on the sample-bearing glass slides.     

Circular ion diode with self-magnetic insulation

The results of a study of the generation of a gigawatt-level pulsed ion beam formed by a diode with an explosive-emission potential electrode in self-magnetic insulation mode are presented. The experiments have been performed on the TEMP-4M ion accelerator operating in double-pulse formation mode: the first pulse is negative polarity (300–500 ns, 100–150 kV) and the second is positive (150 ns, 250–300 kV). The ion current density is 20–40 A/cm²; the beam consists of protons and carbon ions. To increase the efficiency of the ion current generation, a circular geometry diode is proposed. It is shown that with the new design, the plasma is effectively formed over the entire working surface of the graphite potential electrode. During ion beam generation, magnetic insulation of the electrons is achieved over the entire length of the diode (B/B _cr ≥ 3). Because of the high drift velocity, the transit time of electrons in the anode-cathode gap is 3–5 ns, whilst the transit time of C⁺ carbon ions exceeds 8 ns. This indicates low efficiency self-magnetic insulation for this geometry of diode. At the same time, it has been observed experimentally that during ion current generation (the second pulse), the electron component of the total current is suppressed by a factor of 4–5. A new mechanism of limiting the electron emission, which explains the decrease in the electron component of the total current in the circular diode with self-magnetic insulation, is proposed.     

Semi-analytic approach to higher-order corrections in simple muonic bound systems: Vacuum polarization,self-energy and radiative-recoil

The current discrepancy of theory and experiment observed recently in muonic hydrogen necessitates a reinvestigation of all corrections to contribute to the Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen (μH), muonic deuterium (μD), the muonic \hbox{³He{}^3{\rm He}} 3 He ion (denoted here as μ ³He⁺), as well as in the muonic \hbox{⁴He{}^4{\rm He}} 4 He ion (μ ⁴He⁺). Here, we choose a semi-analytic approach and evaluate a number of higher-order corrections to vacuum polarization (VP) semi-analytically, while remaining integrals over the spectral density of VP are performed numerically. We obtain semi-analytic results for the second-order correction, and for the relativistic correction to VP. The self-energy correction to VP is calculated, including the perturbations of the Bethe logarithms by vacuum polarization. Subleading logarithmic terms in the radiative-recoil correction to the 2S–2P Lamb shift of order α(Zα)⁵ μ ³ln(Zα) / (m _μ m _N ) are also obtained. All calculations are nonperturbative in the mass ratio of orbiting particle and nucleus.     

Formation of steep gradients with plasma detachment at grazing B-field incidence at a plasma-wall transition

We use an Eulerian Vlasov code to study the problem of the formation of a plasma sheath with plasma detachment (i.e. no plasma transport to the wall) at a plasma-wall transition, in front of an absorbing wall. The ions are described by a kinetic equation in the full velocity space which integrates exactly the ion orbits. We consider a one-dimensional slab geometry, where the inhomogeneous direction is perpendicular to the wall. The electrons, assumed to only move along the magnetic field lines, are described by a parallel-B kinetic equation. The magnetized electrons are restricted to move along the magnetic field because the surface-parallel diamagnetic and electric drifts are equal and opposite. The present study shows how an ambipolar flow in the direction normal to the wall is established. For very small values of the angleα between the magnetic field and the plane of the wall, steep density and potential gradients are established in front of the plate surface with almost no plasma transport towards the wall. Presented at 5th Workshop “Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust”, Montreux, Switzerland, June 23–24, 2002.     

Polaron and ion diffusion in a poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin-film transistor gated with polymer electrolyte dielectric

Electrolytes are finding applications as dielectric materials in low-voltage organic thin-film transistors (OTFT). The presence of mobile ions in these materials (polymer electrolytes or ion gels) gives rise to very high capacitance (>10 μF/cm²) and thus low transistor turn-on voltage. In order to establish fundamental limits in switching speeds of electrolyte gated OFETs, we carry out in situ optical spectroscopy measurement of a poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) OTFT gated with a LiClO₄:poly(ethyleneoxide) (PEO) dielectric. Based on spectroscopic signatures of molecular vibrations and polaron transitions, we quantitatively determine charge carrier concentration and diffusion constants. We find two distinctively different regions: at V _G≥−1.5 V, drift-diffusion (parallel to the semiconductor/dielectric interface) of hole-polarons in P3HT controls charging of the device; at V _G<−1.5 V, electrochemical doping of the entire P3HT film occurs and charging is controlled by drift/diffusion (perpendicular to the interface) of ClO₄ ⁻ counter ions into the polymer semiconductor.     

Laser-induced cavities and solitons in overcritical hydrogen plasma

A picosecond CO₂ laser was used successfully in a number of experiments exploring advanced methods of particle acceleration [1]. Proton acceleration from gas-jet plasma exemplifies another advantage of employing the increase in laser wavelength from the optical to the mid-IR region. Recent theoretical- and experimental-studies of ion acceleration from laser-generated plasma point to better ways to control the ion beam’s energy when plasma approaches the critical density. Studying this regime with solid-state lasers is problematic due to the dearth of plasma sources at the critical electron density ∼10²¹ cm⁻³, corresponding to laser wavelength λ = 1 μm. CO₂ laser offers a solution. The CO₂ laser’s 10 μm wavelength shifts the critical plasma density to 10¹⁹ cm⁻³, a value attainable with gas jets. Capitalizing on this approach, we focused a circular polarized 1-TW CO₂ laser beam onto a hydrogen gas jet and observed a monoenergetic proton beam in the 1–2 MeV range. Simultaneously, we optically probed the laser/plasma interaction region with visible light, revealing holes bored by radiation pressure, as well as quasi-stationary soliton-like plasma formations. Our findings from 2D PIC simulations agree with experimental results and aid in their interpretation.     

Magnetic and EPR studies of the EuFe<Subscript>3</Subscript>(BO<Subscript>3</Subscript>)<Subscript>4</Subscript> single crystal

Magnetic and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) properties of EuFe₃(BO₃)₄ single crystals have been studied over the temperature range of 300–4.2 K and in a magnetic field up to 5 T. The temperature, field and orientation dependences of susceptibility, magnetization and EPR spectra are presented. An antiferromagnetic ordering of the Fe subsystem occurs at about 37 K. The easy direction of magnetization perpendicular to the c axis is determined by magnetic measurements. Below 10 K, we observe an increase of susceptibility connected with the polarization of the Eu sublattice by an effective exchange field of the ordered Fe magnetic subsystem. In a magnetic field perpendicular to the c axis, we have observed an increase of magnetization at T < 10 K in the applied magnetic field, which can be attributed to the appearance of the magnetic moment induced by the magnetic field applied in the basal plane. According to EPR measurements, the distance between the maximum and minimum of derivative of absorption line of the Lorentz type is equal to 319 Gs. The anisotropy of g-factor and linewidth is due to the influence of crystalline field of trigonal symmetry. The peculiarities of temperature dependence of both intensity and linewidth are caused by the influence of excited states of europium ion (Eu³⁺). It is supposed that the difference between the g-factors from EPR and the magnetic measurements is caused by exchange interaction between rare earth and Fe subsystems via anomalous Zeeman effect.     

Plasma-filled rippled wall rectangular backward wave oscillator driven by sheet electron beam

Performance of the backward wave oscillator (BWO) is greatly enhanced with the introduction of plasma. Linear theory of the dispersion relation and the growth rate have been derived and analysed numerically for plasma-filled rippled wall rectangular waveguide driven by sheet electron beam. To see the effect of plasma on the TM₀₁ cold wave structure mode and on the generated frequency, the parameters used are: relativistic factor γ = 1.5 (i.e. v/c = 0.741), average waveguide height y ₀ = 1.445 cm, axial corrugation period z ₀ = 1.67 cm, and corrugation amplitude ε = 0.225 cm. The plasma density is varied from zero to 2 ×10¹² cm^− 3. The presence of plasma tends to raise the TM₀₁ mode cut-off frequency (14 GHz at 2 ×10¹² cm^− 3 plasma density) relative to the vacuum cut-off frequency (5 GHz) which also causes a decrease in the group velocity everywhere, resulting in a flattening of the dispersion relation. With the introduction of plasma, an enhancement in absolute instability was observed.     

Partial structures and compressibilities of ions in fused potassium bromide

Treating the coulomb interaction between ion species as a perturbation on the Waisman-Lebowitz solution for direct correlation function within the hard core region, the total direct correlation function in K-space has been formulated, which gives a direct method of evaluating the partial structure factors between different ion species of the fused salts through the use of Pearson-Rushbrooke equations. The partial structure factors so obtained have been applied to evaluate the partial radial distribution functions of ion pairs. In addition, many other important associated functions such as the static correlations of total number, mass and charge densities have been computed by particular linear combination of partial structure factors. The charge neutrality relate the partial structure factors to the isothermal compressibility for the wavevectorK → 0 and hence the evaluation of the compressibilities of ions in fused KBr is possible, which agrees well with the observed value. As such the present method is very useful in investigating the structure of molten salts since only the parametersσ _ij , the distances of closest approach between ions andɛ, the effective dielectric constant (which can be estimated from the literature) are enough for this work.     

Dilepton production from ρ-mesons in a quark-gluon plasma

Assuming that ρ-mesons exist in a quark-gluon plasma at temperatures close to the QCD phase transition, we calculate the dilepton production rate from q-ˉq annihilation via a ρ-meson state using Vector Meson Dominance. The result is compared to the rates from direct q-ˉq annihilation and from π⁺-π⁻ annihilation. Furthermore we discuss the suppression of low mass dileptons if the quarks assume an effective mass in the quark-gluon plasma. Received: 8 September 1999 / Revised version: 22 October 1999     

The inertial mass tensor of a polaron in an isotropic medium

Owing to a funadmentally erroneous approach to calculations of the effective polaron mass (calculations that use a model without spatial dispersion of the lattice polarizability), the polaron inertial mass has never before been distinguished from the mass as a measure of kinetic energy. In this paper we derive an expression for the tensor of the inertial mass of a large polaron. The tensor is found to be fully determined by two components: the longitudinal component, corresponding to the case where the force acting on the polaron is parallel to the polaron velocity, and the transverse component, corresponding to the case where the acceleration is perpendicular to the polaron velocity. The components of the polaron inertial mass tensor depend quasirelativistically on the polaron velocity due to the quasirelativistic compression of the polarization field in the direction of motion, which constitutes the effect of spatial dispersion of the lattice polarizability. We derive a formula that approximates the dependence of the components of the polaron mass tensor on all the parameters: the frequency and dispersion of the phonons, the polaron velocity, and the effective dielectric constant. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 180–186 (January 1999)     

Experimental measurements and modelling of the structure of the radial electric field in RFX

The experimental determination of the radial electric fieldE _r and the associatedE ×B drift velocity at the edge of RFX is presented and possible mechanisms responsible for its generation are discussed.E _r measurements by means of an array of Langmuir probes and those deduced from Doppler spectroscopy of impurity lines agree fairly well. In particular the rotation velocity of the plasma edge has been determined from the Doppler shift of a C III emission line. The observation of other ions characterised by different radial positions, such as B IV and C V, has allowed an estimate of the velocity shear. Typical values of plasma rotation at the edge are around 10 km/s while the velocity shear is of the order of (10⁵−10⁶)s⁻¹ in the spontaneous layer, a few cm thick, usually observed in standard discharges. Plasma rotation has been artificially modified by both positive and negative edge biasing and the associated increase or decrease of the fluid velocity is well in agreement with the radial electric field change. The modification ofE _r during edge biasing and Pulsed Poloidal Current Drive (PPCD) are also reported and interpreted within a momentum balance model. Analytical and self-consistent Monte Carlo models at the plasma edge suggest that impurities have a relevant role in the generation of the radial electric field, due to their relatively large Larmor radius. Presented at the Workshop on Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust, Budapest, 18–19 June 2000.     

Relativistic correction to the dipole polarizability of a hydrogenic ion

The first relativistic correction of orderα ² to the dipole polarizability of a hydrogenic ion has been investigated by using mean excitation energy of the ion within the second-order perturbation theory. The density-dependent mean excitation energy is estimated via Bethe theory for the stopping cross section for a moving point charge interacting with the hydrogenic ion. In this approach only the unperturbed Dirac wavefunctions are required to evaluate the appropriate matrix elements. The first relativistic correction turns out to be − (13/12)(αZ)². This has the correct sign and is within 5% of the exact result which is −(28/27)(αZ)².     

Vortex rings and plasma toroidal vortices in homogeneous infinite media. III. Diffusion anisotropy effect in vortices

The effect of diffusion anisotropy of material particles in toroidal vortices (TVs) is experimentally studied in plasma TVs in air, in vortex rings in air and water. The essence of this effect consists in the fact that diffusion coefficients of material particles in TVs in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis D _⊥ are much lower than in the direction parallel to this axis D _‖. The coefficient D _⊥ is determined for propane molecules in air TVs, and the dependence of the coefficient D _⊥ of ink particles in water TVs on the rotation angular velocity ω is studied. It is shown that the coefficient D _⊥ can decrease with increasing ω by a factor of 10–25 in comparison with the coefficient D _‖.     

Perturbative and non-perturbative Kolmogorov turbulence in a gluon plasma

In numerical simulations of nonabelian plasma instabilities in the hard-loop approximation, a turbulent spectrum has been observed that is characterized by a phase-space density of particles n(p)∼p ^−ν with exponent ν≃2, which is larger than expected from relativistic 2↔2 scatterings. Using the approach of Zakharov, L’vov and Falkovich, we analyze possible Kolmogorov coefficients for relativistic (m≥4)-particle processes, which give at most ν=5/3 perturbatively for an energy cascade. We discuss non-perturbative scenarios which lead to larger values. As an extreme limit we find the result ν=5 generically in an inherently non-perturbative effective field theory situation, which coincides with results obtained by Berges et al. in large-N scalar field theory. If we instead assume that scaling behavior is determined by Schwinger–Dyson resummations such that the different scaling of bare and dressed vertices matters, we find that intermediate values are possible. We present one simple scenario, which would single out ν=2.