Field-reversed configurations in an unmagnetized plasma

An oscillating magnetic field is applied with a loop antenna to an unmagnetized plasma. At small amplitudes the field is evanescent. At large amplitudes the field magnetizes the electrons, which allows deeper field penetration in the whistler modes. Field-reversed configurations are formed at each half cycle. Electrons are energized. Transient whistler instabilities produce high-frequency oscillations in the magnetized plasma volume.     

Stirring unmagnetized plasma

A new concept for spinning unmagnetized plasma is demonstrated experimentally. Plasma is confined by an axisymmetric multicusp magnetic field and biased cathodes are used to drive currents and impart a torque in the magnetized edge. Measurements show that flow viscously couples momentum from the magnetized edge (where the plasma viscosity is small) into the unmagnetized core (where the viscosity is large) and that the core rotates as a solid body. To be effective, collisional viscosity must overcome the ion-neutral drag due to charge-exchange collisions.     

Head-on collision of ion-acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized electron-positron-ion plasma

The head-on collision between two ion-acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized electron-positron-ion plasma has been investigated. By using the extended Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo perturbation method, we obtain the KdV equation and the analytical phase shift after the head-on collision of two solitary waves in this three-component plasma. The effects of the ratio of electron temperature to positron temperature, and the ratio of the number density of positrons to that of electrons on the phase shift are studied. It is found that these parameters can significantly influence the phase shifts of the solitons. Moreover, the compressive solitary wave can propagate in this system.     

Higher-order solution for dust acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized dusty plasma

The effect of higher-order nonlinearity on dust acoustic solitary waves is studied taking into account the dust-charge variation. The model of charge fluctuation, taken here, is of the formI _e+I _i=0,I _e andI _i being the electronic and ionic currents. The dust charge is determined self consistently from the current-balance equation. It is found that the higher-order correction modifies the amplitude and width of the dust acoustic solitary waves. The effect of dust-charge streaming is also discussed.     

Negative plasma potential in unmagnetized DC electropositive plasma with conducting walls

Negative plasma potentials were obtained in DC hot filament unmagnetized electropositive argon plasma for sufficiently low neutral pressure. Double layers provide ion and electron confinement near the walls. The potential profiles from the center of the plasma to the potential minima are quite similar in shape to those observed when the plasma has positive plasma potentials. The primary electrons emitted from the filaments are important for charge conservation and for modification of the Bohm criteria but are not important for current balance.     

Relativistic and nonrelativistic modulational instability of a laser radiation in an unmagnetized laser-produced plasma: Kinetic theory

Summary This paper presents a rigorous theoretical investigation of the relativistic and nonrelativistic modulational instability of a high-power laser radiation propagating in a collisionless and unmagnetized laser-produced plasma. The kinetic equationviz. the relativistic Vlasov equation has been employed to find the nonlinear response of electrons for this four-wave parametric process in the plasma. The actual motivation behind this theoretical investigation is to find the relativistic effect on this four-wave paremetric processviz. the modulational instability. Here, it can be noted that the modulational instability of the laser radiation under our situation has not a large but considerable relativistic effect and for the same set of plasma parameters the growth rate of the instability in ultrarelativistic consideration is approximately three times higher than that in the nonrelativistic consideration. The authors of this paper have agreed to not rective the proofs for correction.     

时变非磁化等离子体光子晶体缺陷态研究

采用非磁化等离子体的分段线形电流密度卷积(Current density convolution,JEC)时域有限差分(Finite-dif-ferent time-domain,FDTD)算法研究了具有单一缺陷层的一维时变非磁化等离子体光子晶体的缺陷模特性。以高斯脉冲为激励源,通过由算法公式得到的电磁波透射系数讨论了等离子体上升时间对其缺陷模的影响。结果表明,改变等离子体的上升时间和密度可以获得不同的缺陷模。     

Compressibility in solar wind plasma turbulence

Incompressible magnetohydrodynamics is often assumed to describe solar wind turbulence. We use extended self-similarity to reveal scaling in the structure functions of density fluctuations in the solar wind. The obtained scaling is then compared with that found in the inertial range of quantities identified as passive scalars in other turbulent systems. We find that these are not coincident. This implies that either solar wind turbulence is compressible or that straightforward comparison of structure functions does not adequately capture its inertial range properties.     

High-power microwave source based on an unmagnetized backward-waveoscillator

A unique, high-power microwave source, called PASOTRON (Plasma-Assisted Slow-wave Oscillator), has been developed. The PASOTRON utilizes a long-pulse E-gun and plasma-filled slow-wave structure (SWS) to produce high-energy microwave pulses from a simple, lightweight device that utilizes no externally-produced magnetic fields. The novel E-gun employs a low-pressure glow discharge to provide a stable, high current-density electron source. A high-perveance, multi-aperture electron accelerator produces an E-beam that is operated in the ion-focused regime; where the beam-produced plasma filling the SWS space-charge neutralizes the beam, and the self-pinch force compresses the beamlets to provide propagation through the SWS. The PASOTRON E-gun has produced beams with voltages of up to 220 kV and currents in excess of 1 kA for pulse lengths of over 100 μsec. The PASOTRON HPM source normally operates in the TM₀₁ mode, and a unique mode converter has been developed to efficiently produce a TE₁₁ output mode with fixed polarization, The PASOTRON also has the ability to directly produce TE-mode radiation with a rotating output polarization, PASOTRON HPM sources have operated in L, S, C and X-bands, and have produced output powers in the 1 to 5 MW range in C-band at about 20% efficiency with pulse lengths of over 100 μsec     

Thermal parametric turbulence in a plasma

A theory of thermal parametric instability (TPI) in an inhomogeneous magnetoplasma is developed. The threshold pump wave amplitude and increments of TPI are obtained. The spacial spectra of plasma waves and magnetic field aligned density perturbations are determined at the nonlinear stage of TPI, perturbation intensity dependence on pump energy is also analyzed. The theoretical results are applied to explain the ionospheric modification experiments.     

Superheat turbulence in gas discharged plasma

The influence of the electron concentration and temperature fluctuations on local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) in a gas-discharge plasma due to superheat turbulence development is analyzed. Data for the noble-gas atmospheric plasmas Ar and He (T=6-18 kK) and air ( T=4-9 kK) are given. It is shown that superheat turbulence causes deviation from LTE when parameter-space gradients are absent. As a result, the influence of superheat turbulence for weakly radiative gases (He, H₂) is considerably greater than for strong radiative gases (Ar, Xe, etc). The artificial excitement of superheat turbulence in plasma without any current by means of external electric field fluctuations is demonstrated     

Empirical power law for magnetic turbulence spectra of an anisotropic plasma

Three-dimensional dynamic distributions of oscillations of the magnetic field over wave vectors k have been obtained from the plasma and magnetic measurements on four satellites in the Cluster experiment in a turbulent plasma in the outer Earth’s cusp and near it. The resulting k spectra exhibit strong inhomogeneous anisotropy. The dependences of the energy of magnetic oscillations on the wavenumber have been analyzed for 288 three-dimensional spectra in the wavelength interval covering the magnetohydrodynamic and ion scales. It has been shown that the energy density of magnetic fluctuations per unit volume in the wave vector space that is averaged over the total solid angle decreases in the wavelength interval from ～2000 to ～10 km with an increase in according to a power law with an exponent of α = -5.0 ± 0.3 for any magnitude and character of anisotropy.     

Growth and stabilization of a laser ripple on laser beam in a collisionless unmagnetized plasma

Summary In this paper we have studied the growth and stabilization of a radially symmetric ripple superimposed on a laser beam in a collisionless unmagnetized plasma. The saturation of the growth rate is due to pump depletion effect. On acoount of the nonuniform intensity distribution of the main beam, a d.c. component of the ponderomotive force becomes finite and it redistributes the carriers in the plasma in a plane transverse to the beam propagation. We have set up and solved the wave equations for main beam and ripple by using the WKB and paraxial ray approximations. As the ripple grows in the plasma, it draws energy from the background laser field. It is seen that the relative intensity of the laser ripple becomes critical due to the counteracting behaviour of the self-focusing and depletion of the main beam. To speed up publication, the authors of this paper have agreed to not receive the proofs for correction.     

Quantum turbulence: Theoretical and numerical problems

The term “quantum turbulence” (QT) unifies the wide class of phenomena where the chaotic set of one dimensional quantized vortex filaments (vortex tangles) appear in quantum fluids and greatly influence various physical features. Quantum turbulence displays itself differently depending on the physical situation, and ranges from quasi-classical turbulence in flowing fluids to a near equilibrium set of loops in phase transition. The statistical configurations of the vortex tangles are certainly different in, say, the cases of counterflowing helium and a rotating bulk, but in all the physical situations very similar theoretical and numerical problems arise. Furthermore, quite similar situations appear in other fields of physics, where a chaotic set of one dimensional topological defects, such as cosmic strings, or linear defects in solids, or lines of darkness in nonlinear light fields, appear in the system. There is an interpenetration of ideas and methods between these scientific topics which are far apart in other respects. The main purpose of this review is to bring together some of the most commonly discussed results on quantum turbulence, focusing on analytic and numerical studies. We set out a series of results on the general theory of quantum turbulence which aim to describe the properties of the chaotic vortex configuration, starting from vortex dynamics. In addition we insert a series of particular questions which are important both for the whole theory and for the various applications. We complete the article with a discussion of the hot topic, which is undoubtedly mainstream in this field, and which deals with the quasi-classical properties of quantum turbulence. We discuss this problem from the point of view of the theoretical results stated in the previous sections. We also included section, which is devoted to the experimental and numerical suggestions based on the discussed theoretical models.     

Local kinetic effects in two-dimensional plasma turbulence

Using direct numerical simulations of a hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell model, kinetic processes are investigated in a two-dimensional turbulent plasma. In the turbulent regime, kinetic effects manifest through a deformation of the ion distribution function. These patterns of non-Maxwellian features are concentrated in space nearby regions of strong magnetic activity: the distribution function is modulated by the magnetic topology, and can elongate along or across the local magnetic field. These results open a new path on the study of kinetic processes such as heating, particle acceleration, and temperature anisotropy, commonly observed in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas.