Simulation of the ignition transient in RF inductively-coupled plasma torches

The paper deals with the time-dependent numerical simulation of inductively-coupled plasma torches during the ignition transient, which is induced by a graphite rod and leads to the final, self-sustaining plasma condition. The study has been performed by using a 2D time-dependent fluid-magnetic code based on the SIMPLER algorithm within the assumptions of laminar flow, local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions and optically thin plasma. The graphite rod has been treated as a real obstacle for the gas and the electron emission due to the thermoionic effect has been suitably taken into account. The advantage of using a time-dependent code in order to select different plasma operating conditions that can lead to stable discharges is pointed out. Results for both argon and air discharges are presented for different torch geometries, RF frequencies and inlet gas configurations (also including the presence of a carrier gas injected along the axis of the torch). Moreover, the final self-sustaining plasma configurations obtained are compared, when available, with results coming from static models, which have been published by other authors. Received 29 December 2000     

Design study of 3-D tomography diagnostics for spherical tokamaks

A novel three-dimensional (3-D) tomography software has been developed for spherical tokamak (ST) plasmas with thin central coils. It enables us to measure whole 3-D annular profiles of ST plasma emissivity (line spectrum etc.) using limited number of detectors located on a sphere outside of its separatrix. The numbers and positions of detectors have been optimized for STs that contain low-n toroidal modes from n = 1 to 5. Mathematical method allowing for the removal of the thin central coil from the region of reconstruction and to reconstruct STs with single and double axes are also discussed. The shadow effect of center coil region was found to limit the reconstruction accuracy, indicating that the low-aspect ratio torus (ST) is essential to this new 3-D tomography diagnostics. Received 17 August 2000 and Received in final form 16 November 2000     

An analytic colllslonai-radlatlve model Incorporating non-LTE and optical depth effects

In this paper we analyze the variations in line intensities ratios due to a non-equilibrium situation and to optical depth effects. A four level model is proposed and the two particular situations for the possible transitions are considered. Electron density and temperature as well as the source thickness are used as independent parameters to find out in which way and extent they modify the ratios of levels populations compared with the ideal case of an equilibrium state and optically thin source. Accordingly with the ion of interest, electron temperatures ranging from I/20 to I/7 eV (I being the ionization energy), whereas electron densities in the interval from 10¹⁴ to 10²⁰ cm^-3 will be considered. These ranges are of special interest for diverse applications such as LIBS and measurement of transition probabilities. Some results are presented for real ions and a new expression for the escape factor is also proposed for general plasma conditions. Received 12 June 2001 and Received in final form 24 October 2001     

Transfer reactions and sub-barrier fusion in 40Ca + 90, 96Zr

The two systems ⁴⁰Ca + ^90,96Zr have been studied by measuring nucleon transfer reactions at two energies near the Coulomb barrier, thus complementing the available sub-barrier fusion cross-sections. Angular distributions for various transfer channels have been determined. Significantly larger neutron transfer cross-sections are found for the target ⁹⁶Zr that exhibits the larger enhancement in the sub-barrier fusion cross-sections. All data have been analyzed with a new model for heavy-ion collisions that calculates simultaneously transfer cross-sections, fusion excitation functions and barrier distributions. The model gives a good account of both transfer and fusion data. Received: 2 May 2002 / Accepted: 4 June 2002 / Published online: 26 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: montagnoli@pd.infn.it, Fax +39049 8277102, Tel. +39049 8277117. RID="b" ID="b"On leave from the China Institute for Atomic Energy, 102413 Beijing, China. Communicated by C. Signorini     

Candidates for chiral doublet bands in 136Nd

The even-even nucleus ¹³⁶Nd was studied via in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy using the ¹⁶O + ¹²⁵Te reaction at 100 MeV and the EUROBALL array. One new dipole band was observed. Together with a previously identified dipole band, whose position in the level scheme is revised, the new band forms a doublet structure similar to the recently observed chiral bands in the odd-odd neighboring nuclei. This would be the first case of a chiral doublet in an even-even nucleus. Received: 23 May 2002 / Accepted: 30 September 2002 / Published online: 27 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: costel.petrache@unicam.it RID="b" ID="b"Present address: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. RID="c" ID="c"Present address: Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung D-64291 Darmstadt, Germany. Communicated by C. Signorini     

The measurement of the electronic g-factor in hydrogen-like ions --A promising tool for determining fundamental and nuclear constants

We describe a double-Penning-trap experiment suitable for testing QED in strong fields by determining the electronic g-factor of a single hydrogen-like ion in its ground state. Our measurements on ¹²C^{5 +} reach a relative accuracy of 2×10^-9, where the largest uncertainty results from the mass of the electron. Together with equally precise theoretical predictions therefore, it is possible to evaluate a new value for the electron's mass. The possibilities to obtain other fundamental constants and nuclear parameters are lined out. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: t.beier@gsi.de     

Spectroscopy of the deformed 126Ce nucleus

The even-even nucleus ¹²⁶Ce was studied via in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy using the ⁴⁰Ca + ⁹²Mo reaction at 190 MeV. Five bands were observed, one of them being identified for the first time. New connecting transitions were identified between the bands, which lead to new spin assignments. The bands are discussed in the framework of the IBM + broken pairs model. Received: 17 July 2002 / Accepted: 23 October 2002 / Published online: 18 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: costel.petrache@unicam.it Communicated by C. Signorini     

Cellular oscillator with a small number of particles

To illustrate complex spatio-temporal effects which are possible in cellular reactions with a small number of particles, we present Monte Carlo simulations of the formation of oscillatory spark-like patterns in a model completely stochastic Ca⁺² oscillator. Our analysis shows that in order to observe such patterns the minimum average number of Ca⁺² ions in the cytosol may be as low as about 50. Received 21 April 2002 / Received in final form 19 June 2002 Published online 14 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: zhdanov@catalysis.nsk.su     

Thermal instability of a rotating saturated porous medium heated from below and submitted to rotation

In this work, we study the problem of onset of thermal convection in a rotating saturated porous medium heated from below. The effect of rotation is restricted to the Coriolis force, neglecting thus the centrifugal effects, the porous medium is described by Brinkman's model. The linear eigenvalue problem is solved by means of a modified Galerkin method. The behavior of the critical temperature gradient is discussed in terms of various parameters of the system for both stationary and overstable convections. Finally a weakly nonlinear analysis is provided to derive amplitude equations and to study the onset of Küppers-Lortz instability. Received 24 June 2002 / Received in final form 11 September 2002 Published online 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: tdesaive@ulg.ac.be     

Electroweak interactions between intense neutrino beams and dense electron-positron magnetoplasmas

The electroweak coupling between intense neutrino beams and strongly degenerate relativistic dense electron-positron magnetoplasmas is considered. The intense neutrino bursts interact with the plasma due to the weak Fermi interaction force, and their dynamics is governed by a kinetic equation. Our objective here is to develop a kinetic equation for a degenerate neutrino gas and to use that equation to derive relativistic magnetohydrodynamic equations. The latter are useful for studying numerous collective processes when intense neutrino beams nonlinearly interact with degenerate, relativistic, dense electron-positron plasmas in strong magnetic fields. If the number densities of the plasma particles are of the order of 10³³ cm^-3, the pair plasma becomes ultra-relativistic, which strongly affects the potential energy of the weak Fermi interaction. The new system of equations allows several neutrino-driven streaming instabilities involving new types of relativistic Alfvén-like waves. The relevance of our investigation to the early universe and supernova explosions is discussed. Received 11 September 2002 Published online 4 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"Permanent address: Department of Physics, Tbilisi State University, Chavchavadze 3, Tbilisi 38028, Georgia. RID="b" ID="b"Also at the Department of Plasma Physics, Ume? University, 90187 Ume?, Sweden; and the Center for Interdisciplinary Plasma Science, Max-Planck Institut für Plasmaphysik und extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, 85741 Garching, Germany. e-mail: ps@tp4.ruhr-uni-bochum.de RID="c" ID="c"Permanent address: Department of Plasma Physics, Ume?University, 90187 Ume?, Sweden.     

New parameterization of the trinucleon wave function and its application to the π <Superscript>3</Superscript>He scattering length

We present a new parameterization of the trinucleon wave function. As a novel feature a separable parameterization for the complete wave function is given. In this way any calculation that considers two-body currents only is largely simplified. To demonstrate this we calculate the π³He scattering length in chiral-perturbation theory. We find reasonable agreement with experimental values inferred from data on level shifts in pionic ³He bound states. The relevance of the π-triton system for an alternative determination of the πN scattering lengths is discussed. Received: 12 August 2002 / Accepted: 25 November 2002 / Published online: 25 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: c.hanhart@fz.juelich.de Communicated by V. Vento     

The kaon form factor in the light-cone quark model

The electromagnetic form factor of the kaon meson is calculated in the light-cone formalism of the relativistic constituent quark model. The calculated K⁺ form factor is consistent with almost all of the available experimental data at low-energy scale, while other properties of the kaon could also be interrelated in this representation with reasonable parameters. Predictions of the form factors for the charged and neutral kaons at a higher-energy scale are also given, and we find the non-zero K⁰ form factor at Q ²≠ 0 due to the mass difference between the strange and down quarks inside K⁰. Received: 21 June 2002 / Accepted: 29 July 2002 / Published online: 3 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: mabq@phy.pku.edu.cn Communicated by A. Sch?fer     

High-spin study of odd- A 49In isotopes beyond the neutron mid-shell

The ^{115, 117, 119, 121}In nuclei have been produced as fission fragments in three reactions induced by heavy ions: ¹²C + ²³⁸U at 90MeV bombarding energy, ¹⁸O + ²⁰⁸Pb reaction at 85MeV, and ³¹P + ¹⁷⁶Yb at 152MeV. Their level schemes have been built from gamma-rays detected using the EUROBALL III and IV arrays. High-spin states of ^{117, 119, 121}In nuclei have been identified for the first time. Moreover, isomeric states lying around 2.5MeV have been established in ^{119, 121}In from the delayed coincidences between the fission fragment detector SAPhIR and the gamma array. Most of the observed states can be described by coupling a proton g _9/2 hole to a Sn core, while the intruder band based on an orbital from the π[g _7/2/d _5/2] sub-shells behaves as the ground-state band of neighbouring Cd isotopes. Received: 24 May 2002 / Accepted: 11 June 2002 / Published online: 19 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: porquet@csnsm.in2p3.fr RID="b" ID="b"Present address: CEA-DIF, DAM/DCRE/SDE/LDN, 91680 Bruyères-le-Chatel, France. RID="c" ID="c"Present address: CSNSM IN2P3-CNRS and Université Paris-Sud 91405 Orsay, France. RID="d" ID="d"Present address: CEA/Saclay, DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France. Communicated by D. Schwalm     

Core polarization effects on C4 form factors of sd-shell nuclei

Coulomb form factors of C4 transitions in even-even N = Z sd-shell nuclei ( ²⁰Ne, ²⁴Mg, ²⁸Si and ³²S) are discussed taking into account higher-energy configurations outside the sd-shell model space which are called core polarization effects. Higher configurations are taken into account through a microscopic theory, which allows particle-hole excitations from the 1s and 1p shells core orbits and also from the 2s1d-shell orbits to the higher allowed orbits with excitations up to 4 ω. The effect of core polarization is found essential in both the transition strengths and momentum transfer dependence of form factors, and gives a remarkably good agreement with the measured data with no adjustable parameters. The calculations are based on the Wildenthal interaction for the sd-shell model space and on the modified surface delta interaction (MSDI) for the core polarization effects. Received: 24 January 2002 / Accepted: 29 July 2002 / Published online: 6 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: baguniv@uruklink.net Communicated by P. Schuck     

In-beam spectroscopy of 253, 254No

In-beam conversion electron spectroscopy experiments have been performed on the transfermium nuclei ^{253, 254}No using the conversion electron spectrometer SACRED in nearly collinear geometry in conjunction with the gas-filled separator RITU at the University of Jyv?skyl?. The experimental setup is discussed and the spectra are compared to Monte Carlo simulations. The implications for the ground-state configuration of ²⁵³No are discussed. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: rdh@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk RID="b" ID="b"Present address: GANIL, F-14021 Caen, France. RID="c" ID="c"Permanent address: IReS Strasbourg, IN2P3-CNRS, F-67037-Strasbourg, France. RID="d" ID="d"Present address: CEA/DIF DCRE/SDE/LDN F-91680 Bruyeres-le-Chatel. RID="e" ID="e"Present address: Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury WA4 4AD, UK. RID="f" ID="f"Permanent address: IPN Lyon, IN2P3-CNRS, F-69037 Lyon, France.     

LOCV calculation for the uniform electron fluid at finite temperature

The free energy of the homogeneous electron fluid at finite temperature is obtained using the lowest order constrained variational (LOCV) method. In order to test the convergence of cluster expansion series the three-body cluster terms are calculated with the LOCV correlation functions. The results agree reasonably with those of Monte Carlo, coupled-cluster, perturbational expansion etc, techniques at zero temperature. The flashing and critical temperatures as well as the critical exponent are found to be about 0.6, 1.3 eV and 0.384 respectively. A similar liquid-gas phase transition to that of nuclear matter and liquid He³ is observed. Received 15 April 2002 / Received in final form 19 October 2002 Published online 4 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: modarres@khayam.ut.ac.ir     

First triaxial superdeformed band in 170Hf

First evidence is presented for triaxial superdeformation in ¹⁷⁰Hf. High-spin states in this nucleus have been investigated in a γ-ray coincidence measurement using the EUROBALL spectrometer array. A new band was discovered which has moments of inertia that are very similar to the ones of triaxial superdeformed bands in neighbouring Hf and Lu nuclei. The intensities with which these bands are populated are different from what may be expected from calculated potential-energy minima. Received: 11 September 2002 / Accepted: 15 October 2002 / Published online: 10 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: neusser@iskp.uni-bonn.de Communicated by D. Schwalm     

New results on proton emission from odd-odd nuclei

⁷⁸Kr beams were used to bombard ⁵⁸Ni, ⁹²Mo and ⁹⁶Ru, producing three new, odd-odd, proton-emitting isotopes, ¹³⁰Eu, ^164mIr and ¹⁷⁰Au. Preliminary experimental and theoretical results will be presented in this paper. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: mahmud@ph.ed.ac.uk     

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In order to optimize the process of plasma spheroidization of the lithium micro-powder, a 2-D model of inductively coupled thermal plasma torch is presented. The calculating domain of the electromagnetic field is extended to the air region outside the plasma discharge region and multi-physics coupling calculation was performed by using COMSOL software. The plasma electromagnetic field, temperature and velocity distributions are obtained. The physical mechanism of distributions is analyzed. The simulation found that there are two sets of symmetrical reflux vortices in the coil section of the plasma region. The velocity distribution which locates in the center of coil section and closes to the wall of confinement tube is in disorder. The plasma particles hit the wall along the radial direction. Disorderly flow may cause a rupture area along the circular tube wall. Based on the simulation results, it is proposed that in the process of inductively coupled plasma spheroidization, powder injection port can be moved down to avoid the upper reflux vortex.