Identification of a low plasma-rotation threshold for stabilization of the resistive-wall mode

The plasma rotation necessary for stabilization of resistive-wall modes (RWMs) is investigated by controlling the toroidal plasma rotation with external momentum input by injection of tangential neutral beams. The observed threshold is 0.3% of the Alfvén velocity and much smaller than the previous experimental results obtained with magnetic braking. This low critical rotation has a very weak beta dependence as the ideal wall limit is approached. These results indicate that for large plasmas such as in future fusion reactors with low rotation, the requirement of the additional feedback control system for stabilizing RWM is much reduced.     

Rigid and differential plasma crystal rotation induced by magnetic fields

Observations show that plasma crystals, suspended in the sheath of a radio-frequency discharge, rotate under the influence of a vertical magnetic field. Depending on the discharge conditions, two different cases are observed: a rigid-body rotation (all the particles move with a constant angular velocity) and sheared rotation (the angular velocity of particles has a radial distribution). When the discharge voltage is increased sufficiently, the particles may even reverse their direction of motion. A simple analytical model is used to explain qualitatively the mechanism of the observed particle motion and its dependence on the confining potential and discharge conditions. The model takes into account electrostatic, ion drag, neutral drag, and effective interparticle interaction forces. For the special case of rigid-body rotation, the confining potential is reconstructed. Using data for the radial dependence of particle rotation velocity, the shear stresses are estimated. The critical shear stress at which shear-induced melting occurs is used to roughly estimate the shear elastic modulus of the plasma crystal. The latter is also used to estimate the viscosity contribution due to elasticity in the plasma liquid. Further development is suggested in order to quantitatively implement these ideas.     

The Propagation of the Nerve Impulse Under the Effect of a Magnetic Field

The recent significant advance in ruperconductivity at high temperatures has raised an important problem in biophysics, in view of the underlying interest that haa arisen in experiments in which very high magnetic fields are needed (in the multi-teala range). This is occurring against a theoretical background in which there k no reliable way of estimating the effect of magnetic fields on the central nervous system. This has led us to discuss the problem of the coupling of magnetic fields with coherent propagation of the polarization of the plasma membrane along the axon. Our work lies within the context of the phenomenological model of nerve impulse popagation due to Hodgkin and Huxley. Using the concept of gauge invariance we find that the magnetic field has a non-negligible effect on the velocity of propagation of the action potential in the limit of the Fitxhugh-Nagumo equation without recovery, but more realistic cases do not change the main conclusions of this work.     

Time-dependent correlations for a one-component plasma in a uniform magnetic field

We derive various sum rules for the time-displaced structure function of a classical one-component plasma subjected to an external uniform magnetic field. When the plasma has some translational invariance (i.e., homogeneous or translation-invariant along the field), we find that there are long-wavelength oscillations with well-defined frequencies. The results are obtained from linear response and macroscopic electrodynamics, as well as from the microscopic equations of motion (BBGKY hierarchy). In the presence of the magnetic field, the time-displaced structure function has a polynomial decay at large distances, even in the homogeneous case. When the plasma has no translational invariance, examples show a more complicated temporal behaviour in the long-length-scale limit, involving a superposition of oscillations over a continuous range of frequencies.     

Landau electron in a rotating environment: A general factorization of time evolution

For the Landau problem with a rotating magnetic field and a confining potential in the (changing) direction of the field, we derive a general factorization of the time evolution operator that includes the adiabatic factorization as a special case. The confining potential is assumed to be of a general form and it can correspond to nonlinear Heisenberg equations of motion. The rotation operator associated with the solid angle Berry phase is used to transform the problem to a rotating reference frame. In the rotating reference frame, we derive a natural factorization of the time evolution operator by recognizing the crucial role played by a gauge transformation. The major complexity of the problem arises from the coupling between motion in the direction of the magnetic field and motion perpendicular to the field. In the factorization, this complexity is consolidated into a single operator which approaches the identity operator when the potential confines the particle sufficiently close to a rotating plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. The structure of this operator is clarified by deriving an expression for its generating Hamiltonian. The adiabatic limit and non-adiabatic effects follow as consequences of the general factorization which are clarified using the magnetic translation concept.     

Generation of sheath in magnetized plasma under the impact of slow rotation

In this study, we have tried to investigate the generation of sheath in magnetized plasma rotating with a uniform angular velocity about an axis making an angle with the direction of plasma-acoustic wave propagation. In a marked contrast to the earlier studies, here the simultaneous impact of slow rotation and external magnetic field has been taken into consideration. Previous studies have revealed that the Coriolis force generated from rotation has a tendency to produce an equivalent magnetic field effect as and when the ionized medium rotates. The variations of sheath potential with normalized distance for different values of angles of rotation as well as for different values of Mach number have also been investigated for typical plasma parameters.     

Nonlinear response to external magnetic fields

The purpose of this paper is to study conditions under which a system of itinerate spin-$\text{1}\text{2}$ fermions might exhibit a macroscopic linear response to external magnetic fields after long times. Exact expressions are obtained for the nonlinear response of the magnetization and the total energy. We find that for a constant field there is no response (our model contains no mechanism for the relaxation of spins). For an oscillatory field there is a response in which secular terms (in the time) appear which are associated both with nonlinear terms in the external field and with contributions from the background medium. The secular terms involving the magnetic field would not be seen if one used the usual approximations of microscopic linear response theory. They give rise to new conditions which must be satisfied if the system is to exhibit a macroscopic linear response in the long-time limit.     

Influence of external magnetic field on dust acoustic waves in a capacitive RF discharge

This paper reports experiments on self-excited dust acoustic waves (DAWs) and its propagation characteristics in a magnetized rf discharge plasma. The DAWs are spontaneously excited in dusty plasma after adding more particles in the confining potential well and found to propagate in the direction of streaming ions. The spontaneous excitation of such low-frequency modes is possible due to the instabilities associated with streaming ions through the dust grain medium. The background E-field and neutral pressure determine the stability of excited DAWs. The characteristics of DAWs strongly depend on the strength of external magnetic field. The magnetic field of strength B < 0.05 T only modifies the characteristics of propagating waves in dusty plasma at moderate power and pressure, P = 3.5 W and p = 27 Pa, respectively. It is found that DAWs start to be damped with increasing the magnetic field beyond B > 0.05 T and get completely damped at higher magnetic field B ∼ 0.13 T. After lowering the power and pressure to 3 W and 23 Pa respectively, the excited DAWs in the absence of B are slightly unstable. In this case, the magnetic field only stabilizes and modifies the propagation characteristics of DAWs while the strength of B is increased up to 0.1 T or even higher. The modification of the sheath electric field where particles are confined in the presence of the external magnetic field is the main cause of the modification and damping of the DAWs in a magnetized rf discharge plasma.     

Toroidal plasma rotation induced by the dynamic ergodic divertor in the TEXTOR tokamak

The first results of the Dynamic Ergodic Divertor in TEXTOR, when operating in the m/n=3/1 mode configuration, are presented. The deeply penetrating external magnetic field perturbation of this configuration increases the toroidal plasma rotation. Staying below the excitation threshold for the m/n=2/1 tearing mode, this toroidal rotation is always in the direction of the plasma current, even if the toroidal projection of the rotating magnetic field perturbation is in the opposite direction. The observed toroidal rotation direction is consistent with a radial electric field, generated by an enhanced electron transport in the ergodic layers near the resonances of the perturbation. This is an effect different from theoretical predictions, which assume a direct coupling between rotating perturbation and plasma to be the dominant effect of momentum transfer.     

有限磁场中等离子体圆柱波导的传播特性

分析了有耗介质中等离子体圆柱波导在有限外加磁场中的传播特性.重点讨论了波导传播常数随等离子体参数、介质参数和外加磁场的变化.分析结果表明，有限强磁场中的等离子体波导的传播特性比无外磁场或外加磁场为无穷大时具有更强的控制能力. 关键词：     

Hybrid helicity and magneto-vorticity flux conservation in superdense npe-plasma

In this paper, it is shown that the magnetic helicity dissipation per unit volume, coupled with the longitudinal conductivity, causes enhancement of the kinematic rotation of the electric (and magnetic) lines if the npe-plasma vorticity vector aligns with the electric (or the magnetic) field. In the case of a rigidly rotating npe-plasma under the influence of a strong magnetic field, the electric lines are rotating faster than the magnetic lines. It is deduced that the orthogonality of the electric and magnetic fields is an essential condition for the conduction current to remain finite in the limit of infinite electric conductivity of the npe-plasma. In this case, the magnetic field is not frozen into the npe-plasma, but the magnetic flux in the magnetic tube is conserved. The hybrid helicity is conserved if the “magneto-vorticity” vector is tangent to the level surfaces of constant entropy per baryon. The “magneto-vorticity” lines are rotating on the level surfaces of constant entropy per baryon due to the electromagnetic energy flow in the direction of the npe-plasma vorticity and the chemical potential variation locked with the kinematic rotation of the npe-plasma flow lines. In the case of an isentropic npe-plasma flow, there exists a family of timelike 2-surfaces spanned by the “magneto-vorticity” lines and the npe-plasma flow lines. In this case, the electric field is normal to such a family of timelike 2-surfaces. Maxwell like equations satisfied by “magneto-vorticity” bivector field are solved in axially symmetric stationary case. It is shown that the npe-plasma is in differential rotation in such a way that its each plasma shell (i.e., plasma surface spanned by “magneto-vorticity” lines) is rotating differentially without continually winding up “magneto-vorticity” lines frozen into the npe-plasma. It is also found that gravitational isorotation and Ferraro’s law of isorotation are intimately connected to each other because of coexistence of both the plasma vorticity and the magnetic field due to interaction between the electromagnetic field and npe-plasma flows.     

Upgrade of the magnetic diagnostic system for restart of HT-6M operation

The HT-6M tokamak at the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology has been restarted. In order to ensure the smooth breakdown of plasma and obtain plasma discharge parameters, optimization of the poloidal field coils and upgrade of the magnetic diagnostics are described in this article. A perfect null field (stray field in the main chamber < 10 G) is obtained using an ohmic heating field. To obtain important information about the plasma, an external magnetic diagnostics system is designed and calibrated, including a Rogowski coil (measuring plasma current), a magnetic probe (measuring external field), diamagnetic loops (measuring β_p) and so on. In order to realize high-frequency signal measurement and transmission, a series of frequency responses with the magnetic probe and transmission line are tested. Later, to verify the null field, a fitting code is developed to reconstruct the stray field in the vacuum chamber based on magnetic probe measurements and flux loops. The results show that the error is within 1.5%. This indicates the accuracy of the magnetic measurement system and ensures the preparation for the breakdown of plasma.     

闭合磁场的作用原理与布局逻辑

采用非平衡磁控溅射阴极在镀膜区间构建闭合磁场已经成为设计开发磁控溅射真空镀膜系统的通用手段,然而闭合磁场具体的作用对象、作用机制、闭合条件、布局逻辑以及作用效果等仍没有定量的判定标准或设计依据.本文从带电粒子在磁场中的运动出发,推导了真空室内电子与离子运动行为,得出闭合磁场的作用机制,并依此研究了磁控溅射阴极和离子源布局方式对电子约束效果和沉积效率的影响.结果表明,闭合磁场在真空室中主要通过约束电子来约束等离子体,进而减少系统内电子损失;阴极数量和真空室尺寸对闭合磁场的作用效果有重要影响.提出在真空室中央增加对偶离子源,研究了闭合磁场中阴极类型、旋转角度和磁场方向对电子的约束作用,发现当离子源正对阴极相斥或相吸时,真空室内分别形成了局部高密度和均匀连续的两种等离子体分布特征,边缘电子溢出比均低于3%,镀膜区的电子占比相对无对偶离子源时分别提高到53.41%和42.25%.     

流动等离子体对托卡马克中撕裂模的影响

本文分析了托卡马克中的等离子体具有一个整体流动速度时,撕裂模的活动情况。分析与数值计算指出,等离子体的整体流动(等价于具有一个旋转频率)不影响撕裂模的活动,只是使撕裂模具有一个和等离子体相同的旋转频率。外加螺旋场在撕裂层能有效地抑制住等离子体的旋转。螺旋场对撕裂模的稳定作用不受等离子体旋转的影响。 关键词：     

Solitary self-gravitational potential in magnetized astrophysical degenerate quantum plasmas

A rigorous theoretical investigation has been conducted on solitary self-gravitational potential structures in a magnetized degenerate quantum plasma system (containing heavy nuclei and degenerate electrons). The reductive perturbation method has been used to derive the Korteweg-de Vries (K-dV) equation, which admits a solitary wave solution for small but finite amplitude limit. It has been shown, for the first time, that the periodic U-shaped structures represented by secant square function [Asaduzzaman et al, Physics of Plasmas, 24 , 052102 (2017)] are converted into solitary self-gravitational potential structures represented by hyperbolic secant square function due to the presence of a static external magnetic field. It is also observed that the effects of the static external magnetic field and obliqueness significantly modify the basic properties (viz. amplitude, width, speed, etc.) of the solitary self-gravitational potential structures.     

Dusty plasma structures in magnetic fields in a dc discharge

The formation of dusty plasma structures has been experimentally investigated in a cylindrical dc discharge in axial magnetic fields up to 2500 G. The rotation of the dusty plasma structures about the discharge symmetry axis with a frequency depending on the magnetic field has been observed. When the field increases to 700 G, the displacement of dust particles from the axial region of the discharge to the periphery, along with the continuation of the rotation, has been observed. The kinetic temperatures of the dust particles, the diffusion coefficients, and the effective nonideality parameter have been determined for various magnetic fields. The explanation of the features in the behavior of the dust particles in the discharge in the magnetic field has been proposed on the basis of the analysis of ambipolar diffusion in the magnetized plasma. The maximum magnetic field at which the levitation of the dust particles in the discharge is possible has been estimated.     

On the relation between plasma rotation induced by low-frequency resonant magnetic perturbations and transport in ergodic magnetic fields

The penetration of low-frequency resonant magnetic perturbations into a tokamak plasma and their influence on the plasma rotation are analyzed in linear and quaslisinear kinetic approaches. There are two explanations of experimentally observed acceleration of plasma rotation in the direction of the plasma current. First, it is a result of the resonant absorption of the momentum of the perturbation field by the plasma. Second, it is a result of a change in the radial electric field due to the ergodization of the magnetic field and the corresponding increase in the radial electron transport. It is shown that there is no contradiction between these two explanations. These are just two different interpretations of the same phenomenon. Published in Russian in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 6, pp. 420–423. The article was translated by the authors.     

ITER装置中等离子体旋转和反馈控制对电阻壁模影响的数值研究

在托卡马克等离子体中,电阻壁模是非常重要的磁流体不稳定性,特征时间在毫秒量级.对长时间稳态运行下的先进托卡马克,电阻壁模限制着聚变装置的运行参数空间(放电时间和比压),影响经济效益,所以研究电阻壁模稳定性至关重要.本文使用MARS程序,针对ITER装置上9 MA先进运行平衡位形,研究了等离子体旋转和反馈控制对电阻壁模的...     

Mean field and the confined single homopolymer

We develop a statistical model for a confined homopolymeric chain molecule based on a monomer grand ensemble representation. The molecule is subject to a confining external field, a backbone interaction, and an attractive interaction between any pair of monomers. An exact minimum principle for the thermodynamics of the backbone in an external field is obtained, and a controlled mean field approximation results in a modified minimum principle from which relevant physical quantities such as monomer density can be found. We explore the limit in which the chain is subject to tight confinement, and make a preliminary investigation of a prototypical system.     

Magneto-optic fiber Sagnac modulator based on magnetic fluids

A magneto-optic modulator with a magnetic fluid film inserted into an optical fiber Sagnac interferometer is proposed. The magnetic fluid exhibits variable birefringence and Faraday effect under external magnetic field that will lead to a phase difference and polarization state rotation in the Sagnac interferometer. As a result, the intensity of the output light is modulated under the external magnetic field. Moreover, the modulator has a high extinction ratio and can easily be integrated in a single-mode fiber system. The performance of the modulator is not affected by ambient temperature variation from room temperature to 40 °C.