Transport Coefficients in Dense Plasmas Including Ion‐Ion Structure Factor

Within linear response theory, a general approach to the thermoelectric transport coefficients for fully ionized hydrogen‐type plasma has been given. Different approximations for the collision integral are considered. Particular attention is given to dynamical screening and the ion‐ion structure factor. Results are presented for the electrical conductivity, the thermal conductivity, and the thermopower in the non‐degenerate limit (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Scattering of ultrashort laser pulses on “ion‐sphere” in dense plasmas

Scattering of ultrashort electromagnetic pulses on the dense strongly coupled plasma is under consideration in the frame of hard ion sphere model. The electron distribution inside the ion sphere is obtained from self‐consistent solution of the Shrodinger equation for bound electrons and the Poisson equation for free electrons. The electron density distribution is determined by plasma electron temperatures. The ion density of Al plasmas under consideration is of the order of 10²⁰–10²² cm^?3, the electron temperature changes between 54 and 816 eV. Dynamical polarizability of the hard sphere determining the scattering cross sections is calculated using the modified local plasma frequency approximation. The spectrum of scattering cross section has maxima in the vicinity of the mean plasma frequency. Dependencies of scattering probability on carrier frequency and pulse duration are analysed in detail. The transition of the total scattering probabilities from nonlinear time dependence at small times to standard linear ones with the increase of pulse duration is demonstrated.     

Ion‐Acoustic Waves Instability in a Three Components Magneto‐Plasma with Nonthermal Electrons

A theoretical investigation has been made on obliquely propagating ion‐acoustic (IA) solitary structures in a three components magneto‐plasma containing cold inertial ions, Boltzmann distributed positrons, and hot non‐thermal electrons. The Zakharov‐Kuznetsov equation has been derived by the reductive perturbation method, and its solitary wave solution has been analyzed. Multi‐dimensional instability has also studied by the small‐k (long wave‐length plane wave) perturbation expansion technique, which is found to exist in such a plasma. The effects of the external magnetic field, nonthermal electrons, obliqueness and temperature ratio have significantly modified the basic properties of small but finite‐amplitude IA solitary waves, such as amplitude, width, instability criterion and the growth rate. The present investigation contributes to the physics of the nonlinear IA waves in space and laboratory electron‐positron‐ion magneto‐plasmas in which wave damping produces an electron tail. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Efficiency Improvement in Polymer Light‐Emitting Diodes by “Far‐Field” Effect of Gold Nanoparticles

The “far‐field” effect of metal nanoparticles (NPs), when chromophores localized nearby metal NPs (typically the distance >λ/10), is an important optical effect to enhance emission in photoluminescence. The far‐field effect originates mainly from the interaction between origin emission and mirror‐reflected emission, resulting in the increased irradiative rate of chromophores on the mirror‐type substrate. Here, the far‐field effect is used to improve emission efficiency of polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs). A universal performance improvement is achieved for the full visible light (red, green, blue) PLEDs, utilizing gold (Au) NPs to modify the indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates; this is shown by experimental and theoretical simulation to mainly come from the far‐field effect. The optimized distance, between the NPs and chromophores with visible light emission ranging from 400 to 700 nm, is 80–120 nm. Thus the scope of the far‐field may overlap the light‐emitting profile very well to enhance the efficiency of optoelectronic devices. The 30–40% enhancement is obtained for different color‐emitting materials through distance optimization. The far‐field effect is demonstrated to enhance device performance for materials in the full‐visible spectral range, which extends the optoelectric applications of Au NPs.     

Light beats the spread: “non‐diffracting” beams

“Non‐diffracting” beams do not spread as they propagate. This property is useful in many areas. Here, the theory, generation, properties, and applications of various “non‐diffracting” beams, including the Bessel beam, Mathieu beam, and Airy beam is reviewed. Applications include imaging, micromanipulation, nonlinear optics, and optical transfection.     

Numerical Investigation Into the Highly Nonlinear Heat Transfer Equation with Bremsstrahlung Emission in the Inertial Confinement Fusion Plasmas

A highly nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation that models the electron heat transfer process in laser inertial fusion has been solved numerically. The strong temperature dependence of the electron thermal conductivity and heat loss term (Bremsstrahlung emission) makes this a highly nonlinear process. In this case, an efficient numerical method is developed for the energy transport mechanism from the region of energy deposition into the ablation surface by a combination of the Crank‐Nicolson scheme and the Newton‐Raphson method. The quantitative behavior of the electron temperature and the comparison between analytic and numerical solutions are also investigated. For more clarification, the accuracy and conservation of energy in the computations are tested. The numerical results can be used to evaluate the nonlinear electron heat conduction, considering the released energy of the laser pulse at the Deuterium‐Tritium (DT) targets and preheating by heat conduction ahead of a compression shock in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) approach. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Size and Shape Effect of Gold Nanoparticles in “Far‐Field” Surface Plasmon Resonance

The “far‐field” surface plasmon resonance (FSPR) of metal nanoparticles, which have built a facile way to emission enhancement of red, green, blue, and white with nice reproducibility, has big potential application in solution‐processed organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). According to the theory of the “far‐field” effect, the reflectivity of the metal surface and the phase shift at the reflection play an important role in enhancing ratio, which strongly relate to the size and shape of nanoparticles. In this work, gold nanospheres with different sizes and nanorods are synthesized in order to determine the size and shape effect of FSPR. The results demonstrate that the one with higher reflectivity in a certain range induces a better emission enhancement in the luminous efficiency and the maximum brightness. The nanoparticles with bigger sizes and shape of rods have higher reflectivity, which is consistent with the simulation based on FSPR effect. The phase shifts of different nanoparticles are optimized by the distance between gold nanoparticles and emitters. The metal NPs with a high reflectivity and the applicable phase shift will have big potential for the emission enhancement in OLEDs.     

Electric Microfield Distributions in Dense One‐ and Two‐Component Plasmas

The electric microfield distributions have been calculated using an integral‐equation method for one‐component plasmas proposed by Iglesias [1] and the coupling‐parameter integration technique for two‐component plasmas proposed by Ortner et al. [2]. Electric microfield distributions are studied in the frame of the Kelbg pseudopotential model, taking into account quantum‐mechanical effects (diffraction, quantum symmetry effects) and screening effects. The screened pseudopotential is represented in a numerically approximated form. The results are compared with simulation results obtained by other authors. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

“Proper Time” Method Calculation of the “One Loop” Thermodynamical Potential for QED in External Electromagnetic Field

The extension of the “proper time” method to the statistical field theory is obtained. The procedure is used to calculate the “one loop” contribution to the thermodynamical potential in electrodynamics, when the electron positron gas is located in a combination of an inhomogeneous electrostatic field and an uniform magnetic one. Also, a “proper time” representation of the temperature Green function for this problem is given.     

Feasibility of “intermittent” active control of combustion instabilities in liquid fueled combustors using a “smart” fuel injector

This paper describes an experimental investigation of the feasibility of an “intermittent” active control approach for suppressing combustion instabilities in liquid fueled combustors. The developed controller employs a “smart” fuel injector that can modify the spray properties in response to changes in combustor operating conditions. This action weakens or breaks up the coupling between the combustion process and combustor acoustic modes oscillations, thus preventing the excitation of large amplitude instabilities. This approach differs significantly from previously proposed active control methods, both in concept and implementation, as it requires only “intermittent” modification of the combustion process by a single control action as opposed to the continuous action required by most other active control methods. The “smart” fuel injector used in this study consisted of a double-staged, air-assisted atomizer in which counter swirling, primary (inner stage) and secondary (outer stage) air streams were supplied to the injector through separate sets of tangentially oriented orifices. Control of the ratio of air mass flow rates supplied to these two stages, by use of a diverter valve, resulted in significant changes in the spray shape and its axial, tangential, and radial velocity components. This variation in spray properties of the “smart” injector was characterized for different values of the inner to outer air flow rate ratio in cold flow tests with a PDPA system. These results were then correlated with the characteristics of the “intermittently” controlled combustor. Measured quantities included the instability amplitudes, axial dependence of the mean and oscillatory heat release amplitudes, and the characteristics of the recirculation zones, which were all shown to depend on the fuel spray properties. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of using “smart” fuel injectors with capabilities for varying the combustion process characteristics to reduce the amplitudes of detrimental combustion instabilities in real engines to acceptable levels.     

Novel comprehension of “common path” principle

The idea of “common path” has been widely applied in optical instrument design for 30 years and even today. But the meaning of “common path” has not yet been explained clearly and sometimes confusion has been created. In this paper an “adaptive principle” is proposed and recommended on optical instrument system. It suggests that the designer not only arranges the measurement system to obtain measurement signal but also sets a channel to give prediction of noise or disturbance in real time or short term. Such a recommendation is based on the recent studies on nonlinear dynamics and atmospheric disturbance by means of experiments as well as theoretical analysis.     

Improved Self‐Energy Calculations for Pressure Broadening of Spectral Lines in Dense Plasmas

Pressure broadening of Lyman‐lines of hydrogen‐like lithium (Li²⁺) has been studied using a quantum statistical approach to the line shape in dense plasmas, for details see [1]. In this communication, we concentrate on the electronic self‐energy, which is a basic input to the theory of spectral line profiles. We discuss the effect of strong, i.e. close, collisions which have been neglected so far for Li²⁺ plasmas, but play generally an important role in dense plasmas, as has been shown in [2]. We present a method to calculate an improved electronic self‐energy including strong collisions based on a two‐body T‐matrix and an effective optical potential. The method is tested for level broadening of the ground state of hydrogen (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Comment on “Ensemble Kalman filter with the unscented transform”

The results of numerical experiments with the ensemble unscented Kalman filter and 40-dimensional model of Lorentz and Emanuel in Luo and Moroz (2009) [2] are inconclusive.