An exact nonlinear Alfvén wave solution in a toroidal magnetic field

The propagation of Alfvén waves along a non-uniform toroidal magnetic field in a highly conducting incompressible fluid rotating uniformly is studied. It is shown that there is an exact Alfvén wave solution with large but restricted form.     

Laboratory realization of an Alfvén wave maser

It is demonstrated that a frequency selective Alfvén-wave resonator can be realized by applying a nonuniform magnetic field to a plasma region bounded between a cathode and a semitransparent mesh anode. When a current threshold is exceeded, selective amplification results in a highly coherent, large amplitude wave that propagates into an adjacent plasma column.     

Scattering of magnetic mirror trapped fast electrons by a shear Alfvén wave

Laboratory observations of enhanced loss of fast electrons trapped in a magnetic mirror geometry irradiated by shear Alfvén waves (SAW) are reported. A population of runaway electrons generated by second harmonic electron-cyclotron-resonance heating, as evidenced by the production of hard x rays with energy up to 3?MeV, is subjected to SAW launched with a rotating magnetic field antenna. It is observed that the SAW dramatically affect the trapped fast electrons and scatter them out of the magnetic mirror despite any obvious resonance. The results could have implications on the techniques of artificial reduction of energetic electrons in the inner radiation belt.     

Torsional Alfvén and slow magnetoacoustic waves generated by a plasma in a magnetic field

An intense electron-antineutrino source with a hard spectrum (\(E_{{{\tilde v}_e}}^{\max }\) = 13 MeV and \(\left\langle {{E_{{{\tilde v}_e}}}} \right\rangle \) = 6.5MeV) can be created on the basis of the short-lived isotope ⁸Li (β^?-decay, T_1/2 = 0.84 s) formed via the (n, γ) activation of ⁷Li. In contrast to a reactor antineutrino spectrum whose uncertainty is large, particularly in the high-energy region \({E_{{{\tilde v}_e}}}\) > 6 MeV, which is experimentally relevant, the lithium \({\tilde v_e}\) spectrum is accurately determined. The proposed accelerator-driven experimental scheme with a neutron-producing target and a lithium converter as an intense \({\tilde v_e}\) source is an alternative to a nuclear reactor. The required amount of high-purity ⁷Li will be reduced in many times by using the suggested heavy-water LiOD solutions. A possible experiment involving the lithium source on search for sterile neutrinos in the mass region Δm² ≥ 0.2 eV² with a very high sensitivity to mixing-angle values down to sin²(2Θ) ≈ (7–10) × 10^–4 at the 95% C.L. has been considered.     

Measurements of the shear Alfvén wave dispersion for finite perpendicular wave number

Measurements of the dispersion relation for shear Alfvén waves as a function of the perpendicular wave number are reported for the regime in which V(A) approximately V(Te). By measuring the parallel phase velocity of the waves, the measurements can be compared directly to theoretical predictions of the dispersion relation for a parameter regime in which particle kinetic effects become important. The comparison shows that the best agreement between theory and experiment is achieved when a fully complex, warm plasma dispersion relation is used.     

On the properties of Alfvén waves in relativistic magnetohydrodynamics

Simple Alfvén waves and Alfven shocks are considered in the framework of relativistic magnetohydrodynamics. It is found that the tangential components of vector fields trace ellipses instead of the circles of Newtonian MHD. Their properties are studied in the general wave frame, Hoffmann-Teller wave frame, and the general laboratory frame.     

The instability conditions of a gas trapped in weak weakly interacting Fermi magnetic field

In this paper the analytical expression of free energy expressed by small parameter r of a weakly interacting Fermi gas trapped in weak magnetic field is derived by using `the maximum approximation' method and the ensemble theory. Based on the derived expression, the exact instability conditions of a weakly interacting Fermi gas trapped in weak magnetic field at both high and low temperatures are given. From the instability conditions we get the following two results. (1) At the whole low-temperature extent, whether the interactions are repulsive or attractive with (ɑn + 4\varepsilon_F/3) (n and \varepsilon _F denote the particle-number density and the Fermi energy respectively, ɑ= 4π a\hbar_F/ m, and a is s-wave scattering length) positive, there is a lower-limit magnetic field of instability; in addition, there is an upper-limit magnetic field for the system of attractive interactions with (ɑ n + \varepsilon_F/3) negative. (2) At the whole high-temperature extent, the system with repulsive interactions is always stable, but for the system with attractive interactions, the greater the scattering length of attractive interactions | a | is, the stronger the magnetic field is and the larger the particle-number density is, the bigger the possibility of instability in the system will be.     

Approximate solution of the Schrödinger equation for an atom in the field of a standing wave

We present an approximate method of calculation of energy spectrum and wave functions of translational motion of a two-level atom in the field of a standing wave at zero value of the quasimomentum. Wave functions in the momentum representation are expressed in terms of confluent hypergeometric functions in case of continuous spectrum and in terms of Hermitian polynomials in case of discrete spectrum. The energy spectrum exhibits infinite compaction at transition from discrete part to continuous, as it is the case for, e.g., Coulombian potential.     

Excitation of Alfvén vortices in the ionosphere by the magnetospheric convection

We analyze conditions for excitation of ULF waves in the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR), taking into account the altitude-inhomogeneous profile of the magnetospheric convection velocity. This profile is formed as a result of interaction of the convective flow with the neutral atmosphere at altitudes 90–150 km. ULF waves comprise oblique Alfvén waves, trapped into the IAR, and ionospheric drift waves, which are in resonance with them. These waves together form strongly anisotropic, closed current loops, whose scale along the magnetic field greatly exceeds their transverse scale, i.e., l_z ≫ l_⊥, and can be considered Alfvén vortices. Within the framework of the proposed model of the ionosphere, we study the instability threshold and the amplitude growth rate of the Alfvén vortices as functions of different parameters (wave vector k_22A5, angle between the wave vector and the convection velocity, ratio of the Alfvén-wave and Pedersen conductivities, etc.). Some estimates are given in application to the observed small-scale field-aligned currents in the auroral ionosphere. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 5, pp. 376–390, May 2008.     

On the possibility of generation of high-power low-frequency radiation as a result of evolution of explosive instability in the flow–nonisothermal plasma system

We discuss the possibility of realization of explosive instability in a resonance triplet of longitudinal waves, specifically, an ion Langmuir mode and two beam modes (slow and fast ones) in the system of a beam of charged particles and nonisothermal plasma. Estimates for the plasmasphere of the Earth are given.     

Numerical simulation of the multiple reversed shear Alfvén eigenmodes associated with the triangularity Alfvén gap

It was found that there are multiplicity of low shear toroidicity-induced Alfv′en eigenmodes in a zero beta limit if the inverse aspect ratio is larger than the magnetic shear at the mode location(Candy 1996 Phys. Lett. A 215 299). Because the reversed shear Alfv′en eigenmode(RSAE) and even the RSAE associated with the non-circular triangularity-induced Alfv′en eigenmode(NAE) gap(NAE–RSAE) usually reside near the shear-reversal point, the condition that the inverse aspect ratio is larger than the magnetic shear is naturally satisfied. For this reason, we numerically investigate the existence of multiplicity of core-localized NAE–RSAEs and mode characteristics in the present work. We firstly verify the existence of the multiplicity for zero beta plasma by using a D-shaped equilibrium. It is pointed out that, for a given toroidal mode number, the Alfv′en cascade spectrum accommodates down-sweeping and up-sweeping modes above and below the NAE range of frequencies. An analytical model for the existence of multiple RSAE modes is in good agreement with the simulation results. One notices that the triangularity has a greater effect on the odd-type modes than that on the even-type modes: the odd-type modes come into existence because of the plasma triangularity.     

Temperature gradient driven Alfvén instability producing inward energy flux in stellarators

Destabilizing influence of plasma inhomogeneity on Alfvén eigenmodes in stellarators is considered. It is found that the diamagnetic frequency can strongly increase due to the resonance interaction of particles and Alfvén eigenmodes. This occurs when the particle resonance velocity exceeds the thermal velocity, in which case the role of superthermal particles enlarges. Then Alfvén eigenmodes can be destabilized even in the absence of the energetic ion population. It is shown that in the case of the temperature distribution with a large gradient at the periphery, the destabilized mode can channel the energy from the peripheral plasma region to the inner region. A stability analysis employing a model temperature profile of the ions was carried out for the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator. It indicates that the considered mechanism could lead to an Alfvén instability accompanied with the inward energy flux in the first W7-X experiments where long-lasting high-frequency oscillations were observed.     

Shear Alfvén wave perpendicular propagation from the kinetic to the inertial regime

We report on observations of shear Alfvén waves radiated from a source of small transverse size, and the subsequent radial confinement of wave magnetic field energy within a cylindrical plasma. The radius of confinement lies between the kinetic regime of the bulk plasma and the inertial regime at the plasma edge; this radius is found to be a function of wave frequency. Numerical calculations using kinetic theory predict a zero in the perpendicular group velocity at a radius which varies in accord with the observations. An analytic expression for the perpendicular group velocity (valid for small perpendicular wave numbers) is given in the vicinity of the zero crossing.     

“Switching” of the nanodomain state of the frustrated ferromagnet-antiferromagnet system by an external magnetic field

The phenomenon of ??switching?? of the domain walls generated by frustrations in a two-layer ferromagnet-antiferromagnet nanostructure has been studied using numerical simulation methods. This phenomenon manifests itself in the fact that, as the magnetic field increases, the ferromagnetic layer divided into nanodomains by domain walls perpendicular to the layer plane becomes single-domain, and the antiferromagnetic layer that is uniform in weak fields is divided into 180° domains by the domain walls perpendicular to the layer. The structures of these domain walls have been calculated in various magnetic fields.