Experimental investigation of the magnetic configuration dependence of turbulent transport

The dependence of turbulent transport on magnetic field properties is measured in detail on a plasma in a stellarator configuration. Pronounced poloidal asymmetries of fluctuation amplitudes and turbulent transport are observed. The transport maximum is located in regions where normal curvature of the magnetic field is negative and simultaneously the geodesic curvature has positive values. A major role of the local magnetic shear cannot be confirmed. The results can have important implications for the optimization of stellarators and the power influx into the scrape-off layer.     

Geodesics on extensions of Lie groups and stability: the superconductivity equation

The equations of motion of an ideal charged fluid, respectively the superconductivity equation (both in a given magnetic field) are showed to be geodesic equations of a general, respectively a central extension of the group of volume preserving diffeomorphisms with right invariant metrics. For this, quantization of the magnetic flux is required. We do curvature computations in both cases in order to get informations about the stability.     

A low-limit estimate of average distance between conjugate points on a geodesic with random curvature

The minimum distance between conjugate points on a geodesic with the curvature given by a random renewal process is estimated. It is shown that, in the zero-curvature limit, the problem is reduced to analysis of the intersection of the level by a certain diffusion process with reflection.     

Integrable geodesic motion on 3D curved spaces from non-standard quantum deformations

The link between 3D spaces with (in general non-constant) curvature and quantum deformations is presented. It is shown, how the non-standard deformation of a sl(2) Poisson coalgebra generates a family of integrable Hamiltonians, that represent geodesic motions on 3D manifolds with a non-constant curvature, that turns out to be a function of the deformation parameter z. A different Hamiltonian defined on the same deformed coalgebra is also shown to generate a maximally superintegrable geodesic motion on 3D Riemannian and (2+1)D relativistic spaces whose sectional curvatures are all constant and equal to z. This approach can be generalized to arbitrary dimension. Presented at the International Colloquium “Integrable Systems and Quantum Symmetries”, Prague, 16–18 June 2005.     

Cathode jets and the retrograde motion of arcs in magnetic fields

The influence of a transverse magnetic field on the jets of an impulse discharge was investigated. It was found that the jet trajectories show a curvature. The amount of the curvature depends on the pressure, the magnetic field intensity, the discharge current, the material and the polarity of the electrodes. The curvature of the jets was explained as a result of the action of forces arising in a plasma flow through a magnetic and electric field; their analysis was carried out on the bases of a MHD model. On hand of a derived solution, a possible influence of the jets on the origin of a retrograde motion is discussed. It is shown that the existence of certain discharge parameters and of a certain magnitude of the magnetic field brings about, in a plasma flying through a magnetic field, an induction of fields and currents under the action of which, on the one hand, the plasma itself flows in a retrograde direction and, on the other hand, there are influenced the trajectories of the carriers (particularly those of ions) of the current in the channel of discharge in front of the cathode spot. The proposed model of the retrograde motion is discussed and compared to the known results.     

Geodesic acoustic mode induced by toroidal rotation in tokamaks

The effect of toroidal rotation on the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) in a tokamak is studied. It is shown that, in addition to a small frequency upshift of the ordinary GAM, another GAM, with much lower frequency, is induced by the rotation. The new GAM appears as a consequence of the nonuniform plasma density and pressure created by the centrifugal force on the magnetic surfaces. Both GAMs in a rotating plasma are shown to exist both as continuum modes with finite mode numbers m and n at the rational surfaces q=m/n as well as in the form of axisymmetric modes with m=n=0.     

Symmetries of Type D Pure Radiation Fields

The geometrical symmetries corresponding to the continuous groups of collineations and motions generated by a null vector l are considered. These symmetries have been translated into the language of Newman-Penrose formalism for pure radiation (PR) type D fields. It is seen that for such fields, conformal, special conformal and homothetic motions degenerate to motion. The concept of free curvature, matter curvature and matter affine collineations have been introduced and the conditions under which PR type D fields admit such collineations have been obtained. Moreover, it is shown that the projective collineation degenerate to matter affine, special projective, conformal, special conformal, null geodesic and special null geodesic collineations. It is also seen that type D pure radiation fields admit Maxwell collineation along the propagation vector l.     

Effects of magnetic field curvature on Alfven wave heating of tokamak plasmas

It is shown that the curvature of magnetic field lines may enhance the rate of energy absorption of surface quasimodes by a few orders of magnitude at the Alfvén resonance surfaces located well into the plasma interior.     

Turbulent particle transport in magnetized plasmas

Particle transport in magnetized plasmas is investigated with a fluid model of drift wave turbulence. An analytical calculation shows that magnetic field curvature and thermodiffusion drive an anomalous pinch. The curvature driven pinch velocity is consistent with the prediction of turbulence equipartition theory. The thermodiffusion flux is found to be directed inward for a small ratio of electron to ion pressure gradient, and it reverses its sign when increasing this ratio. Numerical simulations confirm that a turbulent particle pinch exists. It is mainly driven by curvature for equal ion and electron heat sources. The sign and relative weights of the curvature and thermodiffusion pinches are consistent with the analytical calculation.     

Absorption of gamma-ray photons in a vacuum neutron star magnetosphere: I. Electron-positron pair production

The production of electron-positron pairs in a vacuum neutron star magnetosphere is investigated for both low (compared to the Schwinger one) and high magnetic fields. The case of a strong longitudinal electric field where the produced electrons and positrons acquire a stationary Lorentz factor in a short time is considered. The source of electron-positron pairs has been calculated with allowance made for the pair production by curvature and synchrotron photons. Synchrotron photons are shown to make a major contribution to the total pair production rate in a weak magnetic field. At the same time, the contribution from bremsstrahlung photons may be neglected. The existence of a time delay due to the finiteness of the electron and positron acceleration time leads to a great reduction in the electron-positron plasma generation rate compared to the case of a zero time delay. The effective local source of electron-positron pairs has been constructed. It can be used in the hydrodynamic equations that describe the development of a cascade after the absorption of a photon from the cosmic gamma-ray background in a neutron star magnetosphere.     

Neutrino magnetic moment in a magnetized plasma

The magnetized-plasma contribution to the neutrino anomalous magnetic moment is calculated. It is shown that, in a magnetized plasma, only part of the neutrino additional energy associated with the neutrino spin and with the magnetic-field strength contributes to the neutrino magnetic moment. It is found that, in contrast to results presented previously in the literature, the presence of a magnetized plasma does not lead to a substantial enhancement of the neutrino magnetic moment.     

Stabilization of tearing mode by current drive

The major disruption limits the operation of present tokamaks. Experimental evidences point out that the growth of tearing modes or the magnetic islands is primarily responsible for the occurrence. Taking the non-inductive current drive effects into account, a set of 3D nonlinear equation is derived. It is shown from simulation that the growth of the magnetic island is suppressed effectively by RF current drive. It is consistent with recent experiments on the HL-1 tokamak in which the plasma is stabilized by an RF current drive.     

Magnetized plasma-induced magnetic moment of a neutrino

The influence of magnetized plasma on neutrino dispersion has been studied. The contribution to the neutrino magnetic moment due to the presence of a magnetized plasma is calculated. It is shown that, in contrast to earlier published data, the plasma-induced magnetic moment of a neutrino is, like that in a vacuum, suppressed by its mass.     

Mappings of empty space-times leaving the curvature tensor invariant

It is shown that if in some local coordinate system the componentsR ⁱ _jkl of the curvature tensor of an empty space-time are known, then, provided the space-time is not of Petrov typeN with hypersurface orthogonal geodesic rays, the components of the metric tensor are uniquely determined up to a trivial constant scaling factor. The Petrov type-N empty space-times with hypersurface orthogonal geodesic rays are investigated. The most general mappings leaving the curvature tensorR ⁱ _jkl invariant are found for each class of these space-times.     

Chaotic collisionless reconnection in Jupiter's nightside magnetosphere

Summary Recently it has been shown that an X-type magnetic neutral line may form in Jupiter's nightside magnetosphere as the result of the current flowing in the plasma disc. Still, a collisionless reconnection mechanism is required to tear up the magnetic field. Recently, Büchner and Zelenyi showed that the chaotization of the electron motion can lead to fast collisionless reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail. In their theory, enhanced pitch angle diffusion is obtained when the curvature parameter κ_e decreases to κ_e ≃ 1.6. We apply Büchner and Zelenyi's theory to Jupiter's magnetosphere. The curvature parameter is obtained from the measured plasma parameters and from a self-consistent equilibrium model of the magnetic field, and the results for κ_e show that the larger the assumed plasma disc, the larger is the range where κ_e is less than or equal to the stochasticity threshold 1.6. This indicates that chaotic magnetic-field line reconnection may occur in Jupiter's nightside magnetosphere around 60R _J from the planet, and is consistent with thein situ magnetic-field observations, that show the signature of magnetic islands and of tearing-mode instability in the relevant region. We speculate that these processes, differently from the Earth's case, occur in a semi-steady way. Paper presented at the V Cosmic Physics National Conference, S. Miniato, November 27–30, 1990.     

Plasmon-assisted sound amplification in semi-conductors under strong magnetic fields

We derive an expression for the contribution from plasma effects to the sound amplification in piezo-electric semiconductors subjected to a strong d.c. magnetic field applied parallel to the drift field. It is shown that this contribution largely differs from that in the absence of a magnetic field both in the strength of the effect and in angular distribution of the emitted phonons.     

Magnetic fields and the Weyl tensor in the early universe

We have solved the Einstein–Maxwell equations for a class of metrics with constant spatial curvature by considering only a primordial magnetic field as source. We assume a slight modification of the Tolman averaging relations so that the energy–momentum tensor of this field possesses an anisotropic pressure component. This inhomogeneous magnetic universe is isotropic and its time evolution is guided by the usual Friedmann equations. In the case of a flat universe, the space-time metric is free of singularities (except the well-known initial singularity at \(\text {t} = 0\) ). It is shown that the anisotropic pressure of our model has a straightforward relation to the Weyl tensor. We then analyze the effect of this new ingredient on the motion of test particles and on the geodesic deviation of the cosmic fluid.     

Instability criteria for steady flows of a perfect fluid

An instability criterion based on the positivity of a Lyapunov-type exponent is used to study the stability of the Euler equations governing the motion of an inviscid incompressible fluid. It is proved that any flow with exponential stretching of the fluid particles is unstable. In the case of an arbitrary axisymmetric steady integrable flow, a sufficient condition for instability is exhibited in terms of the curvature and the geodesic torsion of a stream line and the helicity of the flow.     

Thetapinch experiments with trapped antiparallel magnetic fields

Experimental evidence is presented which shows that stability for a cylindrical plasma sheet confined by antiparallel magnetic fields is established for times which are longer than theoretically predicted growth times for tearing instabilities by at least an order of magnitude. It is shown that the enhanced stability is not due to wall effects, inertia effects, too short a pinching coil, finite Larmor radius and viscosity effects. One possible explanation for the stability is shown to be related to the level of initial plasma perturbation. Further the enhanced stability can be explained by the observed plasma rotation. It is shown by simple arguments that the rotation can cancel the tearing mode's growth and that the rotation itself is a result of the diffusion of angular momentum across the neutral surface enclosing the confined plasma.