Engineering topics

Robinson, P. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Robinson, P. A..

At least 37 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1993

The CRRES IDM spacecraft experiment for insulator discharge pulses

The Internal Discharge Monitor (IDM) is designed to observe electrical pulses from common electrical insulators in space service. The characteristics of the instrument are described. The IDM was flown on the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES). The sixteen insulator samples included G10 circuit boards, FR4 and PTFE fiberglass circuit boards, FEP Teflon, alumina, and wires with common insulations. The samples are fully enclosed, mutually isolated, and space radiation penetrates 0.02 cm of aluminum before striking the samples. Published data in the literature provides a simple method for determining the flux of penetrating electrons. The pulse rate is compared to the penetrating flux of electrons.

Frederickson, A. R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Theory for low-frequency modulated Langmuir wave packets

Langmuir wave packets with low frequency modulations (or beats) observed in the Jovian foreshock are argued to be direct evidence for the Langmuir wave decay L yields L-prime + S. In this decay, 'pump' Langmuir waves L, driven by an electron beam, produce backscattered product Langmuir waves L-prime and ion sound waves S. The L and L-prime waves beat at the frequency and wavevector of the S waves, thereby modulating the wave packets. Beam speeds calculated using the modulated Jovian wave packets (1) are reasonable, at 4-10 times the electron thermal speed, (2) are consistent with theoretical limits on the decay process, and (3) decrease with increasing foreshock depth, as expected theoretically. These results strongly support the theory. The modulation depth of some wave packets suggests saturation by the decay L yields L-prime + S. Applications to modulated Langmuir packets in the Venusian and terrestrial foreshocks and in a type III radio source are proposed.

Cairns, Iver H.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Effects of long-wavelength dissipation on beam-driven Langmuir turbulence

The effects of long-wavelength dissipation on beam-driven Langmuir turbulence are investigated using numerical simulations that include both weak and strong turbulence effects. Strong-turbulence wave collapses occur concurrently with weak-turbulence energy cascades if the long-wavelength damping is sufficiently small relative to the growth rate of the beam-unstable waves. Above a threshold damping level, only the weak-turbulence backscatter cascade is observed, and it becomes increasingly truncated as the damping increases, eventually consisting of only a single backscatter. A simple Lotka-Volterra model gives an excellent description of the periodic evolution observed in the weak-turbulence regime. Suppression of the usual backscatter cascade by long-wavelength damping enables intense beam-aligned density troughs to form, which trap and duct Langmuir waves.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Strong Langmuir turbulence at Jupiter?

Langmuir wave packets with short scale lengths less than an approximately equal to 100 lambda e have been observed in Jupiter's foreshock. Theoretical constraints on the electric fields and scale sizes of collapsing wave packets are summarized, extended and placed in a form suitable for easy comparison with Voyager and Ulysses data. The published data are reviewed and possible instrumental underestimation of fields discussed. New upper limits for the fields of the published wave packets are estimated. Wave packets formed at the nucleation scale from the observed large-scale fields cannot collapse because they are disrupted before collapse occurs. The published wave packets are quantitatively inconsistent with strong turbulence collapse. Strict constraints exist for more intense wave packets to be able to collapse: E greater than or approximately equals to 1-8 mV/m for scales less than or approximately equal to 100 lambda e. Means for testing these conclusions using Voyager and Ulysses data are suggested.

Cairns, Iver H.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Connection between ambient density fluctuations and clumpy Langmuir waves in type III radio sources

A recent stochastic-growth theory of clumpy Langmuir waves in type III sources is shown to imply that the clumps will have the same size distribution as the ambient low-frequency density fluctuations in the solar wind. Spectral analysis of Langmuir-wave time series from the ISEE 3 plasma wave instrument confirms this prediction to within the uncertainties in the spectra. The smallest Langmuir clump size is inferred to be in the range 0.4-30 km in general, and 2-30 km for beam-resonant waves, and it is concluded that the diffusion of waves in the source is anomalous.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Strong plasma turbulence in the earth's electron foreshock

A quantitative model is developed to account for the distribution in magnitude and location of the intense plasma waves observed in the earth's electron foreshock given the observed rms levels of waves. In this model, nonlinear strong-turbulence effects cause solitonlike coherent wave packets to form and decouple from incoherent background beam-excited weak turbulence, after which they convect downstream with the solar wind while collapsing to scales as short as 100 m and fields as high as 2 V/m. The existence of waves with energy densities above the strong-turbulence wave-collapse threshold is inferred from observations from IMP 6 and ISEE 1 and quantitative agreement is found between the predicted distribution of fields in an ensemble of such wave packets and the actual field distribution observed in situ by IMP 6. Predictions for the polarization of plasma waves and the bandwidth of ion-sound waves are also consistent with the observations. It is shown that strong-turbulence effects must be incorporated in any comprehensive theory of the propagation and evolution of electron beams in the foreshock. Previous arguments against the existence of strong turbulence in the foreshock are refuted.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Two-component model of strong Langmuir turbulence - Scalings, spectra, and statistics of Langmuir waves

A simple two-component model of strong turbulence that makes clear predictions for the scalings, spectra, and statistics of Langmuir waves is developed. Scalings of quantities such as energy density, power input, dissipation power wave collapse, and number density of collapsing objects are investigated in detail and found to agree well with model predictions. The nucleation model of wave-packet formation is strongly supported by the results. Nucleation proceeds with energy flowing from background to localized states even in the absence of a driver. Modulational instabilities play little or no role in maintaining the turbulent state when significant density nonuniformities are present.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Density fluctuations in strong Langmuir turbulence - Scalings, spectra, and statistics

A recently developed two-component model of strong Langmuir turbulence is applied to determine the scalings, spectra, and statistics of the associated density fluctuations. The predictions are found to be in excellent agreement with extensive results from numerical solution of the Zakharov equations in two and three dimensions.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Strong Langmuir turbulence generated by electron beams - Electric-field distributions and electron scattering

Strong turbulence and transit-time scattering theory are applied here to calculate the statistical distribution of intense Langmuir fields and the consequent beam scattering in plasma turbulence driven by an electron beam. The experimentally observed electric-field distributions are compared with predictions of strong-turbulence theory, concentrating on the wave levels, the Gaussian tail of the high-field distribution observed in one experiment, the arrest scale of collapse, and the fractional volume occupied by the highest fields. The Guassian form of the tail is confirmed, and the results imply that the collapse is arrested at a scale where the peak electrostatic energy density is of the same order as the thermal energy density. The theory of transit-time interactions is generalized to include relativistic particle dynamics and is applied to predict the scattering of the beam electrons in energy and angle as they pass through strong Langmuir turbulence. The results support the validity of the recently developed scaling theory of strong turbulence.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Simulation of the collapse and dissipation of Langmuir wave packets

Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and Zakharov's partial differential equations (PDEs) are used to investigate the collapse of isolated Langmuir wave packets in two dimensions. Collapse thresholds are determined numerically, and the roles of enhanced Langmuir wave damping and nonlinearities not included in the standard Zakharov equations are discussed. The Langmuir wave and ion dynamics in PIC simulations are compared with the predictions of PDE simulations incorporating enhanced Langmuir damping. Electron heating and coherent acceleration in the PIC simulations are discussed and compared with predictions of the transit-time theory.

Newman, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Systematic methods for calculation of the dielectric properties of arbitrary plasmas

In the novel approach presented for calculating the dispersion integrals needed for determining plasma dielectric properties, the dispersion integrals for an arbitrary distortion function with a continuous derivative are systematically expanded in terms of a set of orthogonal functions whose corresponding dispersion functions are already known. This general approach is, on the one hand, implemented for unmagnetized plasmas, and on the other generalized to treat relativistic and magnetized plasmas. The method allows the systematic and efficient calculation of dispersion integrals, for the cases of either real or complex arguments.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Quasiperiodic behavior in beam-driven strong Langmuir turbulence

The evolution of unmagnetized beam-driven strong Langmuir turbulence is studied in two dimensions by numerically integrating the Zakharov equations for systems pumped by monochromatic and broadband negative-damping drivers with nonzero central wavenumber. Long-time statistically steady states are reached for which the dependence of the evolution on the driver wavenumber, growth rate, and bandwidth is examined in detail. For monochromatic drivers, a quasiperiodic cycle is found to develop if the driver wavenumber is sufficiently large. The characteristic frequency of the quasiperiodic cycle and the average system energy are both approximately proportional to the growth rate. Broadening of the driver in wavenumber tends to degrade the system-wide coherence of the cycle, but its main features appear to survive on the scale of the coherence length of the driver.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Escape of fundamental electron-cyclotron maser emission from the sun and stars

It is shown that fundamental x-mode emission from flaring regions can undergo partial mode conversion at the second-harmonic absorption layer, with a fraction emerging in the o mode through a window near theta = 90 deg; fundamental o-mode radiation can emerge through this window directly. The optical depth for mode-converted x-mode radiation is up to 200 times less than the depth tau(x) for unconverted radiation; the o-mode depth is up to c-squared/V-squared (roughly 1000) times smaller than tau(x), where V is the thermal velocity of the plasma. This mechanism is linear and threshold-free, requires little scattering or refraction of the emitted radiation, and permits the strongest instability (fundamental x-mode) to dominate in producing the observed emission.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Field structure of collapsing wave packets in 3D strong Langmuir turbulence

A simple model is constructed for the electric fields in the collapsing wave packets found in 3D simulations of driven and damped isotropic strong Langmuir turbulence. This model, based on a spherical-harmonic decomposition of the electrostatic potential, accounts for the distribution of wave-packet shapes observed in the simulations, particularly the predominance of oblate wave packets. In contrast with predictions for undamped and undriven subsonic collapse of scalar fields, oblate vector-field wave packets do not flatten during collapse but, instead, remain approximately self-similar and rigid.

Newman, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1989

New contributions to transit-time damping in multidimensional systems

The existence of two previously unrecognized contributions to transit-time damping in systems of more than one dimension is demonstrated and discussed. It is shown that these contributions cannot be treated by one-dimensional analyses unless it is assumed that the gradient of the field perpendicular to itself always vanishes. Such an assumption is unjustified in general and the new contributions can dominate damping by fast particles in more general situations. Analytic expressions obtained using a Born approximation are found to be in excellent agreement with numerical test-particle calculations of transit-time damping for a variety of field configurations. These configurations include those of a resonance layer and of a spherical wave packet, which approximates a collapsing wave packet in a strongly turbulent plasma. It is found that the fractional power absorption can be strongly enhanced in non-slablike field configurations.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Approximation of the dielectric properties of Maxwellian plasmas - Dispersion functions and physical constraints

The dielectric properties of Maxwellian plasmas are approximated using high Pade approximants to the dispersion function and direct approximation of the distribution. Physical constraints on permissible approximations are discussed, and it is found that some previously published results can lead to predictions of qualitatively incorrect wave properties, including unphysical negative damping. Approximate dispersion functions for Maxwellian distributions are given explicitly, and some of the effects of these approximations on the resulting dispersion are discussed. The approximations discussed here are of use both in analytical work and in accelerating large-scale numerical computations.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Three-dimensional strong Langmuir turbulence and wave collapse

Results from the first fully three-dimensional simulations of driven damped strong Langmuir turbulence and wave collapse are presented. Key results are that turbulence is maintained at least in part by nucleation, the cores of most collapsing objects are pancake shaped in form, and the power spectrum falls off approximately as the product of a power law and an exponential at large wave number.

Robinson, P. A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Conditions for the validity of unmagnetized-plasma theory in describing weakly magnetized plasmas

The application of the unmagnetized-plasma theory to the derivation of the expression for the dielectric tensor for weakly magnetized plasmas is examined. The analysis of Baldwin et. al. (1969) is employed to determine the conditions under which the magnetic effects on the dielectric tensor of a plasma are small. The relation between wave and plasma parameters and the plasma distribution function is studied. Axisymmetric distribution functions in magnetized plasma are considered. The derived conditions are analyzed in terms of resonance ellipses of the cyclotron maser theory. Examples are presented in which the conditions are applied to a nonrelativistic Maxwellian distribution and the dispersion and instability of Langmuir and Bernstein waves in weakly magnetized plasma. The data reveal that the conditions under which the magnetic field can be completely neglected depend on the forms of the distribution function.

Robinson, P. A.↗