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Wei, X.

Publications and source records attributed to Wei, X..

12 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Electro- and photoproduction of muon pairs with $$\mu $$CLAS12: double deeply virtual compton scattering, timelike compton scattering, and $$J/\psi $$ production

The CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer for operation at 12 GeV (CLAS12) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has played a central role in advancing the understanding of nucleon and nuclear structure. As increasingly precise data become available, new physics opportunities emerge that extend beyond the current capabilities of CLAS12. In this article, a program to explore the quark and gluon structure of the nucleon through di-muon electro- and photoproduction is presented. Its primary focus is the measurement of beam-spin asymmetries in Double Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering, . By independently varying the incoming and outgoing photon virtualities and momentum transfer, the DDVCS measurement provides access to the Generalized Parton Distributions over their full three-dimensional phase space, extending beyond the kinematic constraints of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and Timelike Compton Scattering. In addition, the large acceptance and high luminosity of the CLAS12 experiment will enable precision measurements of near-threshold production and high-statistics studies of Timelike Compton Scattering.

Alvarado, J. S.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Linear gyrokinetic simulations of toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes in the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak

Linear gyrokinetic (GK) simulations using the Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code (GTC) have been performed to investigate Toroidicity-driven Alfvén Eigenmodes (TAEs) driven by the neutral beam injection (NBI) induced fast ions in the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) to identify the non-perturbative and kinetic effects of thermal plasma. A specific TAE in MAST discharge 26887, with an on-axis NBI power of approximately 1.5 MW and plasma current around 800 kA, exhibited frequency chirping, and the tangential soft x-ray camera array resolved the radial mode structure peaked near |q|=1.5. Various excitation methods were used in the GTC linear simulations, illustrating this code's capability to realistically represent the mechanisms and behaviors of fast ion-driven TAEs in spherical tokamaks. The radial structures from these GK simulations closely match measurements and calculations performed using the NOVA ideal MHD code, though with the frequencies approximately 10 kHz lower, likely due to various kinetic and non-perturbative effects. The simulations measured the damping rates due to continuum damping, radiative damping, and ion Landau damping, revealing that ion Landau damping has the most significant contribution to the total damping rate of the TAE. A comparison of growth rates of TAEs excited by fast ion Maxwellian and slowing-down distributions shows that the TAEs excited by a fast ion anisotropic pitch distribution (as part of the slowing-down distributions) are more unstable compared to those excited by a Maxwellian distribution with an equivalent fast ion beta. This shows that the use of fast ion anisotropy alters the number of fast ions to be in shear Alfvén resonance, and hence, it can greatly affect the stability of TAEs. These tests can be performed with the GTC but impossible with ideal MHD simulations, highlighting the necessity of kinetic simulations such as the GTC for a precise prediction of the TAE stability.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

A research program to measure the lifetime of spin polarized fuel

The use of spin polarized fuel could increase the deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion cross section by a factor of 1.5 and, owing to alpha heating, increase the fusion power by an even larger factor. Issues associated with the use of polarized fuel in a reactor are identified. Theoretically, nuclei remain polarized in a hot fusion plasma. The similarity between the Lorentz force law and the Bloch equations suggests polarization can be preserved despite the rich electromagnetic spectrum present in a magnetic fusion device. The most important depolarization mechanisms can be tested in existing devices. The use of polarized deuterium and 3 He in an experiment avoids the complexities of handling tritium, while encompassing the same nuclear reaction spin-physics, making it a useful proxy to study issues associated with full D-T implementation. 3 He fuel with 65% polarization can be prepared by permeating optically-pumped 3 He into a shell pellet. Dynamically polarized 7 Li-D pellets can achieve 70% vector polarization for the deuterium. Cryogenically-frozen pellets can be injected into fusion facilities by special injectors that minimize depolarizing field gradients. Alternatively, polarized nuclei could be injected as a neutral beam. Once injected, the lifetime of the polarized fuel is monitored through measurements of escaping charged fusion products. Multiple experimental scenarios to measure the polarization lifetime in the DIII-D tokamak and other magnetic-confinement facilities are discussed, followed by outstanding issues that warrant further study.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Saturation of Fishbone Instability by Self-Generated Zonal Flows in Tokamak Plasmas

Gyrokinetic simulations of the fishbone instability in DIII-D tokamak plasmas find that self-generated zonal flows can dominate the nonlinear saturation by preventing coherent structures from persisting or drifting in the energetic particle phase space when the mode frequency down-chirps. Results from the simulation with zonal flows agree quantitatively, for the first time, with experimental measurements of the fishbone saturation amplitude and energetic particle transport. Moreover, the fishbone-induced zonal flows are likely responsible for the formation of an internal transport barrier that was observed after fishbone bursts in this DIII-D experiment. Finally, gyrokinetic simulations of a related ITER baseline scenario show that the fishbone induces insignificant energetic particle redistribution and may enable high performance scenarios in ITER burning plasma experiments. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Metastability exchange optical pumping of 3 He at low pressure and high magnetic field

We report systematic studies on metastability exchange optical pumping of 3 He nuclei have been performed at Jefferson Lab using a 1-torr sealed cell at magnetic fields from 2 to 4 T. The effects of the discharge intensity, pump laser power and pumping transition schemes on achievable nuclear polarization and pumping rate have been investigated. A maximum steady-state nuclear polarization of about 75% has been obtained. This work provides a baseline for the development of the novel polarized 3 He target for CLAS12 at Jefferson Lab.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Polarized fusion and potential in situ tests of fuel polarization survival in a tokamak plasma

Abstract The use of spin-polarized fusion fuels would provide a significant boost towards the ignition of a burning plasma. The cross section for D + T → α + n, would be increased by 1.5 if the fuels were injected with parallel polarization. Furthermore, our simulations demonstrate additional non-linear power gains in large-scale machines such as ITER, due to increased alpha heating. Such benefits require the survival of spin polarizations for periods comparable to the particle confinement time. During the 1980s, calculations predicted that polarizations could survive a plasma environment, although concerns persisted regarding the cumulative impacts of wall recycling. In that era, technical challenges prevented direct tests and left the large scale fueling of a power reactor beyond reach. Over the last decades, this situation has changed dramatically. Detailed simulations of ITER have predicted negligible wall recycling in a high-power reactor, and recent advances in laser-driven sources project the capability of producing large quantities of ∼100% polarized D and T. The remaining crucial step is an in-situ demonstration of polarization survival in a plasma. For this, we outline a measurement strategy using the isospin-mirror reaction, D + 3 He → α + p. Polarized 3 He avoids the complexities of handling tritium, while encompassing the same spin-physics. We evaluate two methods of delivering deuterium, using dynamically polarized Lithium-Deuteride (with vector polarization P V D of 70%) or frozen-spin Hydrogen-Deuteride (with P V D of 40%), together with a method of injecting optically-pumped 3 He (with 65% polarization). Pellets of these materials all have long polarization decay times (∼6 min for LiD at 2 K, ∼2 months for HD at 2 K, and ∼3 d for 3 He at 77 K), all far greater than a plasma shot in a research tokamak such as DIII-D (∼20 s). Both species can be propelled from a single cryogenic injection gun. We review plasma requirements and strategies for detecting polarization survival. Polarization alters both fusion yields and the angular distribution of fusion products, and each of these provides a potential signal. In this paper we simulate a selection of shots with similar characteristics in a future high-T ion H plasma, and find ratios of yields from shots with fuel spins parallel and antiparallel reaching 1.3 (HD + 3 He) to 1.6 (LiD + 3 He) over a wide range of poloidal angles. (A companion paper finds sensitivity to fusion product angular distributions as reflected in the pitch angles of protons and alphas reaching the plasma facing wall.)

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Regulation of Alfvén Eigenmodes by Microturbulence in Fusion Plasmas

Global gyrokinetic simulations of mesoscale reversed shear Alfven eigenmodes (RSAE) excited by energetic particles (EP) in fusion plasmas find that RSAE amplitude and EP transport are much higher than experimental levels at nonlinear saturation, but quickly diminish to very low levels after the saturation when background microturbulence is artificially suppressed. In contrast, in simulations coupling micro-meso scales, the RSAE amplitude and EP transport decrease drastically at the initial saturation but later increases to the experimental levels in the quasi-steady state with bursty dynamics due to regulation by thermal ion temperature gradient (ITG) microturbulence. The quasi-steady state EP transport is larger for a stronger microturbulence. Here, the RSAE amplitude in the quasi-steady state ITG-RSAE turbulence from gyrokinetic simulations, for the first time, agrees very well with experimental measurements.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Verification and validation of linear gyrokinetic and kinetic-MHD simulations for internal kink instability in DIII-D tokamak

Here, verification and linear validation of the internal kink instability in tokamak have been performed for both gyrokinetic (GTC) and kinetic-MHD codes (GAM-solver, M3D-C1-K, NOVA, XTOR-K). Using realistic magnetic geometry and plasma profiles from the same equilibrium reconstruction of the DIII-D shot #141216, these codes exhibit excellent agreement for the growth rate and mode structure of the internal kink mode when all kinetic effects are suppressed. The simulated radial mode structures, obtained from linear simulations, are in reasonable agreement with the normalised electron cyclotron emission measurement after adjusting, within the experimental uncertainty, the safety factor q = 1 flux-surface location in the equilibrium reconstruction. Compressible magnetic perturbations strongly destabilize the kink, while poloidal variations of the equilibrium current density reduce the growth rate of the kink. Furthermore, kinetic effects of thermal ions are found to decrease the kink growth rate in kinetic-MHD simulations, but increase the kink growth rate in gyrokinetic simulations, due to the additional drive of the ion temperature gradient and parallel electric field. Kinetic thermal electrons are found to have negligible effects on the internal kink instability.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Structural Interconversion between Agglomerated Palladium Domains and Mononuclear Pd(II) Cations in Chabazite Zeolites

Palladium-exchanged zeolites are candidate materials for passive NO x adsorption in automotive exhaust aftertreatment, where mononuclear Pd cations behave as precursors to the purported NO x adsorption sites. Yet, the structures of zeolite lattice binding sites capable of stabilizing mononuclear Pd 2+ ions, and the mechanisms that interconvert agglomerated PdO and Pd domains into mononuclear Pd 2+ ions during Pd redispersion treatments, remain incompletely understood. In this work, we use a suite of spectroscopic methods and quantitative site titration techniques to characterize mononuclear and agglomerated Pd species on zeolites with varying material properties and treatment history. Aqueous-phase methods to introduce Pd onto NH 4 -form zeolites initially form mononuclear [Pd(NH 3 ) 4 ] 2+ complexes, but subsequent thermal treatments (573–723 K; air) lead to in situ formation of H 2 that first reduces Pd 2+ to metallic Pd domains, which are then oxidized by air to PdO domains. Progressive treatment of Pd-zeolites in air to higher temperatures (723–1023 K) converts larger fractions of agglomerated PdO to mononuclear Pd 2+ , as quantified by H 2 temperature programmed reduction, because higher temperature treatments facilitate Pd redispersion toward deeper locations within chabazite (CHA) crystallites, which is corroborated by complementary titrimetric and spectroscopic data. Pd-CHA zeolites synthesized with similar bulk Pd and framework Al content, but varying framework Al arrangement, provide evidence that six-membered rings (6-MR) hosting paired Al sites (Al–O–(Si–O) x –Al, x = 1, 2) stabilize Pd 2+ ions and that otherwise isolated Al sites can stabilize [PdOH] + species, identifiable by an IR OH stretch at 3660 cm –1 . These findings clarify the underlying chemical processes and gas environments that cause Pd agglomeration in zeolites and their subsequent redispersion to mononuclear Pd 2+ ions, which prefer binding at 6-MR paired Al sites in CHA, and indicate that higher temperature air treatments lead to more uniform Pd spatial distributions throughout zeolite crystallites.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗