Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “ACCELERATOR MAGNETS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 379 records · Page 21

Numerical Study of Erosion, Heating, and Acceleration of the Magnetic Cloud as Impacted by Fast Shock

The impact of an overtaking fast shock on a magnetic cloud (MC) is a pivotal process in CME–CME (CME: coronal mass ejection) interactions and CME–SIR (SIR: stream interaction region) interactions. MC with a strong and rotating magnetic field is usually deemed a crucial part of CMEs. To study the impact of a fast shock on an MC, we perform a 2.5 dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulation. Two cases are run in this study: without and with impact by fast shock. In the former case, the MC expands gradually from its initial state and drives a relatively slow magnetic reconnection with the ambient magnetic field. Analyses of forces near the core of the MC as a whole body indicates that the solar gravity is quite small compared to the Lorentz force and the pressure gradient force. In the second run, a fast shock propagates, relative to the background plasma, at a speed twice that of the perpendicular fast magnetosonic speed, catches up with and takes over the MC. Due to the penetration of the fast shock, the MC is highly compressed and heated, with the temperature growth rate enhanced by a factor of about 10 and the velocity increased to about half of the shock speed. The magnetic reconnection with ambient magnetic field is also sped up by a factor of two to four in reconnection rate as a result of the enhanced density of the current sheet, which is squeezed by the forward motion of the shocked MC.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Study of the Insulating Magnetic Field in an Accelerating Ion Diode

The results of examination of the insulating magnetic field in an accelerating ion diode are presented. This field is produced in order to suppress the electron current and thus enhance the neutron yield of the D(d, n){sup 3}He nuclear reaction. The following two designs are discussed: a gas-filled diode with inertial electrostatic confinement of ions and a vacuum diode with a laser-plasma ion source and pulsed magnetic insulation. Although the insulating field of permanent magnets is highly nonuniform, it made it possible to extend the range of accelerating voltages to U = 200 kV and raise the neutron yield to Q = 10{sup 7} in the first design. The nonuniform field structure is less prominent in the device with pulsed magnetic insulation, which demonstrated efficient deuteron acceleration with currents up to 1 kA at U = 400 kV. The predicted neutron yield is as high as 109 neutrons/pulse.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Vertical Magnetic Measurements of the First Full-Length Prototype MQXFAP2 Quadrupole for the LHC Hi-Lumi Accelerator Upgrade Project

This paper reports the commissioning of the vertical magnetic measurement system and the room temperature (warm) and cryogenic (cold) magnetic field measurements of the first full-length (4.2 m) quadrupole built by the U.S. Accelerator Upgrade Project (AUP) (formerly the LARP collaboration) for the high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The magnet, designated MQXFAP2, is a prototype preceding production for the AUP which will provide ten sets of 8.4-m superconducting insertion region quadrupoles for the Hi-Lumi Upgrade. The quadrupoles will be built by assembling two 4.2-m magnets in a single cryostat. Agreement between Brookhaven National Laboratory's (BNL's) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (LBNL's) warm measurement data has indicated that the upgraded vertical magnetic measurement system at Brookhaven National Laboratory is ready for MQXFA magnet production testing. Lastly, the cold magnetic measurement has been performed and preliminary data analysis has been conducted.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Calculation and Analysis of Electrophysical Processes in a High-Power Plasma Accelerator with an Intrinsic Magnetic Field

We have considered basic theoretical models describing various aspects of the formation and acceleration of plasma in pulsed accelerators. The discharge current, magnetic field, and plasma bunch velocity have been determined experimentally at different initial gas pressures in the accelerator chamber. We have considered the correspondence of some theoretical models of plasma acceleration to experimental data obtained in a KPU-30 coaxial accelerator. It is shown that the formation of the plasma in the coaxial accelerator depends on the plasma density, and acceleration processes at densities higher and lower than a certain transient density value on the order of 10{sup 11}–10{sup 12} cm{sup –3} are different. At a density higher than this critical value, the plasma is accelerated by a magnetic force. At the same time, at a low plasma density, plasma can be accelerated by an internal electric field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

ON THE CAUSES OF PLASMOID ACCELERATION AND CHANGES IN MAGNETIC FLUX IN A RESISTIVE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC PLASMA

Observationally, the change of acceleration of coronal mass ejections is commonly attributed to the change of the reconnection rate. In this study, we use a two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation with finite resistivity to study: (1) the forces that lead to the acceleration of the plasma and plasmoid and (2) the time evolution of the topological change of the magnetic flux across the current sheet. Our results show that the fast flows are not limited to the direction perpendicular to the local magnetic field. The fast parallel flows are accelerated by the parallel component of the pressure gradient force. The net force perpendicular to the magnetic field can accelerate the plasma and the plasmoid along the current sheet. The acceleration of the plasmoid is also controlled by the mass contained in the plasmoid. We find that the fast ejection of the plasmoid can stretch the current sheet and consequently reduce the magnetic reconnection/reconfiguration rate temporally before a new plasmoid is formed. We show that the topological change of the magnetic flux is due to the non-uniform magnetic annihilation rate along the current sheet. Therefore, the reconnection/reconfiguration site does not necessarily stay at the neutral point. It can move with the Y-line next to the bifurcated current sheets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Transient particle acceleration in strongly magnetized neutron stars. II - Effects due to a dipole field geometry

Sheared Alfven waves generated by nonradial crustal disturbances above the polar cap of a strongly magnetized neutron star induce an electric field component parallel to B. An attempt is made to determine the manner in which the strong radial dependence of B affects the propagation of these sheared Alfven waves, and whether this MHD process is still an effective particle accelerator. It is found that although the general field equation is quite complicated, a simple wavelike solution can still be obtained under the conditions of interest for which the Alfven phase velocity decouples from the wave equation. The results may be applicable to gamma-ray burst sources.

Fatuzzo, Marco↗

Magnetic Insulation for Electrostatic Accelerators

The voltage gradient which can be sustained between electrodes without electrical breakdowns is usually one of the most important parameters in determining the performance which can be obtained in an electrostatic accelerator. We have recently proposed a technique which might permit reliable operation of electrostatic accelerators at higher electric field gradients, perhaps also with less time required for the conditioning process in such accelerators. The idea is to run an electric current through each accelerator stage so as to produce a magnetic field which envelopes each electrode and its electrically conducting support structures. Having the magnetic field everywhere parallel to the conducting surfaces in the accelerator should impede the emission of electrons, and inhibit their ability to acquire energy from the electric field, thus reducing the chance that local electron emission will initiate an arc. A relatively simple experiment to assess this technique is being planned. If successful, this technique might eventually find applicability in electrostatic accelerators for fusion and other applications.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Efficient production of high-energy nonthermal particles during magnetic reconnection in a magnetically dominated ion-electron plasma

Magnetic reconnection is a leading mechanism for dissipating magnetic energy and accelerating nonthermal particles in Poynting-flux-dominated flows. We investigate nonthermal particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection in a magnetically dominated ion–electron plasma using fully kinetic simulations. For an ion–electron plasma with a total magnetization of ${\sigma }_{0}={B}^{2}/(4\pi n({m}_{i}+{m}_{e}){c}^{2})$, the magnetization for each species is ${\sigma }_{i}\sim {\sigma }_{0}$ and ${\sigma }_{e}\sim ({m}_{i}/{m}_{e}){\sigma }_{0}$, respectively. We have studied the magnetically dominated regime by varying σe = 103–105 with initial ion and electron temperatures ${T}_{i}={T}_{e}=5-20{m}_{e}{c}^{2}$ and mass ratio ${m}_{i}/{m}_{e}=1-1836$. Our results demonstrate that reconnection quickly establishes power-law energy distributions for both electrons and ions within several (2–3) light-crossing times. For the cases with periodic boundary conditions, the power-law index is $1\lt s\lt 2$ for both electrons and ions. The hard spectra limit the power-law energies for electrons and ions to be ${\gamma }_{{be}}\sim {\sigma }_{e}$ and ${\gamma }_{{bi}}\sim {\sigma }_{i}$, respectively. The main acceleration mechanism is a Fermi-like acceleration through the drift motions of charged particles. When comparing the spectra for electrons and ions in momentum space, the spectral indices sp are identical as predicted in Fermi acceleration. We also find that the bulk flow can carry a significant amount of energy during the simulations. Finally, we discuss the implication of this study in the context of Poynting-flux dominated jets and pulsar winds, especially the applications for explaining nonthermal high-energy emissions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Enhancement of electron energy during vacuum laser acceleration in an inhomogeneous magnetic field

In this paper, the effect of a stationary inhomogeneous magnetic field on the electron acceleration by a high intensity Gaussian laser pulse is investigated. A focused TEM (0,0) laser mode with linear polarization in the transverse x-direction that propagates along the z-axis is considered. The magnetic field is assumed to be stationary in time, but varies longitudinally in space. A linear spatial profile for the magnetic field is adopted. In other words, the axial magnetic field increases linearly in the z-direction up to an optimum point z{sub m} and then becomes constant with magnitude equal to that at z{sub m}. Three-dimensional single-particle simulations are performed to find the energy and trajectory of the electron. The electron rotates around and stays near the z-axis. It is shown that with a proper choice of the magnetic field parameters, the electron will be trapped at the focus of the laser pulse. Because of the cyclotron resonance, the electron receives enough energy from the laser fields to be accelerated to relativistic energies. Using numerical simulations, the criteria for optimum regime of the acceleration mechanism is found. With the optimized parameters, an electron initially at rest located at the origin achieves final energy of γ=802. The dynamics of a distribution of off-axis electrons are also investigated in which shows that high energy electrons with small energy and spatial spread can be obtained.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Test particle acceleration in turbulent reconnecting magnetic fields

The effect of turbulence on particle acceleration in a MHD field was investigated by computing test particle trajectories in turbulent MHD reconnecting fields, including reconnection simulations at different magnetic Reynolds numbers. The dynamics of individual particles were investigated making it possible to examine the acceleration mechanism in great detail. It was found that turbulence influences the acceleration in two ways. It enhances the reconnection electric field while producing a stochastic electric field that gives rise to momentum diffusion; and it produces magnetic 'bubbles' and other irregularities that can temporarily trap test particles in the strong reconnection electric field for times comparable to the magnetofluid characteristic time.

Ambrosiano, John↗

A multifrequency study of sub-parsec jets with the Event Horizon Telescope

Context. The 2017 observing campaign of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) delivered the first very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) images at the observing frequency of 230 GHz, leading to a number of unique studies on black holes and relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei (AGN). In total, eighteen sources were observed, including the main science targets, Sgr A* and M 87, and various calibrators. Sixteen sources were AGN.Aims. We investigated the morphology of the sixteen AGN in the EHT 2017 data set, focusing on the properties of the VLBI cores: size, flux density, and brightness temperature. We studied their dependence on the observing frequency in order to compare it with the Blandford-Königl (BK) jet model. In particular, we aimed to study the signatures of jet acceleration and magnetic energy conversion.Methods. We modeled the source structure of seven AGN in the EHT 2017 data set using linearly polarized circular Gaussian components (1749+096, 1055+018, BL Lac, J0132–1654, J0006–0623, CTA 102, and 3C 454.3) and collected results for the other nine AGN from dedicated EHT publications, complemented by lower frequency data in the 2–86 GHz range. Combining these data into a multifrequency EHT+ data set, we studied the dependences of the VLBI core component flux density, size, and brightness temperature on the frequency measured in the AGN host frame (and hence on the distance from the central black hole), characterizing them with power law fits. We compared the observations with the BK jet model and estimated the magnetic field strength dependence on the distance from the central black hole.Results. Our observations spanning event horizon to parsec scales indicate a deviation from the standard BK model, particularly in the decrease of the brightness temperature with the observing frequency. Only some of the discrepancies may be alleviated by tweaking the model parameters or the jet collimation profile. Either bulk acceleration of the jet material, energy transfer from the magnetic field to the particles, or both are required to explain the observations. For our sample, we estimate a general radial dependence of the Doppler factor δ ∝ r≤0.5. This interpretation is consistent with a magnetically accelerated sub-parsec jet. We also estimate a steep decrease of the magnetic field strength with radius B ∝ r−3, hinting at jet acceleration or efficient magnetic energy dissipation.Key words: techniques: interferometric / galaxies: active / galaxies: jets / galaxies: nuclei / quasars: general / quasars: supermassive black holes⋆⋆ Deceased.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Laser–solid interaction studies enabled by the new capabilities of the iP2 BELLA PW beamline

The new capabilities of the short focal length, high intensity beamline, named iP2, at the BELLA Center will extend the reach of research in high energy density science, including accessing new regimes of high gradient ion acceleration and their applications. This 1 Hz system will provide an on-target peak intensity beyond 1021 W/cm2 with a temporal contrast ratio of <10−14 that will be enabled by the addition of an on-demand double plasma mirror setup. An overview of the beamline design and the main available diagnostics are presented in this paper as well as a selection of accessible research areas. As a demonstration of the iP2 beamline's capabilities, we present 3D particle-in-cell simulations of ion acceleration in the magnetic vortex acceleration regime. The simulations were performed with pure hydrogen targets and multi-species targets. Proton beams with energy up to 125 MeV and an approximately 12° full angle emission are observed as preplasma scale length and target tilt are varied. The number of accelerated protons is on the order of 109/MeV/sr for energies above 60 MeV.

Hakimi, Sahel (ORCID:000000022493564X)↗

General Failure Modes and Effects Analysis for Accelerator and Detector Magnet Design at JLab

The aim of this article is to develop a risk management procedure, which could be applied to the magnet design process, for both superconducting and normal magnets at the Jefferson Laboratory (JLab). This procedure allowed us to identify the key risks at each of the critical phases of design and propose procedures, tests, and checks to mitigate each risk. In this article, we present a qualitative and quantitative risk management procedure commonly referred to a “failure modes and effects analysis.” As part of this procedure, we calculated a risk priority number (RPN) for each activity of the process, identified the most critical activities and proposed mitigation activities, which in turn resulted in a revised RPN. Additionally, another benefit of this procedure was the identification of appropriate “control and hold” points within the design process, which allowed one to review and approve a particular outcome before proceeding to the next sequential activity.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗