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At least 73 records · Page 4

Ponderomotive and weakly relativistic self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in plasma: Effect of light absorption

This paper presents an influence of light absorption on self-focusing of laser beam propagation in plasma. The differential equation for beam-width parameter is obtained using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial approximations through parabolic equation approach. The nonlinearity in dielectric function is assumed to be aroused due to the combined effect of weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime. To highlight the nature of propagation, behavior of beam-width parameter with dimensionless distance of propagation is presented graphically and discussed. The present work is helpful to understand issues related to the beam propagation in laser plasma interaction experiments where light absorption plays a vital role.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Elementary framework for cold field emission from quantum-confined, non-planar emitters

For suitably small field emitters, the effects of quantum confinement at the emitter tip may have a significant impact on the emitter performance and total emitted current density (ECD). Since the geometry of a quantum system uniquely determines the magnitude and distribution of its energy levels, a framework for deriving ECD equations from cold field electron emitters of arbitrary geometry and dimensionality is developed. In the interest of obtaining semi-analytical ECD equations, the framework is recast in terms of plane wave solutions to the Schrödinger equation via the use of the Jeffreys-Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation. To demonstrate the framework's consistency with our previous work and its capabilities in treating emitters with non-planar geometries, ECD equations were derived for the normally unconfined cylindrical nanowire (CNW) and normally confined (NC) CNW emitter geometries. As a function of the emitter radius, the NC CNW emitter ECD profile displayed a strong dependence on the Fermi energy and had an average ECD that exceeded the Fowler-Nordheim equation for typical values of the Fermi energy due to closely spaced, singly degenerate energy levels (excluding electron spin), comparatively large electron supply values, and the lack of a transverse, zero-point energy. Such characteristics suggest that emitters with non-planar geometries may be ideal for emission from both an electron supply and electrostatics perspective.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Paraxial Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin method applied to the lower hybrid wave propagation

The paraxial Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (pWKB) approximation, also called beam tracing method, has been employed in order to study the propagation of lower hybrid waves in a tokamak plasma. Analogous to the well-know ray tracing method, this approach reduces Maxwell's equations to a set of ordinary differential equations, while, in addition, retains the effects of the finite beam cross-section, and, thus, the effects of diffraction. A new code, LHBEAM (lower hybrid BEAM tracing), is presented, which solves the pWKB equations in tokamak geometry for arbitrary launching conditions and for analytic and experimental plasma equilibria. In addition, LHBEAM includes linear electron Landau damping for the evaluation of the absorbed power density and the reconstruction of the wave electric field in both the physical and Fourier space. Illustrative LHBEAM calculations are presented along with a comparison with the ray tracing code GENRAY and the full wave solver TORIC-LH.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Basic data of ions in He-air mixtures for fluid modeling of low temperature plasma jets

The basic ion data such as interaction potential parameters, elastic and inelastic collision cross sections, transport coefficients (reduced mobility and diffusion coefficients) and reaction coefficients have been analysed and determined for the case of He{sup +}, N{sub 2}{sup +}, and O{sub 2}{sup +} in He-dry air mixtures. The ion transport and reaction coefficients have been determined from an optimized Monte Carlo simulation using calculated elastic and experimentally fitted inelastic collision cross sections. The elastic momentum transfer cross sections have been calculated from a semi-classical JWKB (Jeffreys Wentzel Kramers Brillouin) approximation based on a (6-4) rigid core interaction potential model. The inelastic cross sections have been fitted using the measured reaction coefficients, such as, for instance, the non resonant charge transfer coefficients. The cross section sets involving elastic and inelastic processes were then validated using either the measured reduced mobility whenever available in the literature or the zero-field mobility calculated from Satoh's relation, and potential parameters available in the literature. From the sets of elastic and inelastic collision cross sections thus obtained for the first time for He{sup +}/N{sub 2}, He{sup +}/O{sub 2}, N{sub 2}{sup +}/He, and O{sub 2}{sup +}/He systems, the ion transport and reaction coefficients were calculated in the pure gases over a wide range of the density reduced electric field E/N. Then, from the present cross section and other literature sets, the ion mobility and the longitudinal and transverse diffusion coefficients were calculated for different concentrations of air in He in the case of He{sup +}, N{sub 2}{sup +}, O{sub 2}{sup +}, and also O{sup -} ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Enhanced relativistic self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian laser beam in plasma under density transition

Enhanced and early relativistic self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian (HChG) beam in the plasmas under density transition has been investigated theoretically using Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial ray approximation for mode indices m=0, 1, and 2. The variation of beam width parameter with normalized propagation distance for m=0, 1, and 2 is reported, and it is observed that strong self-focusing occurs as the HChG beam propagates deeper inside the nonlinear medium as spot size shrinks due to highly dense plasmas and the results are presented graphically. A comparative study between self-focusing of HChG beam in the presence and absence of plasmas density transition is reported. The dependency of beam width parameter on the normalized propagation distance for different values of decentered parameter “b” has also been presented graphically. For m=0 and 1, strong self-focusing is reported for b=1.8, and for m=2 and b=1.8, beam gets diffracted. The results obtained indicate the dependency of the self-focusing of the HChG beam on the selected values of decentered parameter. Moreover, proper selection of decentered parameter results strong self-focusing of HChG beam. Stronger self-focusing of laser beam is observed due to the presence of plasma density transition which might be very useful in the applications like the generation of inertial fusion energy driven by lasers, laser driven accelerators, etc.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Localization or tunneling in asymmetric double-well potentials

An asymmetric double-well potential is considered, assuming that the wells are parabolic around the minima. The WKB wave function of a given energy is constructed inside the barrier between the wells. By matching the WKB function to the exact wave functions of the parabolic wells on both sides of the barrier, for two almost degenerate states, we find a quantization condition for the energy levels which reproduces the known energy splitting formula between the two states. For the other low-lying non-degenerate states, we show that the eigenfunction should be primarily localized in one of the wells with negligible magnitude in the other. Using Dekker’s method (Dekker, 1987), the present analysis generalizes earlier results for weakly biased double-well potentials to systems with arbitrary asymmetry.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

From liquid crystal models to the guiding-center theory of magnetized plasmas

Upon combining Northrop’s picture of charged particle motion with modern liquid crystal theories, this paper provides a new description of guiding center dynamics (to lowest order). This new perspective is based on a rotation gauge field (gyrogauge) that encodes rotations around the magnetic field. In liquid crystal theory, an analogue rotation field is used to encode the rotational state of rod-like molecules. Instead of resorting to sophisticated tools (e.g. Hamiltonian perturbation theory and Lie series expansions) that still remain essential in higher-order gyrokinetics, the present approach combines the WKB method with a simple kinematical ansatz, which is then replaced into the charged particle Lagrangian. The latter is eventually averaged over the gyrophase to produce the guiding-center equations. A crucial role is played by the vector potential for the gyrogauge field. A similar vector potential is related to liquid crystal defects and is known as wryness tensor in Eringen’s micropolar theory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The mixed Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin-full-wave approach and its application to lower hybrid wave propagation and absorption

The mixed Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB)-full-wave approach for the calculation of the 2D mode structure in tokamak plasmas is further developed based on our previous work [A. Cardinali and F. Zonca, Phys. Plasmas 10, 4199 (2003) and Z. X. Lu et al., Phys. Plasmas 19, 042104 (2012)]. A new scheme for theoretical analysis and numerical implementation of the mixed WKB-full-wave approach is formulated, based on scale separation and asymptotic analysis. Besides its capability to efficiently investigate the initial value problem for 2D mode structures and linear stability, in this work, the mixed WKB-full-wave approach is extended to the investigation of radio frequency wave propagation and absorption, e.g., lower hybrid waves. As a novel method, its comparison with other approaches, e.g., WKB and beam tracing methods, is discussed. Its application to lower hybrid wave propagation in concentric circular tokamak plasmas using typical FTU discharge parameters is also demonstrated.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Effect of tunnel injection through the Schottky gate on the static and noise behavior of GaInAs/AlInAs high electron mobility transistor

By using a Monte Carlo simulator, the influence of the tunnel injection through the Schottky contact at the gate electrode of a GaInAs/AlInAs High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) has been studied in terms of the static and noise performance. The method used to characterize the quantum tunnel current has been the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approach. The possibility of taking into account the influence of the image charge effect in the potential barrier height has been included as well. Regarding the static behavior, tunnel injection leads to a decrease in the drain current I{sub D} due to an enhancement of the potential barrier controlling the carrier transport through the channel. However, the pinch-off is degraded due to the tunneling current. Regarding the noise behavior, since the fluctuations in the potential barrier height caused by the tunnel-injected electrons are strongly coupled with the drain current fluctuations, a significant increase in the drain-current noise takes place, even when the tunnel effect is hardly noticeable in the static I-V characteristics, fact that must be taken into account when designing scaled HEMT for low-noise applications. In addition, tunnel injection leads to the appearance of full shot noise in the gate current.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

On nonlinear evolution of low-frequency Alfvén waves in weakly-expanding solar wind plasmas

A multi-dimensional nonlinear evolution equation for Alfvén waves in weakly-expanding solar wind plasmas is derived by using the reductive perturbation method. The expansion of solar wind plasma parcels is modeled by an expanding box model, which includes the accelerating expansion. It is shown that the resultant equation agrees with the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin prediction of the low-frequency Alfvén waves in the linear limit. In the cold and one-dimensional limit, a modified derivative nonlinear Schrodinger equation is obtained. Direct numerical simulations are carried out to discuss the effect of the expansion on the modulational instability of monochromatic Alfvén waves and the propagation of Alfvén solitons. By using the instantaneous frequency, it is quantitatively shown that as far as the expansion rate is much smaller than wave frequencies, effects of the expansion are almost adiabatic. It is also confirmed that while shapes of Alfvén solitons temporally change due to the expansion, some of them can stably propagate after their collision in weakly-expanding plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Single-electron tunneling by using a two-dimensional Corbino nano-scale disk

We investigate a single-electron tunneling effect of two-dimensional electron systems formed in the Corbino nano-scale disk. By controlling bias and gate voltages, the transistor using this effect is able to control electrons one by one. The present study focuses on the electronic transmission probability affected by the charging energy in the Corbino-type single-electron transistor. We reformulated the Schrödinger equation for an electron in the Corbino disk in order to consider the effect of the curvature of the disk, taking into account the charging effect on the performance of the Corbino-type single-electron transistor. We formulated the transmission probability of the electron by applying the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) method. The electron’s energy in the formula of the transmission probability is then associated to the energy eigenvalue of the Schrödinger equation for an electron in an effective confining potential. We numerically solved the Schrödinger equation to evaluate the transmission probability. Our results show that the transmission probability strongly depends on the charging energy stored in the Corbino disk depending on its size.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

SELF-CONSISTENT MODEL OF THE INTERSTELLAR PICKUP PROTONS, ALFVENIC TURBULENCE, AND CORE SOLAR WIND IN THE OUTER HELIOSPHERE

A self-consistent model of the interstellar pickup protons, the slab component of the Alfvenic turbulence, and core solar wind (SW) protons is presented for r {>=} 1 along with the initial results of and comparison with the Voyager 2 (V2) observations. Two kinetic equations are used for the pickup proton distribution and Alfvenic power spectral density, and a third equation governs SW temperature including source due to the Alfven wave energy dissipation. A fraction of the pickup proton free energy, f{sub D} , which is actually released in the waveform during isotropization, is taken from the quasi-linear consideration without preexisting turbulence, whereas we use observations to specify the strength of the large-scale driving, C{sub sh}, for turbulence. The main conclusions of our study can be summarized as follows. (1) For C{sub sh} Almost-Equal-To 1-1.5 and f{sub D} Almost-Equal-To 0.7-1, the model slab component agrees well with the V2 observations of the total transverse magnetic fluctuations starting from {approx}8 AU. This indicates that the slab component at low-latitudes makes up a majority of the transverse magnetic fluctuations beyond 8-10 AU. (2) The model core SW temperature agrees well with the V2 observations for r {approx}> 20 AU if f{sub D} Almost-Equal-To 0.7-1. (3) A combined effect of the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin attenuation, large-scale driving, and pickup proton generated waves results in the energy sink in the region r {approx}< 10 AU, while wave energy is pumped in the turbulence beyond 10 AU. Without energy pumping, the nonlinear energy cascade is suppressed for r {approx}< 10 AU, supplying only a small energy fraction into the k-region of dissipation by the core SW protons. A similar situation takes place for the two-dimensional turbulence. (4) The energy source due to the resonant Alfven wave damping by the core SW protons is small at heliocentric distances r {approx}< 10 AU for both the slab and the two-dimensional turbulent components. As a result, adiabatic cooling mostly controls the model SW temperature in this region, and the model temperature disagrees with the V2 observations in the region r {approx}< 20 AU.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

ON THE CONSERVATION OF CROSS HELICITY AND WAVE ACTION IN SOLAR-WIND MODELS WITH NON-WKB ALFVÉN WAVE REFLECTION

The interaction between Alfvén-wave turbulence and the background solar wind affects the cross helicity (∫d{sup 3}x v⋅B) in two ways. Non-WKB reflection converts outward-propagating Alfvén waves into inward-propagating Alfvén waves and vice versa, and the turbulence transfers momentum to the background flow. When both effects are accounted for, the total cross helicity is conserved. In the special case that the background density and flow speed are independent of time, the equations of cross-helicity conservation and total-energy conservation can be combined to recover a well-known equation derived by Heinemann and Olbert that has been interpreted as a non-WKB generalization of wave-action conservation. This latter equation (in contrast to cross-helicity and energy conservation) does not hold when the background varies in time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Non-gaussianities in the cosmological perturbation spectrum due to primordial anisotropy

We investigate possible signatures of a pre-inflationary anisotropic phase in two-point and three-point correlation functions of the curvature perturbation for high-momentum modes which exit the horizon well after isotropization. In this momentum regime, the early time dynamics admits a WKB description and the late time dynamics can be described in terms of a non-Bunch Davies vacuum state which encodes the information of initial anisotropy in the background spacetime. We compute the bi-spectrum for curvature perturbation in a canonical single-field action with and without higher derivative operators. We show that the bi-spectrum at late times, in either case, is enhanced for a flattened triangle configuration as well as a squeezed triangle configuration and compute the corresponding f{sub NL} parameters. The angular dependence and the particular momentum dependence of the f{sub NL} parameter appear as distinctive features of background anisotropy at early times.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Paraxial WKB method applied to the lower hybrid wave propagation

The paraxial WKB (pWKB) approximation, also called beam tracing method, has been employed in order to study the propagation of lower hybrid (LH) waves in a tokamak plasma. Analogous to the well-know ray tracing method, this approach reduces Maxwell's equations to a set of ordinary differential equations, while, in addition, retains the effects of the finite beam cross-section, and, thus, the effects of diffraction. A new code, LHBEAM (Lower Hybrid BEAM tracing), is presented, which solves the pWKB equations in tokamak geometry for arbitrary launching conditions and for analytic and experimental plasma equilibria. In addition, LHBEAM includes linear electron Landau damping for the evaluation of the absorbed power density and the reconstruction of the wave electric field in both the physical and Fourier space. Illustrative LHBEAM calculations are presented along with a comparison with the ray tracing code GENRAY and the full wave solver TORIC-LH.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Axiomatic geometrical optics, Abraham-Minkowski controversy, and photon properties derived classically

By restating geometrical optics within the field-theoretical approach, the classical concept of a photon in arbitrary dispersive medium is introduced, and photon properties are calculated unambiguously. In particular, the canonical and kinetic momenta carried by a photon, as well as the two corresponding energy-momentum tensors of a wave, are derived straightforwardly from first principles of Lagrangian mechanics. The Abraham-Minkowski controversy pertaining to the definitions of these quantities is thereby resolved for linear waves of arbitrary nature, and corrections to the traditional formulas for the photon kinetic quantities are found. An application of axiomatic geometrical optics to electromagnetic waves is also presented as an example.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Ponderomotive Forces On Waves In Modulated Media

Nonlinear interactions of waves via instantaneous cross-phase modulation can be cast in the same way as ponderomotive wave-particle interactions in high-frequency electromagnetic fi eld. The ponderomotive effect arises when rays of a probe wave scatter off perturbations of the underlying medium produced by a second, modulation wave, much like charged particles scatter off a quasiperiodic field. Parallels with the point-particle dynamics, which itself is generalized by this theory, lead to new methods of wave manipulation, including asymmetric barriers for light.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

CHROMOSPHERE TO 1 au SIMULATION OF THE 2011 MARCH 7th EVENT: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF CORONAL MASS EJECTION PROPAGATION

We perform and analyze the results of a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the fast coronal mass ejection (CME) that occurred on 2011 March 7. The simulation is made using the newly developed Alfvén Wave Solar Model (AWSoM), which describes the background solar wind starting from the upper chromosphere and extends to 24 R {sub ⊙}. Coupling AWSoM to an inner heliosphere model with the Space Weather Modeling Framework extends the total domain beyond the orbit of Earth. Physical processes included in the model are multi-species thermodynamics, electron heat conduction (both collisional and collisionless formulations), optically thin radiative cooling, and Alfvén-wave turbulence that accelerates and heats the solar wind. The Alfvén-wave description is physically self-consistent, including non-Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin reflection and physics-based apportioning of turbulent dissipative heating to both electrons and protons. Within this model, we initiate the CME by using the Gibson-Low analytical flux rope model and follow its evolution for days, in which time it propagates beyond STEREO A . A detailed comparison study is performed using remote as well as in situ observations. Although the flux rope structure is not compared directly due to lack of relevant ejecta observation at 1 au in this event, our results show that the new model can reproduce many of the observed features near the Sun (e.g., CME-driven extreme ultraviolet [EUV] waves, deflection of the flux rope from the coronal hole, “double-front” in the white light images) and in the heliosphere (e.g., shock propagation direction, shock properties at STEREO A ).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗