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At least 109 records · Page 6

Spring 2022 update on the status of the Local Wavenumber Model (LWN) in xRAGE

An updated implementation of the Local Wavenumber Model (LWN) is discussed, primarily differing from recent versions by placing a greater focus on capturing a wide variety of turbulent flows including compressible flows. New models are introduced for spectral backscatter effects, the effect of bulk compression on the spectra, and incorporating the multispecies variables tracked in BHR4. Methods for reducing the compurational expense of tracking spectra for turbulent quantites are also investigated. Like recent versions of BHR, we test LWN in a number of canonical flows using a single set of coefficients, but additional coefficient tuning is likely to be required to improve the agreement with some of these flows.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Atomic Mixing of Initially Separated Mixtures

We consider the atomic mixing of two materials, initially separated in space, at fixed temperature– pressure conditions [T, p], and zero mass-mean velocity. Each material is composed of a specified set of atomic species whose density corresponds to the specieswise real Equation of State (EOS) $\tilde{&#961}$ i [T, p]. Because there are no spatial gradients in the mean [T, p] state, the only mechanism for mixing is a specieswise nonequilibrium thermal velocity distribution. The recipe for nonequilibrium species mass fluxes is taken directly from Hirschfelder, Curtiss, and Bird, who express the diffusion velocities in terms of gradients in the molar concentrations and pairwise coefficients of diffusion. EOS data from the SESAME library is used for all species. Data for the specieswise self diffusion coefficients is adopted from the Orbital Free Molecular Dynamics (OFMD) simulations of Ticknor et al.; the so-called Darken approximation is used to express the mutual diffusion coefficients of a mixture in the manner used by White et al. A one-dimensional spatial domain is used; with the left half occupied by one multispecies material and the right half occupied by the other, and with zero–gradient boundary conditions at the ends of the domain. Hence the total mass in the domain is a constant. At time t = 0 the materials are separated. Accordingly, spatial gradients at the separation point are infinite and the species fluxes are also infinite. As t → $\textbf{∞}$ the spatial gradients approach zero and a uniform set of species concentrations is obtained; at this point the system is said to be at “thermodynamic equilibrium.” Analytic solution of the problem is not possible in general due to the nonlinear concentration dependence of the species fluxes. Hence we utilize the numerical solution apparatus in Mathematica for obtaining accurate time-dependent solutions for the mixing of various initial species masses for conditions of interest in laser-driven Inertial Confinement Fusion. Concentration profiles and the speed of propagation of the mixing fronts are discussed in light of the nonlinearity of the problem.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Adapting High-Resolution X-Ray Microcalorimeter Spectrometers to Transform MFE Plasma Diagnostics

The aim of this project was to begin the transformation of magnetic fusion energy (MFE) X-ray diagnostics by applying detector technology developed over the past several decades by the astrophysics community. We installed and operated an X-ray microcalorimeter detector system under fusion-relevant plasma conditions at the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST). X-ray microcalorimeter spectrometers combine the best characteristics of instrumentation currently available on fusion devices: the high spectral resolution of crystal spectrometers (2 eV) and broadband coverage provided by pulse-height analysis systems. These spectrometers have small port-access requirements, a key advantage for future MFE experiments. This new plasma diagnostic technique will satisfy the need for multispecies impurity ion data by providing absolute measurements of impurity core accumulation, and it will provide the core impurity ion temperature. This project was a joint effort between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and researchers at the Wisconsin Plasma Physics Laboratory (WiPPl) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). Megan E. Eckart is the principal investigator at LLNL, which is funded separately from UW–Madison. This final report fulfills the reporting obligation of the UW–Madison effort.

Den Hartog, Daniel J. [Department of Physics, Univ↗

A Novel Trichothecene Toxin Phenotype Associated with Horizontal Gene Transfer and a Change in Gene Function in Fusarium

Fusarium trichothecenes are among the mycotoxins of most concern to food and feed safety. Production of these mycotoxins and presence of the trichothecene biosynthetic gene (TRI) cluster have been confirmed in only two multispecies lineages of Fusarium: the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti (Incarnatum) and F. sambucinum (Sambucinum) species complexes. Here, we identified and characterized a TRI cluster in a species that has not been formally described and is represented by Fusarium sp. NRRL 66739. This fungus is reported to be a member of a third Fusarium lineage: the F. buharicum species complex. Cultures of NRRL 66739 accumulated only two trichothecenes, 7-hydroxyisotrichodermin and 7-hydroxyisotrichodermol. Although these are not novel trichothecenes, the production profile of NRRL 66739 is novel, because in previous reports 7-hydroxyisotrichodermin and 7-hydroxyisotrichodermol were components of mixtures of 6–8 trichothecenes produced by several Fusarium species in Sambucinum. Heterologous expression analysis indicated that the TRI13 gene in NRRL 66739 confers trichothecene 7-hydroxylation. This contrasts the trichothecene 4-hydroxylation function of TRI13 in other Fusarium species. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that NRRL 66739 acquired the TRI cluster via horizontal gene transfer from a close relative of Incarnatum and Sambucinum. These findings provide insights into evolutionary processes that have shaped the distribution of trichothecene production among Fusarium species and the structural diversity of the toxins.

Food Science & Technology↗

Phylogeny and character evolution in the Dacrymycetes , and systematics of Unilacrymaceae and Dacryonaemataceae fam. nov.

We present a multilocus phylogeny of the class Dacrymycetes, based on data from the 18S, ITS, 28S, RPB1,RPB2,TEF-1α, 12S, andATP6DNA regions, with c. 90 species including the types of most currently accepted genera. A variety of methodological approaches was used to infer phylogenetic relationships among the Dacrymycetes, from a supermatrix strategy using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference on a concatenated dataset, to coalescence-based calculations, such as quartet-based summary methods of independent single-locus trees, and Bayesian integration of single-locus trees into a species tree under the multispecies coalescent. We evaluate for the first time the taxonomic usefulness of some cytological phenotypic characters, i.e., vacuolar contents (vacuolar bodies and lipid bodies), number of nuclei of recently discharged basidiospores, and pigments, with especial emphasis on carotenoids. These characters, along with several others traditionally used for the taxonomy of this group (basidium shape, presence and morphology of clamp connections, morphology of the terminal cells of cortical/marginal hyphae, presence and degree of ramification of the hyphidia), are mapped on the resulting phylogenies and their evolution through the class Dacrymycetes discussed. Our analyses reveal five lineages that putatively represent five different families, four of which are accepted and named. Three out of these four lineages correspond to previously circumscribed and published families (Cerinomycetaceae, Dacrymycetaceae, and Unilacrymaceae), and one is proposed as the new family Dacryonaemataceae. Provisionally, only a single order, Dacrymycetales, is accepted with in the class. Furthermore, the systematics of the two smallest families, Dacryonaemataceae and Unilacrymaceae, are investigated to the species level, using coalescence-based species delimitation on multilocus DNA data, and a detailed morphological study including morphometric analyses of the basidiospores. Three species are accepted in Dacryonaema, the type, Da. rufum, the newly combined Da. Macnabbii (basionym Dacrymyces macnabbii), and a new species named Da. macrosporum. Two species are accepted in Unilacryma, the new U. bispora, and the type, U. unispora, the latter treated in a broad sense pending improved sampling across the Holarctic.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Compression Acceleration of Protons and Heavier Ions at the Heliospheric Current Sheet

Abstract Recent observations by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) suggest that protons and heavier ions are accelerated to high energies by magnetic reconnection at the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). By solving the energetic particle transport equation in large-scale MHD simulations, we study the compression acceleration of protons and heavier ions in the reconnecting HCS. We find that the acceleration of multispecies ions results in nonthermal power-law distributions with a spectral index consistent with the PSP observations. Our study shows that the high-energy cutoff of protons can reach E max ∼ 0.1 –1 MeV depending on the particle diffusion coefficients. We also study how the high-energy cutoff of different ion species scales with the charge-to-mass ratio E max ∝ ( Q / M ) α . When determining the diffusion coefficients from the quasi-linear theory with a Kolmogorov magnetic power spectrum, we find that α ∼ 0.4, which is somewhat smaller than α ∼ 0.7 observed by PSP.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Electron Influence on the Parallel Proton Firehose Instability in 10-moment, Multifluid Simulations

Instabilities driven by pressure anisotropy play a critical role in modulating the energy transfer in space and astrophysical plasmas. For the first time, we simulate the evolution and saturation of the parallel proton firehose instability using a multifluid model without adding artificial viscosity. These simulations are performed using a 10-moment, multifluid model with local and gradient relaxation heat-flux closures in high-β proton–electron plasmas. When these higher-order moments are included and pressure anisotropy is permitted to develop in all species, we find that the electrons have a significant impact on the saturation of the parallel proton firehose instability, modulating the proton pressure anisotropy as the instability saturates. Even for lower β's more relevant to heliospheric plasmas, we observe a pronounced electron energization in simulations using the gradient relaxation closure. Our results indicate that resolving the electron pressure anisotropy is important to correctly describe the behavior of multispecies plasma systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Stability and convergence of nuclear detonations in white dwarf collisions

We investigate the numerical stability of thermonuclear detonations in 1D accelerated reactive shocks and 2D binary collisions of equal-mass magnetized and unmagnetized white dwarf stars. To achieve high resolution at initiation sites, we devised geometric gridding and mesh velocity strategies specially adapted to the unique requirements of head-on collisional geometries, scenarios in which one expects maximum production of iron-group products. We study the effects of grid resolution and the limiting of temperature, energy, and reactants for different stellar masses, separations, magnetic fields, inigenerationtial compositions, detonation mechanisms, and limiter parameters across a range of cell sizes from 1 to 100 km. Our results set bounds on the parameter space of limiter amplitudes for which both temperature- and energy-limiting procedures yield consistent and monotonically convergent solutions. Within these bounds, we find that grid resolutions of 5 km or better are necessary for uncertainties in total released energy and iron-group products to drop below 10%. Intermediate-mass products (e.g., calcium) exhibit similar convergence trends but with somewhat greater uncertainty. These conclusions apply equally to pure C/O white dwarfs, multispecies compositions (including helium shells), magnetized and unmagnetized cores, and either single or multiple detonation scenarios.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Ion acoustic waves in a multi-ion plasma.

An exact treatment of the multispecies ion acoustic dispersion relation is given for an argon/helium plasma. Phase velocity and damping are obtained as a function of ion-electron temperature ratio and relative densities of the two species. There are two important modes in the plasma, with quite different phase velocities, which are referred to as principal heavy ion mode and principal light ion mode. Which of these is dominant depends on the relative densities of the two components, but, in general, the light ion mode becomes important for surprisingly small light ion contamination. Approximate analytic expressions are derived from damping rates and phase velocities and their domains of validity are investigated. Relevance of the results for the investigation of collisionless shocks is discussed.

Fried, B. D.↗

Development of a second order closure model for computation of turbulent diffusion flames

A typical eddy box model for the second-order closure of turbulent, multispecies, reacting flows developed. The model structure was quite general and was valid for an arbitrary number of species. For the case of a reaction involving three species, the nine model parameters were determined from equations for nine independent first- and second-order correlations. The model enabled calculation of any higher-order correlation involving mass fractions, temperatures, and reaction rates in terms of first- and second-order correlations. Model predictions for the reaction rate were in very good agreement with exact solutions of the reaction rate equations for a number of assumed flow distributions.

Varma, A. K.↗

Stochastic stability and instability of model ecosystems

In this work, we initiate a stability study of multispecies communities in stochastic environment by using Ito's differential equations as community models. By applying the direct method of Liapunov, we obtain sufficient conditions for stability and instability in the mean of the equilibrium populations. The conditions are expressed in terms of the dominant diagonal property of community matrices, which is a suitable mechanism for resolving the central problem of 'complexity vs stability' in model ecosystems. As a by-product of this analysis we exhibit important structural properties of the stochastic density-dependent models, and establish tolerance of community stability to a broad class of nonlinear time-varying perturbations.

Ladde, G. S.↗

The topside ionosphere - A region of dynamic transition

The review article concentrates on dynamic processes at work in the topside ionosphere (between the F2 peak and about 3000 km) where the H ion dominates and ionic reactions can be neglected. The history of ionosphere and plasmasphere research using radio waves is reviewed. Low-speed and high-speed multispecies plasma ion flow is studied with various models (13-moment approximation, 5-moment approximation, kinetic models of the polar wind). Experimental observations of the plasmapause, results of vertical soundings of the topside, and global pole-to-pole distributions of ion composition, plasma temperature, and electron density are reviewed.

Banks, P. M.↗

On the monochromatic brightness variations of comets

The nonsteady development of the multispecies atmosphere of a long-period comet approaching the sun is modeled, and the associated monochromatic brightness variations are discussed in terms of the varying abundances of the atmospheric species. A simple homogeneous clathrate structure, 85% of which is H2O, provides the representation for the cometary nucleus. Monochromatic brightness variations of the emission bands due to OH, CN and C2 are found to follow the law proposed by Levin (1943) for small heliocentric distance where a quasi-steady approximation is valid. However, the large time-scales of residence for emitting species leads to a breakdown of Levin's law at large heliocentric distances.

Mendis, D. A.↗

The kinetic effects of Alfven wave pressure in the solar wind

The results of a kinetic model for the radial evolution of the proton component of the solar wind in the presence of Alfven waves are presented. The calculation is based on general quasi-linear equations developed to describe the temporal and spatial evolution of the ion distribution functions of a multispecies plasma in presence of waves, using a short wavelength expansion. These equations include new wave-particle interaction terms arising from temporal and spatial inhomogeneities in the plasma. Numerical solutions are obtained of these equations specialized to the case of Alfven waves in a spherically symmetric solar wind. The Alfven wave effects on the proton distribution function vary strongly in velocity space. Protons with small transverse velocities are primarily decelerated with respect to the wave rest frame. This deceleration becomes less important with increasing transverse velocity, as wave induced diffusion to larger transverse velocity becomes the dominant effect. The competition of these effects results in interesting distortions of evolving proton distribution functions which give rise the wave acceleration well known from fluid theory.

Goodrich, C. C.↗

Laboratory studies of in vivo fluorescence of phytoplankton

A lidar system is developed that uses four selected excitation wavelengths to induce chlorophyll 'a' fluorescence which is indicative of both the concentration and diversity of phytoplankton. The operating principles of the system and the results of measurements of phytoplankton fluorescence in a controlled laboratory environment are presented. A comparative study of results from lidar fluorosensor laboratory tank tests using representative species of phytoplankton in single and multispecies cultures from each of four color groups reveals that (1) there is good correlation between the fluorescence of chlorophyll 'a' remotely simulated and detected by the lidar system and in-situ measurements using four similar excitation wavelengths in a flow-through fluorometer; (2) good correlation exists between the total chlorophyll 'a' calculated from lidar-fluorosensor data and measurements obtained by the Strickland-Parsons method; and (3) the lidar fluorosensor can provide an index of population diversity.

Brown, C. A., Jr.↗

Colloidal plasmas in space - Some aspects of condensation and growth of solids

The abundant occurrence of colloidal plasma clouds in the observable universe is reviewed, and the possible locales of condensation of cosmic solids identified. The physical properties of the condensation environment and the thermal physics of the plasma-cluster medium are outlined. In the light of these discussions, an attempt is made to identify the salient features of the processes of nucleation and growth in space. It is suggested that the conventional nucleation theory is inadequate when applied to the tenuous, partially excited, partially ionized multispecies cosmic vapor phase, and that studies relying on the physics of progressive molecule growth in such environments hold promise of understanding the process of transition of a cluster from the size of a few atomic mass units through the macromolecular range into what may be characterized as the bulk condensed phase.

De, B. R.↗