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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.

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At least 1,153 records · Page 64
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Toward Transparent Data Management in Multi-layer Storage Hierarchy for HPC Systems

Upcoming exascale high performance computing (HPC) systems are expected to comprise multi-tier storage hierarchy, and thus will necessitate innovative storage and I/O mechanisms. Traditional disk and block-based interfaces and file systems face severe challenges in utilizing capabilities of storage hierarchies due to the lack of hierarchy support and semantic interfaces. Object-based and semantically-rich data abstractions for scientific data management on large scale systems offer a sustainable solution to these challenges. Such data abstractions can also simplify users involvement in data movement. Here, we take the first steps of realizing such an object abstraction and explore storage mechanisms for these objects to enhance I/O performance, especially for scientific applications. We explore how an object-based interface can facilitate next generation scalable computing systems by presenting the mapping of data I/O from two real world HPC scientific use cases: a plasma physics simulation code (VPIC) and a cosmology simulation code (HACC). Our storage model stores data objects in different physical organizations to support data movement across layers of memory/storage hierarchy. Our implementation sclaes well to 16K parallel processes, and compared to the state of the art, such as MPI-IO and HDF5, our object-based data abstractions and data placement strategy in multi-level storage hierarchy achieves up to 7 X I/O performance improvement for scientific data.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Theory of a stationary microwave discharge with multiply charged ions in an expanding gas jet

The formation of a jet of a nonequilibrium multiply charged ion plasma is studied in the inhomogeneous gas jet. It is shown that the geometrical divergence of the jet restricts the maximum ion charge state and results in the spatial localization of the discharge. Stationary solutions corresponding to such regimes are constructed. The model proposed can be used to optimize modern experiments on generation of hard UV radiation due to the line emission of multiply ionized atoms in a gas jet heated by high-power millimeter and submillimeter radiation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Formation of ordered structures in systems of charged thin cylindrical grains

Conditions for the formation of various orientational and spatial configurations of charged cylindrical particles in an external electric field are investigated both analytically and numerically. Analytical expressions allowing one to determine the tilt angle of cylinders relative to the symmetry axis/plane of the electric trap are proposed. A new algorithm for numerical modeling of the dynamics of interacting nonspherical particles is developed. Conditions for correct modeling of uniformly charged cylinders by means of “bipoles” consisting of two coupled point charges of the same sign are determined. The studies have been performed in a wide range of parameters close to those typical of laboratory experiments with dusty plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

An Investigation of the Influence of the Plasma Current on the Ion Heat Transport in the Globus-M Spherical Tokamak

Experiments intended to study the dependence of the ion temperature on the plasma current were carried out on the Globus-M spherical tokamak. The ion temperature was measured at a few spatial points with the help of charge exchange spectroscopy and a charge exchange atom analyzer. On the basis of the experimental data, modeling with the use of the ASTRA numerical code was carried out and the thermal diffusivities for the ion plasma component were determined. The calculation results show that the ion behavior is similar to neoclassical.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Simulating pitch angle scattering using an explicitly solvable energy-conserving algorithm

Particle distribution functions evolving under the Lorentz operator can be simulated with the Langevin equation for pitch angle scattering. This approach is frequently used in particle based Monte-Carlo simulations of plasma collisions, among others. However, most numerical treatments do not guarantee energy conservation, which may lead to unphysical artifacts such as numerical heating and spectra distortions. We present a novel structure-preserving numerical algorithm for the Langevin equation for pitch angle scattering. Similar to the well-known Boris algorithm, the proposed numerical scheme takes advantage of the structure-preserving properties of the Cayley transform when calculating the velocity-space rotations. The resulting algorithm is explicitly solvable, while preserving the norm of velocities down to machine precision. We demonstrate that the method has the same order of numerical convergence as the traditional stochastic Euler-Maruyama method.

Zhang, Xin↗
DOE OSTI2016

MAGNETO-ACOUSTIC WAVES IN A GRAVITATIONALLY STRATIFIED MAGNETIZED PLASMA: EIGEN-SOLUTIONS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS TO THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE

Magneto-acoustic gravity (MAG) waves have been studied intensively in the context of astrophysical plasmas. There are three popular choices of analytic modeling using a Cartesian coordinate system: a magnetic field parallel, perpendicular, or at an angle to the gravitational field. Here, we study a gravitationally stratified plasma embedded in a parallel, so called vertical, magnetic field. We find a governing equation for the auxiliary quantity Θ = p {sub 1}/ ρ {sub 0}, and find solutions in terms of hypergeometric functions. With the convenient relationship between Θ and the vertical velocity component, v {sub z}, we derive the solution for v{sub z}. We show that the four linearly independent functions for v{sub z} can also be cast as single hypergeometric functions, rather than the Frobenius series derived by Leroy and Schwartz. We are then able to analyze a case of approximation for a one-layer solution, taking the small wavelength limit. Motivated by solar atmospheric applications, we finally commence study of the eigenmodes of perturbations for a two-layer model using our solutions, solving the dispersion relation numerically. We show that, for a transition between a photospheric and chromospheric plasma embedded in a vertical magnetic field, modes exist that are between the observationally widely investigated three and five minute oscillation periods, interpreted as solar global oscillations in the lower solar atmosphere . It is also shown that, when the density contrast between the layers is large (e.g., applied to photosphere/chromosphere-corona), the global eigenmodes are practically a superposition of the same as in each of the separate one-layer systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SOURCES OF EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR WIND DURING CARRINGTON ROTATION 2053

In this work we analyze multiple sources of solar wind through a full Carrington Rotation (CR 2053) by analyzing the solar data through spectroscopic observations of the plasma upflow regions and the in situ data of the wind itself. Following earlier authors, we link solar and in situ observations by a combination of ballistic backmapping and potential-field source-surface modeling. We find three sources of fast solar wind that are low-latitude coronal holes. The coronal holes do not produce a steady fast wind, but rather a wind with rapid fluctuations. The coronal spectroscopic data from Hinode ’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer show a mixture of upflow and downflow regions highlighting the complexity of the coronal hole, with the upflows being dominant. There is a mix of open and multi-scale closed magnetic fields in this region whose (interchange) reconnections are consistent with the up- and downflows they generate being viewed through an optically thin corona, and with the strahl directions and freeze-in temperatures found in in situ data. At the boundary of slow and fast wind streams there are three short periods of enhanced-velocity solar wind, which we term intermediate based on their in situ characteristics. These are related to active regions that are located beside coronal holes. The active regions have different magnetic configurations, from bipolar through tripolar to quadrupolar, and we discuss the mechanisms to produce this intermediate wind, and the important role that the open field of coronal holes adjacent to closed-field active regions plays in the process.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

CHALLENGING SOME CONTEMPORARY VIEWS OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS. I. THE CASE FOR BLAST WAVES

Since the closure of the “solar flare myth” debate in the mid-1990s, a specific narrative of the nature of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) has been widely accepted by the solar physics community. This narrative describes structured magnetic flux ropes at the CME core that drive the surrounding field plasma away from the Sun. This narrative replaced the “traditional” view that CMEs were blast waves driven by solar flares. While the flux rope CME narrative is supported by a vast quantity of measurements made over five decades, it does not adequately describe every observation of what have been termed CME-related phenomena. In this paper we present evidence that some large-scale coronal eruptions, particularly those associated with EIT waves, exhibit characteristics that are more consistent with a blast wave originating from a localized region (such as a flare site) rather than a large-scale structure driven by an intrinsic flux rope. We present detailed examples of CMEs that are suspected blast waves and flux ropes, and show that of our small sample of 22 EIT-wave-related CMEs, 91% involve a blast wave as at least part of the eruption, and 50% are probably blast waves exclusively. We conclude with a description of possible signatures to look for in determining the difference between the two types of CMEs and with a discussion on modeling efforts to explore this possibility.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

THE ENERGY-DEPENDENT POSITION OF THE IBEX RIBBON DUE TO THE SOLAR WIND STRUCTURE

Observations of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) allow for remote studies of the condition of plasma in the heliosphere and the neighboring local interstellar medium. The first results from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer ( IBEX ) revealed an arc-like enhancement of the ENA intensity in the sky, known as the ribbon. The ribbon was not expected from the heliospheric models prior to the launch of IBEX . One proposed explanation for the ribbon is the mechanism of secondary ENA emission. The ribbon reveals energy-dependent structure in the relative intensity along its circumference and in its position. That is, the geometric center of the ribbon varies systematically by about 10° in the energy range 0.7–4.3 keV. Here, we show by analytical modeling that this effect is a consequence of the helio-latitudinal structure of the solar wind reflected in the secondary ENAs. Along with a recently measured distance to the ribbon’s source just beyond the heliopause, our findings support the connection of the ribbon with the local interstellar magnetic field by the mechanism of secondary ENA emission. However, the magnitude of the center shift in the highest IBEX energy channel is much larger in the observations than expected from the modeling. This may be due to another, not currently recognized, process of ENA generation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

A NANOFLARE-BASED CELLULAR AUTOMATON MODEL AND THE OBSERVED PROPERTIES OF THE CORONAL PLASMA

We use the cellular automaton model described in López Fuentes and Klimchuk to study the evolution of coronal loop plasmas. The model, based on the idea of a critical misalignment angle in tangled magnetic fields, produces nanoflares of varying frequency with respect to the plasma cooling time. We compare the results of the model with active region (AR) observations obtained with the Hinode /XRT and SDO /AIA instruments. The comparison is based on the statistical properties of synthetic and observed loop light curves. Our results show that the model reproduces the main observational characteristics of the evolution of the plasma in AR coronal loops. The typical intensity fluctuations have amplitudes of 10%–15% both for the model and the observations. The sign of the skewness of the intensity distributions indicates the presence of cooling plasma in the loops. We also study the emission measure (EM) distribution predicted by the model and obtain slopes in log(EM) versus log(T) between 2.7 and 4.3, in agreement with published observational values.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

INFERENCE OF HEATING PROPERTIES FROM “HOT” NON-FLARING PLASMAS IN ACTIVE REGION CORES. I. SINGLE NANOFLARES

The properties that are expected of “hot” non-flaring plasmas due to nanoflare heating in active regions are investigated using hydrodynamic modeling tools, including a two-fluid development of the Enthalpy Based Thermal Evolution of Loops code. Here we study a single nanoflare and show that while simple models predict an emission measure distribution extending well above 10 MK, which is consistent with cooling by thermal conduction, many other effects are likely to limit the existence and detectability of such plasmas. These include: differential heating between electrons and ions, ionization non-equilibrium, and for short nanoflares, the time taken for the coronal density to increase. The most useful temperature range to look for this plasma, often called the “smoking gun” of nanoflare heating, lies between 10{sup 6.6} and 10{sup 7} K. Signatures of the actual heating may be detectable in some instances.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

EFFECT OF FINITE LARMOR RADIUS CORRECTIONS ON THE THERMAL INSTABILITY OF THERMALLY CONDUCTING VISCOUS PLASMA WITH HALL CURRENT AND ELECTRON INERTIA

The thermal instability of an infinite homogeneous, thermally conducting, and rotating plasma, incorporating finite electrical resistivity, finite electron inertia, and an arbitrary radiative heat-loss function in the presence of finite Larmor radius corrections and Hall current, has been studied. Analysis has been made with the help of linearized magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations. A general dispersion relation is obtained using the normal mode analysis method, and the dispersion relation is discussed for longitudinal propagation and transverse propagation separately. The dispersion relation has been solved numerically to obtain the dependence of the growth rate on the various parameters involved. The conditions of modified thermal instability and stability are discussed in the different cases of interest.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

KINETIC EXTENSION OF CRITICAL BALANCE TO WHISTLER TURBULENCE

Kinetic extension of the critical balance for plasma turbulence is presented on the spatial scales around the ion inertial length by considering electron fluid turbulence in the directions around the mean magnetic field and obliquely propagating whistler waves. The wavevector anisotropy scaling and the energy spectra for the flow velocity, the magnetic field, and the electric field are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗