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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

High-energy Radiation and Ion Acceleration in Three-dimensional Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection with Strong Synchrotron Cooling

Abstract We present the results of 3D particle-in-cell simulations that explore relativistic magnetic reconnection in pair plasma with strong synchrotron cooling and a small mass fraction of nonradiating ions. Our results demonstrate that the structure of the current sheet is highly sensitive to the dynamic efficiency of radiative cooling. Specifically, stronger cooling leads to more significant compression of the plasma and magnetic field within the plasmoids. We demonstrate that ions can be efficiently accelerated to energies exceeding the plasma magnetization parameter, ≫ σ , and form a hard power-law energy distribution, f i ∝ γ −1 . This conclusion implies a highly efficient proton acceleration in the magnetospheres of young pulsars. Conversely, the energies of pairs are limited to either σ in the strong cooling regime or the radiation burnoff limit, γ syn , when cooling is weak. We find that the high-energy radiation from pairs above the synchrotron burnoff limit, ε c ≈ 16 MeV, is only efficiently produced in the strong cooling regime, γ syn < σ . In this regime, we find that the spectral cutoff scales as ε cut ≈ ε c ( σ / γ syn ) and the highest energy photons are beamed along the direction of the upstream magnetic field, consistent with the phenomenological models of gamma-ray emission from young pulsars. Furthermore, our results place constraints on the reconnection-driven models of gamma-ray flares in the Crab Nebula.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1974

30- to 100-keV protons upstream from the earth's bow shock

Protons of 30 to 100 keV are found upstream from the bow shock whenever interplanetary magnetic fields connect the spacecraft and bow shock. The protons do not appear upstream of a boundary determined by the solar wind speed (the speed at which the interplanetary field is being convected) and an effective upstreaming velocity of 2.5 to 3 times the solar wind speed along the field lines. It is believed that (1) the lower-energy (3-4 keV) protons accelerated and reflected by the bow shock and (2) the Alfven waves observed upstream are in some way responsible for the origin of the 30- to 100-keV protons in very large regions upstream from the bow shock.

Lin, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Electron injection by relativistic protons in active galactic nuclei

It is shown that protons with Lorentz factors larger than about 1,000,000 are cooled very rapidly by collisions with soft photons in the environment of an AGN. If the energy distribution of accelerated protons is sufficiently flat, then most of the energy contained in relativistic protons will be transformed to pairs, and then to radiation. Under these conditions, proton cooling due to p-gamma interactions is much more important than energy losses due to inelastic proton-proton collisions.

Sikora, Marek↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design and structural assessment of the Spallation Neutron Source 2.0 MW target

The Proton Power Upgrade (PPU) project is underway at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The project will double the proton accelerator power from 1.4 MW to 2.8 MW, increase power to the First Target Station (FTS), and enable a future Second Target Station (STS). The power increase partly comes from raising proton energy from 1.0 GeV to 1.3 GeV. The STS will operate at 0.7 MW at 15 Hz when completed. Until then, PPU will provide the capability to operate the FTS at 2.0 MW at 60 Hz. Maximum power at the FTS to date has been 1.4 MW at 60 Hz with 1.0 GeV protons. A new mercury target module design to operate reliably under PPU conditions has been completed after a multi-year effort. The design philosophy and assessment of the structural analysis are described here. This target underwent an unprecedented design and analysis process for SNS using the latest engineering techniques and incorporating years of operating lessons and outcomes from R&D to meet structural design criteria. Finally, it also incorporates high-flow gas injection to further mitigate pulse fatigue stresses as well as cavitation damage to the mercury vessel.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS2022

Parker Solar Probe Observations of Solar Wind Energetic Proton Beams Produced by Magnetic Reconnection in the Near‐Sun Heliospheric Current Sheet

We report observations of reconnection exhausts in the Heliospheric Current Sheet (HCS) during Parker Solar Probe Encounters 08 and 07, at 16 Rs and 20 Rs, respectively. Heliospheric current sheet (HCS) reconnection accelerated protons to almost twice the solar wind speed and increased the proton core energy by a factor of ∼3, due to the Alfvén speed being comparable to the solar wind flow speed at these near-Sun distances. Furthermore, protons were energized to super-thermal energies. During E08, energized protons were found to have leaked out of the exhaust along separatrix field lines, appearing as field-aligned energetic proton beams in a broad region outside the HCS. Concurrent dropouts of strahl electrons, indicating disconnection from the Sun, provide further evidence for the HCS being the source of the beams. Around the HCS in E07, there were also proton beams but without electron strahl dropouts, indicating that their origin was not the local HCS reconnection exhaust.

T D Phan↗
DOE OSTI2025

Creation and characterization of warm dense matter isochorically heated by an intense laser-driven proton beam to temperatures exceeding 100 eV

The warm dense matter (WDM) is an exotic state of matter encountered in inertial confinement implosions for fusion energy, as well as the interiors of giant planets like Jupiter, brown dwarfs, the atmospheres of white dwarfs, neutron star crusts, and newly discovered exo-planets. One efficient way to create WDM is to use protons accelerated by a high-intensity short-pulse laser to isochorically heat dense samples to WDM states. Despite its importance, direct temperature measurements within WDM targets are scarce. This study utilizes an intense proton beam generated by the kilojoule EP laser further focused and guided by a curved foil and cone structure to efficiently heat a thin copper sample. A high-resolution streaked spectrometer tuned to copper K α fluorescence lines provided bulk temperature measurements every ~2 ps, revealing temperatures exceeding 100 eV in under 50 ps. Particle-in-cell simulations of proton transport and energy deposition closely matched the observed heating dynamics, including transverse temperature gradients revealed by the broadening of K α lines.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2012

Solar Eruptive Events

It s long been known that the Sun plays host to the most energetic explosions in the solar system. But key insights into the forms that energy takes have only recently become available. Solar flares have been phenomena of both academic and practical interest since their discovery in 1859. From the academic point of view, they are the nearest events for studying the explosive release of energy in astrophysical magnetized plasmas. From the practical point of view, they disrupt communication channels on Earth, from telegraph communications in 1859 to radio and television signals today. Flares also wreak havoc on the electrical power grid, satellite operations, and GPS signals, and energetic charged particles and radiation are dangerous to passengers on high-altitude polar flights and to astronauts. Flares are not the only explosive phenomena on the Sun. More difficult to observe but equally energetic are the large coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the ejection of up to ten billion tons of magnetized plasma into the solar wind at speeds that can exceed 1000 km/s. CMEs are primarily observed from the side, with coronagraphs that block out the bright disk of the Sun and lower solar atmosphere so that light scattered from the ejected mass can be seen. Major geomagnetic storms are now known to arise from the interaction of CMEs with Earth's magnetosphere. Solar flares are observed without CMEs, and CMEs are observed without flares. The two phenomena often occur together, however, and almost always do in the case of large flares and fast CMEs. The term solar eruptive event refers to the combination of a flare and a CME. Solar eruptive events generate a lot of heat: They can heat plasma to temperatures as high at 50 million Kelvin, producing radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum. But that s not all. A fascinating aspect of solar eruptive events is the acceleration of electrons and ions to suprathermal often relativistic energies. The accelerated particles are primarily observed through their emissions in the higher energy x-ray, gamma-ray, and rf regimes. The radio and x-ray emissions are both from mildly relativistic electrons with energies of tens of keV and above. Gamma-ray line emission comes indirectly from accelerated protons and heavier ions with MeV and higher energies. The difficulty in collecting spatially and spectrally resolved x-ray and gamma-ray data has long been a barrier to learning about the accelerated particles. Considerable progress has been made in the last decade in understanding the relationship between the flare, the CME, energy release, and particle acceleration. But many new questions have also arisen. In this article, I describe those new insights and our evolving understanding of solar eruptive events.

Holman, Gordon D.↗
NASA NTRS1979

A query into the source of proton emission from solar flares, report 2

Seven solar flares that were followed by major proton events were examined to determine the diverse and common properties of major flares. The most probable site of primary proton acceleration is cospatial with the site and instant of formation of coronal loops. Because loop formation occurs through the entire duration of major solar flares over significantly large areas of active centers, it is proposed that proton injection occurs from a relatively large volume of space in the corona of active centers and is continuous throughout, and possibly even after, the visible duration of the related chromospheric flare. The flare veil is hypothesized to occur as a result of proton charge exchange taking place in the white-light transient. The Kopp and Pneuman model of loop formation by magnetic reconnection is suggested as an adequate and satisfactory model for all major flares with the provision that the beginning of rapid magnetic field reconnection is coincident with flare start.

Martin, S. F.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The interplanetary shock event of November 11/12 1978, a comprehensive test of acceleration theory

A comprehensive study of the November 11/12, 1978 shock event based on energetic particle, solar wind, magnetic field and wave data from the ISEE-3, -1 and -2 spacecraft has been undertaken both from the energetic and the collisionless shock point of view. The energy density of 10-50 keV protons accelerated by the shock is found to be equivalent to the upstream magnetic field energy density. The observations are in quantitative agreement with Lee's (1983) self consistent theory for the excitation of hydromagnetic waves and the acceleration of ions upstream of interplanetary shocks.

Wenzel, K. P.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Latent diffusion can map beam loss to two-dimensional phase-space projections

Beam loss monitors (BLMs) and beam current monitors (BCMs) are ubiquitous at particle accelerators around the world. These simple devices provide noninvasive high-level beam measurements but give no insight into the detailed 6D (𝑥,𝑦,𝑧,𝑝 𝑥 ,𝑝 𝑦 ,𝑝 𝑧 ) beam phase-space distributions or dynamics. We show that generative conditional latent diffusion models can learn intricate patterns to solve the extreme inverse problem of mapping waveforms of tens of BLMs or BCMs along an accelerator to detailed 2D projections of a charged particle beam’s 6D phase-space density. This transformational method can be used at any particle accelerator to transform simple noninvasive devices into detailed beam phase-space diagnostics. We demonstrate this concept via multiparticle simulations of the high-intensity beam in the kilometer-long Los Alamos Neutron Science Center linear proton accelerator.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1972

Fermi acceleration of auroral particles.

Review of a number of nighttime acceleration mechanisms proposed in the literature for the role of producing the keV nighttime auroral-particle fluxes. Parallel electric fields are rejected for several reasons, but particularly because of the observed simultaneous precipitation of electrons and protons. Acceleration in the neutral sheet is inadequate for producing the particle energies, the observed field-aligned pitch-angle distribution at high latitudes, and the spectral hardening toward lower latitudes. Neutral point mechanisms, although often suggested in principle, have never been demonstrated satisfactorily in theory or in practice. Pitch-angle scattering from a trapped population produced by transverse adiabatic compression is also incapable of producing the field-aligned distribution. It is therefore suggested that longitudinal or Fermi acceleration, which results from the known magnetospheric convection, is the main nighttime auroral acceleration mechanism. The argument is supported by data obtained with the soft-particle spectrometer on Isis 1.

Sharber, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The interplanetary shock event of November 11/12 1978 - A comprehensive test of acceleration theory

A comprehensive study of the November 11, 12, 1978 shock event based on energetic particle, solar wind, magnetic field and wave data from the ISEE-3, -1 and -2 spacecraft has been undertaken both from the energetic and the collisionless shock point of view. The energy density of 10-50 keV protons accelerated by the shock is found to be equivalent to the upstream magnetic field energy density. The observations are in quantitative agreement with Lee's (1983) self consistent theory for the excitation of hydromagnetic waves and the acceleration of ions upstream of interplanetary shocks.

Wenzel, K.-P.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Fire Under Fire: Proton Probabilities at Perihelion

This paper computes the probabilities that the near-Sun flyby mission, Fire, might be bombarded by high energy protons from solar-activity related proton acceleration lying beneath Fire's perihelion altitude of three solar radii.

Fire near-Sun flyby mission high energy protons↗
NASA NTRS1986

Particle acceleration

Data is compiled from Solar Maximum Mission and Hinothori satellites, particle detectors in several satellites, ground based instruments, and balloon flights in order to answer fundamental questions relating to: (1) the requirements for the coronal magnetic field structure in the vicinity of the energization source; (2) the height (above the photosphere) of the energization source; (3) the time of energization; (4) transistion between coronal heating and flares; (5) evidence for purely thermal, purely nonthermal and hybrid type flares; (6) the time characteristics of the energization source; (7) whether every flare accelerates protons; (8) the location of the interaction site of the ions and relativistic electrons; (9) the energy spectra for ions and relativistic electrons; (10) the relationship between particles at the Sun and interplanetary space; (11) evidence for more than one acceleration mechanism; (12) whether there is single mechanism that will accelerate particles to all energies and also heat the plasma; and (13) how fast the existing mechanisms accelerate electrons up to several MeV and ions to 1 GeV.

Vlahos, L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Gamma-ray lines and neutrons from solar flares

The energy spectrum of accelerated protons and nuclei at the site of a limb flare was derived by a technique, using observations of the time dependent flux of high energy neutrons at the Earth. This energy spectrum is very similar to the energy spectra of 7 disk flares for which the accelerated particle spectra was previously derived using observations of 4 to 7 MeV to 2.223 MeV fluence ratios. The implied spectra for all of these flares are too steep to produce any significant amount of radiation from pi meson decay. It is suggested that the observed 10 MeV gamma rays from the flare are bremsstrahlung of relativistic electrons.

Ramaty, R.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Gamma-ray lines and neutrons from solar flares

The energy spectrum of accelerated protons and nuclei at the site of a limb flare was derived by a technique, using observations of the time dependent flux of high energy neutrons at the earth. This energy spectrum is very similar to the energy spectra of 7 disk flares for which the accelerated particle spectra was previously derived using observations of 4 to 7 MeV to 2.223 MeV fluence ratios. The implied spectra for all of these flares are too steep to produce any significant amount of radiation from pi meson decay. It is suggested that the observed 10 MeV gamma rays from the flare are bremsstrahlung of relativistic electrons. Previously announced in STAR as N83-19695

Ramaty, R.↗
DOE OSTI2021

HAWC observations of the acceleration of very-high-energy cosmic rays in the Cygnus Cocoon

We report cosmic rays with energies up to a few PeV are known to be accelerated within the Milky Way. Traditionally, it has been presumed that supernova remnants were the main source of these very-high-energy cosmic rays, but theoretically it is difficult to accelerate protons to PeV energies and observationally there simply is no evidence of the remnants being sources of hadrons with energies above a few tens of TeV. One possible source of protons with those energies is the Galactic Centre region9. Here, we report observations of 1–100 TeV γ rays coming from the ‘Cygnus Cocoon’, which is a superbubble that surrounds a region of massive star formation. These γ rays are likely produced by 10–1,000 TeV freshly accelerated cosmic rays that originate from the enclosed star-forming region Cyg OB2. Until now it was not known that such regions could accelerate particles to these energies. The measured flux likely originates from hadronic interactions. The spectral shape and the emission profile of the Cocoon changes from GeV to TeV energies, which reveals the transport of cosmic particles and historical activity in the superbubble.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1983

Solar flare neutrons and gamma ray lines

Energy spectrum of accelerated protons and nuclei at the site of the June 21, 1980, limb flare is derived by a new technique, using observations of the time-dependent flux of high-energy neutrons at the earth. This energy spectrum is very similar to the energy spectra of seven disk flares for which the accelerated particle spectra have been previously derived (Lingenfelter et al., 1965; Lingenfelter and Ramaty, 1967) using observations of 4-7-MeV to 2.223-MeV fluence ratios.

Lingenfelter, R. E.↗