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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

The incomplete plasma dispersion function: Properties and application to waves in bounded plasmas

The incomplete plasma dispersion function is a generalization of the plasma dispersion function in which the defining integral spans a semi-infinite, rather than infinite, domain. It is useful for describing the linear dielectric response and wave dispersion in non-Maxwellian plasmas when the distribution functions can be approximated as Maxwellian over finite, or semi-infinite, intervals in velocity phase-space. A ubiquitous example is the depleted Maxwellian electron distribution found near boundary sheaths or double layers, where the passing interval can be modeled as Maxwellian with a lower temperature than the trapped interval. The depleted Maxwellian is used as an example to demonstrate the utility of using the incomplete plasma dispersion function for calculating modifications to wave dispersion relations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Applying the cold plasma dispersion relation to whistler mode chorus waves: EMFISIS wave measurements from the Van Allen Probes

Most theoretical wave models require the power in the wave magnetic field in order to determine the effect of chorus waves on radiation belt electrons. However, researchers typically use the cold plasma dispersion relation to approximate the magnetic wave power when only electric field data are available. In this study, the validity of using the cold plasma dispersion relation in this context is tested using Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) observations of both the electric and magnetic spectral intensities in the chorus wave band (0.1–0.9 f ce ). Results from this study indicate that the calculated wave intensity is least accurate during periods of enhanced wave activity. For observed wave intensities >10⁻³ nT², using the cold plasma dispersion relation results in an underestimate of the wave intensity by a factor of 2 or greater 56% of the time over the full chorus wave band, 60% of the time for lower band chorus, and 59% of the time for upper band chorus. Hence, during active periods, empirical chorus wave models that are reliant on the cold plasma dispersion relation will underestimate chorus wave intensities to a significant degree, thus causing questionable calculation of wave-particle resonance effects on MeV electrons.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Generalized plasma dispersion function: One-solve-all treatment, visualizations, and application to Landau damping

A unified, fast, and effective approach is developed for numerical calculation of the well-known plasma dispersion function with extensions from Maxwellian distribution to almost arbitrary distribution functions, such as the δ, flat top, triangular, κ or Lorentzian, slowing down, and incomplete Maxwellian distributions. The singularity and analytic continuation problems are also solved generally. Given that the usual conclusion γ∝∂f{sub 0}/∂v is only a rough approximation when discussing the distribution function effects on Landau damping, this approach provides a useful tool for rigorous calculations of the linear wave and instability properties of plasma for general distribution functions. The results are also verified via a linear initial value simulation approach. Intuitive visualizations of the generalized plasma dispersion function are also provided.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

A generalized plasma dispersion function for electron damping in tokamak plasmas

Radio frequency wave propagation in finite temperature, magnetized plasmas exhibits a wide range of physics phenomena. The plasma response is nonlocal in space and time, and numerous modes are possible with the potential for mode conversions and transformations. Additionally, diffraction effects are important due to finite wavelength and finite-size wave launchers. Multidimensional simulations are required to describe these phenomena, but even with this complexity, the fundamental plasma response is assumed to be the uniform plasma response with the assumption that the local plasma current for a Fourier mode can be described by the Stix conductivity. But, for plasmas with non-uniform magnetic fields, the wave vector itself is nonlocal. When resolved into components perpendicular (k ) and parallel (k ||) to the magnetic field, locality of the parallel component can easily be violated when the wavelength is large. The impact of this inconsistency is that estimates of the wave damping can be incorrect (typically low) due to unresolved resonances. For the case of ion cyclotron damping, this issue has already been addressed by including the effect of parallel magnetic field gradients. In this case, a modified plasma response (Z function) allows resonance broadening even when k || = 0, and this improves the convergence and accuracy of wave simulations. In our paper, we extend this formalism to include electron damping and find improved convergence and accuracy for parameters where electron damping is dominant, such as high harmonic fast wave heating in the NSTX-U tokamak, and helicon wave launch for off-axis current drive in the DIII-D tokamak.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Exchange effects in Coulomb quantum plasmas: Dispersion of waves in 2D and 3D quantum plasmas

We describe quantum hydrodynamic equations with the Coulomb exchange interaction for three and two dimensional plasmas. Explicit form of the force densities are derived. We present non-linear Schrödinger equations (NLSEs) for the Coulomb quantum plasmas with the exchange interaction. We show contribution of the exchange interaction in the dispersion of the Langmuir, and ion-acoustic waves. We consider influence of the spin polarization ratio on strength of the Coulomb exchange interaction. This is important since exchange interaction between particles with same spin direction and particles with opposite spin directions are different. At small particle concentrations n{sub 0}≪10{sup 25}cm{sup −3} and small polarization the exchange interaction gives small decrease of the Fermi pressure. With increase of polarization role the exchange interaction becomes more important, so that it can overcome the Fermi pressure. The exchange interaction also decreases contribution of the Langmuir frequency. Ion-acoustic waves do not exist in limit of large polarization since the exchange interaction changes the sign of pressure. At large particle concentrations n{sub 0}≫10{sup 25}cm{sup −3} the Fermi pressure prevails over the exchange interaction for all polarizations. We obtain a similar picture for two dimensional quantum plasmas.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Longitudinal oscillations in a non-uniform spatially dispersive plasma

Longitudinal oscillations of the electron fluid in the hydrodynamic model of a metal are examined with pressure effects taken into account. It is well-known that this entails spatial dispersion. The equilibrium electron number density is taken to be non-uniform and a non-self-adjoint fourth order differential equation obeyed by the electric potential is derived. A velocity potential necessary for the description of sound waves is introduced in the standard fashion and the generalized version of Bloch orthogonality appropriate to a non-uniform background is deduced. We observe a duality between electric and velocity potentials in the sense that the respective differential operators are adjoint to each other. The spectrum is calculated in the special case of an exponential profile for the equilibrium electron number density. The surface plasmons are connected with the analytic properties of the scattering amplitude in the complex plane. The phase shift at threshold is expressed in terms of the number of surface plasmon modes via an expression reminiscent of Levinson’s statement in quantum mechanics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Generation of Intense Low-Divergence Isolated Soft-X-Ray Attosecond Pulses in a Gas-Filled Waveguide Using Three-Color Synthesized Laser Pulses

Isolated attosecond pulses (IAPs) in the soft-x-ray (SXR) region have been successfully produced via high-order harmonic generation in a gas medium at several laboratories, but pulse energies are much lower compared to the IAPs in the extreme ultraviolet. Here, we show that in a gas-filled hollow waveguide, an efficient gating method using a few-cycle three-color synthesizer is able to generate stronger SXR IAPs. We show that an 104-as IAP in the SXR region (central energy of 210 eV) with a higher pulse energy (0.9 nJ) and a lower divergence (within 1.5 mrad) can be generated with a three-color laser beam for input pulse energy at 0.62 mJ, under the condition of optimal gas pressure and waveguide length. The enhancement of the IAP is attributed to favorable phase matching of SXR high harmonics caused by the evolution of the three-color waveform during its propagation in the waveguide, which can be understood by analyzing the time shift of the waveform due to the interplay of the waveguide mode, atomic dispersion, and plasma dispersion. We check that the gating method is quite robust with respect to the phase jitter in the waveform. The advantage of this method is further demonstrated by comparing the generation of SXR high harmonics and attosecond pulses with two other schemes: the three-color waveform in a gas cell and a previously optimized two-color waveform in a gas-filled waveguide.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE DISPERSION RELATIONS AND INSTABILITY THRESHOLDS OF OBLIQUE PLASMA MODES IN THE PRESENCE OF AN ION BEAM

An ion beam can destabilize Alfven/ion-cyclotron waves and magnetosonic/whistler waves if the beam speed is sufficiently large. Numerical solutions of the hot-plasma dispersion relation have previously shown that the minimum beam speed required to excite such instabilities is significantly smaller for oblique modes with k Multiplication-Sign B {sub 0} {ne} 0 than for parallel-propagating modes with k Multiplication-Sign B {sub 0} = 0, where k is the wavevector and B {sub 0} is the background magnetic field. In this paper, we explain this difference within the framework of quasilinear theory, focusing on low-{beta} plasmas. We begin by deriving, in the cold-plasma approximation, the dispersion relation and polarization properties of both oblique and parallel-propagating waves in the presence of an ion beam. We then show how the instability thresholds of the different wave branches can be deduced from the wave-particle resonance condition, the conservation of particle energy in the wave frame, the sign (positive or negative) of the wave energy, and the wave polarization. We also provide a graphical description of the different conditions under which Landau resonance and cyclotron resonance destabilize Alfven/ion-cyclotron waves in the presence of an ion beam. We draw upon our results to discuss the types of instabilities that may limit the differential flow of alpha particles in the solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Photon polarizability and its effect on the dispersion of plasma waves

High-frequency photons travelling in plasma exhibit a linear polarizability that can influence the dispersion of linear plasma waves. We present a detailed calculation of this effect for Langmuir waves as a characteristic example. Here, two alternative formulations are given. In the first formulation, we calculate the modified dispersion of Langmuir waves by solving the governing equations for the electron fluid, where the photon contribution enters as a ponderomotive force. In the second formulation, we provide a derivation based on the photon polarizability. Then, the calculation of ponderomotive forces is not needed, and the result is more general.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Dispersion relation of electrostatic ion cyclotron waves in multi-component magneto-plasma

Electrostatic ion cyclotron waves in multi component plasma composed of electrons (denoted by e{sup −}), hydrogen ions (denoted by H{sup +}), helium ions (denoted by He{sup +}) and positively charged oxygen ions (denoted by O{sup +})in magnetized cold plasma. The wave is assumed to propagate perpendicular to the static magnetic field. It is found that the addition of heavy ions in the plasma dispersion modified the lower hybrid mode and also allowed an ion-ion mode. The frequencies of the lower hybrid and ion- ion hybrid modes are derived using cold plasma theory. It is observed that the effect of multi-ionfor different plasma densities on electrostatic ion cyclotron waves is to enhance the wave frequencies. The results are interpreted for the magnetosphere has been applied parameters by auroral acceleration region.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Machine learned interatomic potential for dispersion strengthened plasma facing components

Tungsten (W) is a material of choice for the divertor material due to its high melting temperature, thermal conductivity, and sputtering threshold. However, W has a very high brittle-to-ductile transition temperature, and at fusion reactor temperatures (≥1000 K), it may undergo recrystallization and grain growth. Dispersion-strengthening W with zirconium carbide (ZrC) can improve ductility and limit grain growth, but much of the effects of the dispersoids on microstructural evolution and thermomechanical properties at high temperatures are still unknown. We present a machine learned Spectral Neighbor Analysis Potential for W–ZrC that can now be used to study these materials. In order to construct a potential suitable for large-scale atomistic simulations at fusion reactor temperatures, it is necessary to train on ab initio data generated for a diverse set of structures, chemical environments, and temperatures. Further accuracy and stability tests of the potential were achieved using objective functions for both material properties and high temperature stability. Additionally, validation of lattice parameters, surface energies, bulk moduli, and thermal expansion is confirmed on the optimized potential. Tensile tests of W/ZrC bicrystals show that although the W(110)–ZrC(111) C-terminated bicrystal has the highest ultimate tensile strength (UTS) at room temperature, observed strength decreases with increasing temperature. At 2500 K, the terminating C layer diffuses into the W, resulting in a weaker W–Zr interface. Meanwhile, the W(110)–ZrC(111) Zr-terminated bicrystal has the highest UTS at 2500 K.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Small amplitude nonlinear electron acoustic solitary waves in weakly magnetized plasma

Nonlinear propagation of electron acoustic waves in homogeneous, dispersive plasma medium with two temperature electron species is studied in presence of externally applied magnetic field. The linear dispersion relation is found to be modified by the externally applied magnetic field. Lagrangian transformation technique is applied to carry out nonlinear analysis. For small amplitude limit, a modified KdV equation is obtained, the modification arising due to presence of magnetic field. For weakly magnetized plasma, the modified KdV equation possesses stable solitary solutions with speed and amplitude increasing temporally. The solutions are valid upto some finite time period beyond which the nonlinear wave tends to wave breaking.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Dispersion relation for pure dust Bernstein waves in a non-Maxwellian magnetized dusty plasma

Pure dust Bernstein waves are investigated using non-Maxwellian kappa and (r,q) distribution functions in a collisionless, uniform magnetized dusty plasma. Dispersion relations for both the distributions are derived by considering waves whose frequency is of the order of dust cyclotron frequency, and dispersion curves are plotted. It is observed that the propagation band for dust Bernstein waves is rather narrow as compared with that of the electron Bernstein waves. However, the band width increases for higher harmonics, for both kappa and (r,q) distributions. Effect of dust charge on dispersion curves is also studied, and one observes that with increasing dust charge, the dispersion curves shift toward the lower frequencies. Increasing the dust to ion density ratio ((n{sub d0}/n{sub i0})) causes the dispersion curve to shift toward the higher frequencies. It is also found that for large values of spectral index kappa ({kappa}), the dispersion curves approach to the Maxwellian curves. The (r,q) distribution approaches the kappa distribution for r = 0, whereas for r > 0, the dispersion curves show deviation from the Maxwellian curves as expected. Relevance of this work can be found in astrophysical plasmas, where non-Maxwellian velocity distributions as well as dust particles are commonly observed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hydrodynamic and kinetic models for spin-1/2 electron-positron quantum plasmas: Annihilation interaction, helicity conservation, and wave dispersion in magnetized plasmas

We discuss the complete theory of spin-1/2 electron-positron quantum plasmas, when electrons and positrons move with velocities mach smaller than the speed of light. We derive a set of two fluid quantum hydrodynamic equations consisting of the continuity, Euler, spin (magnetic moment) evolution equations for each species. We explicitly include the Coulomb, spin-spin, Darwin and annihilation interactions. The annihilation interaction is the main topic of the paper. We consider the contribution of the annihilation interaction in the quantum hydrodynamic equations and in the spectrum of waves in magnetized electron-positron plasmas. We consider the propagation of waves parallel and perpendicular to an external magnetic field. We also consider the oblique propagation of longitudinal waves. We derive the set of quantum kinetic equations for electron-positron plasmas with the Darwin and annihilation interactions. We apply the kinetic theory to the linear wave behavior in absence of external fields. We calculate the contribution of the Darwin and annihilation interactions in the Landau damping of the Langmuir waves. We should mention that the annihilation interaction does not change number of particles in the system. It does not related to annihilation itself, but it exists as a result of interaction of an electron-positron pair via conversion of the pair into virtual photon. A pair of the non-linear Schrodinger equations for the electron-positron plasmas including the Darwin and annihilation interactions is derived. Existence of the conserving helicity in electron-positron quantum plasmas of spinning particles with the Darwin and annihilation interactions is demonstrated. We show that the annihilation interaction plays an important role in the quantum electron-positron plasmas giving the contribution of the same magnitude as the spin-spin interaction.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

INSTABILITIES DRIVEN BY THE DRIFT AND TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPY OF ALPHA PARTICLES IN THE SOLAR WIND

We investigate the conditions under which parallel-propagating Alfven/ion-cyclotron (A/IC) waves and fast-magnetosonic/whistler (FM/W) waves are driven unstable by the differential flow and temperature anisotropy of alpha particles in the solar wind. We focus on the limit in which w{sub Parallel-To {alpha}} {approx}> 0.25v{sub A}, where w{sub Parallel-To {alpha}} is the parallel alpha-particle thermal speed and v{sub A} is the Alfven speed. We derive analytic expressions for the instability thresholds of these waves, which show, e.g., how the minimum unstable alpha-particle beam speed depends upon w{sub Parallel-To {alpha}}/v{sub A}, the degree of alpha-particle temperature anisotropy, and the alpha-to-proton temperature ratio. We validate our analytical results using numerical solutions to the full hot-plasma dispersion relation. Consistent with previous work, we find that temperature anisotropy allows A/IC waves and FM/W waves to become unstable at significantly lower values of the alpha-particle beam speed U{sub {alpha}} than in the isotropic-temperature case. Likewise, differential flow lowers the minimum temperature anisotropy needed to excite A/IC or FM/W waves relative to the case in which U{sub {alpha}} = 0. We discuss the relevance of our results to alpha particles in the solar wind near 1 AU.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dispersion and damping rates of dispersive Alfvén wave in a nonextensive plasma

The dispersion and landau damping of the dispersive Alfvén waves (DAW) have been studied in the plasma with nonextensive electrons and ions. The conditions for the existence of inertial Alfvén waves (IAW) and kinetic Alfvén waves (KAW) are modified by electrons' nonextensive parameter q{sub e}. For IAW, β{sub q} ≪ m{sub e}/m{sub i}; for KAW, m{sub e}/m{sub i} ≪ β{sub q} ≪ 1, β{sub q} is the ratio of the effective thermal pressure to the magnetic pressure. In the plasma with superthermal particles, the frequency of the IAW and KAW will increase with the increase of q{sub e} when the effective temperature of the plasma systems keeps invariant. Whereas the damping rates of the IAW and KAW vary inversely with respect to q{sub e} for the reason that the phase velocity of KAW is much smaller than the effective thermal velocity, while the phase velocity of IAW is much bigger than the effective thermal velocity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Exact evaluation of the quadratic longitudinal response function for an unmagnetized Maxwellian plasma

The quadratic longitudinal response function describes the second-order nonlinear response of a plasma to electrostatic wave fields. An explicit expression for this function in the weak-turbulence regime requires the evaluation of velocity-space integrals involving the velocity distribution function and various resonant denominators. Previous calculations of the quadratic longitudinal response function were performed by approximating the resonant denominators to facilitate the integration. Here, we evaluate these integrals exactly for a non-relativistic collisionless unmagnetized isotropic Maxwellian plasma in terms of generalized plasma dispersion functions, and correct certain aspects of expressions previously derived for these functions. We show that in the appropriate limits the exact expression reduces to the approximate form used for interactions between two fast waves and one slow wave, such as the electrostatic decay of Langmuir waves into Langmuir waves and ion sound waves, and the scattering of Langmuir waves off thermal ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗