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Evidence For Electron Energization Accompanying Spontaneous Formation Of Ion Acceleration Regions In Expanding Plasmas, Evan M. Aguirre, Rikard Bodin, Neng Yin, Timothy N. Good, Earl E. Scime

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report experiments conducted in an expanding argon plasma generated in the inductive mode of a helicon source in the Hot hELIcon eXperiment–Large Experiment on Instabilities and Anisotropies facility. As the neutral gas pressure increases, the supersonic ion acceleration weakens. Increasing neutral pressure also alters the radial profile of electron temperature, density, and plasma potential upstream of the plasma expansion region. Langmuir probe measurements of the electron energy probability function (EEPF) show that heating of electrons at the plasma edge by RF fields diminishes with increasing gas pressure, yielding a plasma with a centrally peaked electron temperature, and flat potential …

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Compton Scattering From The Deuteron Above Pion-Production Threshold, B. Strandberg, J. R. M. Annand, W. Briscoe, J. Brudvik, F. Cividini, L. Clark, E. J. Downie, K. England, G. Feldman, K. G. Fissum, D. I. Glazier, K. Hamilton, K. Hansen, L. Isaksson, R. Al Jebali, Michael A. Kovash, S. Lipschutz, M. Lundin, M. Meshkian, D. G. Middleton, L. S. Myers, D. O'Donnell, G. O'Rielly, B. Oussena, M. F. Preston, B. Schröder, B. Seitz, I. Strakovsky, M. Taragin

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The electromagnetic polarizabilities of the nucleon are fundamental nucleon-structure observables that characterize its response to external electromagnetic fields. The neutron polarizabilities can be accessed from Compton-scattering data on light nuclear targets. Recent measurements of the differential cross section for Compton scattering on the deuteron below the pion-production threshold have decreased the uncertainties in the neutron polarizabilities, yet the proton polarizabilities remain known substantially more accurately. As the sensitivity of the cross section to the polarizabilities increases with incident photon energy, measurements above the pion threshold may offer a way for an improved determination of the neutron polarizabilities. In this Rapid …

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Production Of Photoionized Plasmas In The Laboratory With X-Ray Line Radiation, S. White, R. Irwin, J. R. Warwick, G. F. Gribakin, G. Sarri, F. P. Keenan, D. Riley, S. J. Rose, E. G. Hill, Gary J. Ferland, B. Han, F. Wang, G. Zhao

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

In this paper we report the experimental implementation of a theoretically proposed technique for creating a photoionized plasma in the laboratory using x-ray line radiation. Using a Sn laser plasma to irradiate an Ar gas target, the photoionization parameter, ξ = 4πF/N_e, reached values of order 50erg cm s⁻¹, where F is the radiation flux in erg cm⁻² s⁻¹. The significance of this is that this technique allows us to mimic effective spectral radiation temperatures in excess of 1 keV. We show that our plasma starts to be collisionally dominated …

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Ion Beams In Multi-Species Plasma, Evan M. Aguirre, Earl E. Scime, Timothy N. Good

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Argon and xenon ion velocity distribution functions are measured in Ar-He, Ar-Xe, and Xe-He expanding helicon plasmas to determine if ion beam velocity is enhanced by the presence of lighter ions. Contrary to observations in mixed gas sheath experiments, we find that adding a lighter ion does not increase the ion beam speed. The predominant effect is a reduction of ion beam velocity consistent with increased drag arising from increased gas pressure under all conditions: constant total gas pressure, equal plasma densities of different ions, and very different plasma densities of different ions. These results suggest that the physics responsible …

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Spatial Structure Of Ion Beams In An Expanding Plasma, Evan M. Aguirre, Earl E. Scime, Derek S. Thompson, Timothy N. Good

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report spatially resolved perpendicular and parallel, to the magnetic field, ion velocity distribution function (IVDF) measurements in an expanding argon helicon plasma. The parallel IVDFs, obtained through laser induced fluorescence (LIF), show an ion beam with v ≈ 8000 m/s flowing downstream and confined to the center of the discharge. The ion beam is measurable for tens of centimeters along the expansion axis before the LIF signal fades, likely a result of metastable quenching of the beam ions. The parallel ion beam velocity slows in agreement with expectations for the measured parallel electric field. The perpendicular IVDFs show an …

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Compton Scattering From 4He At 61 Mev, M. H. Sikora, M. W. Ahmed, A. Banu, C. Bartram, B. Crowe, E. J. Downie, G. Feldman, H. Gao, H. W. Grießhammer, H. Hao, C. R. Howell, H. J. Karwowski, D. P. Kendellen, Michael A. Kovash, X. Li, D. M. Markoff, S. Mikhailov, V. Popov, R. E. Pywell, J. A. Silano, M. C. Spraker, P. Wallace, H. R. Weller, C. S. Whisnant, Y. K. Wu, W. Xiong, X. Yan, Z. W. Zhao

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The Compton scattering cross section from ⁴He has been measured with high statistical accuracy over a scattering angle range of 40^∘−159^∘ using a quasimonoenergetic 61-MeV photon beam at the High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source. The data are interpreted using a phenomenological model sensitive to the dipole isoscalar electromagnetic polarizabilities (α_s and β_s) of the nucleon. These data can be fit with the model using values of α_s and β_s that are consistent with the currently accepted values. These data will serve as benchmarks of future calculations from effective field theories and …

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First Direct Constraints On Fierz Interference In Free-Neutron Β Decay, K. P. Hickerson, X. Sun, Y. Bagdasarova, D. Bravo-Berguño, L. J. Broussard, M. A. -P. Brown, R. Carr, S. Currie, X. Ding, B. W. Filippone, A. García, P. Geltenbort, J. Hoagland, A. T. Holley, R. Hong, T. M. Ito, A. Knecht, C. -Y. Liu, J. L. Liu, M. Makela, R. R. Mammei, J. W. Martin, D. Melconian, M. P. Mendenhall, S. D. Moore, C. L. Morris, R. W. Pattie Jr., A. Pérez Galván, R. Picker, M. L. Pitt, Bradley R. Plaster

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Precision measurements of free-neutron β decay have been used to precisely constrain our understanding of the weak interaction. However, the neutron Fierz interference term b_n, which is particularly sensitive to beyond-standard-model tensor currents at the TeV scale, has thus far eluded measurement. Here we report the first direct constraints on this term, finding b_n = 0.067 ± 0.005_{stat^+0.090-0.061sys}, consistent with the standard model. The uncertainty is dominated by absolute energy reconstruction and the linearity of the β spectrometer energy response.

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Bulk Properties Of The Medium Produced In Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions From The Beam Energy Scan Program, L. Adamczyk, James K. Adkins, G. Agakishiev, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, N. N. Ajitanand, I. Alekseev, D. M. Anderson, R. Aoyama, A. Aparin, D. Arkhipkin, E. C. Aschenauer, M. U. Ashraf, A. Attri, G. S. Averichev, X. Bai, V. Bairathi, A. Behera, R. Bellwied, A. Bhasin, A. K. Bhati, P. Bhattarai, J. Bielcik, J. Bielcikova, L. C. Bland, I. G. Bordyuzhin, J. Bouchet, J. D. Brandenburg, A. V. Brandin, D. Brown, Renee H. Fatemi, Suvarna Ramachandran

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present measurements of bulk properties of the matter produced in Au+Au collisions at √S_NN= 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, and 39 GeV using identified hadrons (π^±, K^±, p, and p¯) from the STAR experiment in the Beam Energy Scan (BES) Program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Midrapidity (|y| < 0.1) results for multiplicity densities dN/dy, average transverse momenta ⟨p_T⟩, and particle ratios are presented. The chemical and kinetic freeze-out dynamics at these energies are discussed and presented as a function of collision centrality and energy. These results constitute the systematic …

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Confocal Laser Induced Fluorescence With Comparable Spatial Localization To The Conventional Method, Derek S. Thompson, Miguel F. Henriquez, Earl E. Scime, Timothy N. Good

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present measurements of ion velocity distributions obtained by laser induced fluorescence (LIF) using a single viewport in an argon plasma. A patent pending design, which we refer to as the confocal fluorescence telescope, combines large objective lenses with a large central obscuration and a spatial filter to achieve high spatial localization along the laser injection direction. Models of the injection and collection optics of the two assemblies are used to provide a theoretical estimate of the spatial localization of the confocal arrangement, which is taken to be the full width at half maximum of the spatial optical response. The …

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Screening And Plasma Oscillations In An Electron Gas In The Hydrodynamic Approximation, Eugene B. Kolomeisky, Joseph P. Straley

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

A hydrodynamic theory of screening in a generic electron gas of arbitrary dimensionality is given that encompasses all previously studied cases and clarifies the predictions of the many-body approach. We find that long-wavelength plasma oscillations are classical phenomena with quantum-mechanical effects playing no explicit role. The character of the oscillations is solely dictated by the dimensionality of the electron system and its equation of state in the neutral limit. Materials whose excitations are described by the Dirac dispersion law—such as doped graphene or a Weyl semimetal—are no exception to this rule.

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The Impact Of Base Stacking On The Conformations And Electrostatics Of Single-Stranded Dna, Alex Plumridge, Steve P. Meisburger, Kurt Andresen, Lois Pollack

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is notable for its interactions with ssDNA binding proteins (SSBs) during fundamentally important biological processes including DNA repair and replication. Previous work has begun to characterize the conformational and electrostatic properties of ssDNA in association with SSBs. However, the conformational distributions of free ssDNA have been difficult to determine. To capture the vast array of ssDNA conformations in solution, we pair small angle X-ray scattering with novel ensemble fitting methods, obtaining key parameters such as the size, shape and stacking character of strands with different sequences. Complementary ion counting measurements using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy …

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Selective Growth Of Epitaxial Sr2Iro4 By Controlling Plume Dimensions In Pulsed Laser Deposition, Sung S. Ambrose Seo, J. Nichols, J. Hwang, Jsaminka Terzic, John H. Gruenewald, Maryam Souri, Justin K. Thompson, John G. Connell, Gang Cao

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report that epitaxial Sr₂IrO₄ thin-films can be selectively grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Due to the competition between the Ruddlesden-Popper phases of strontium iridates (Sr_n+1Ir_nO_3n+1), conventional PLD methods often result in mixed phases of Sr₂IrO₄ (n = 1), Sr₃Ir₂O₇ (n = 2), and SrIrO₃ (n = ∞). We have discovered that reduced PLD plume dimensions and slow deposition rates are the key for stabilizing pure Sr₂IrO₄ phase thin-films, identified by real-time in-situ monitoring of their optical spectra. …

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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Evidence For Electron Energization Accompanying Spontaneous Formation Of Ion Acceleration Regions In Expanding Plasmas, Evan M. Aguirre, Rikard Bodin, Neng Yin, Timothy N. Good, Earl E. Scime

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Production Of Photoionized Plasmas In The Laboratory With X-Ray Line Radiation, S. White, R. Irwin, J. R. Warwick, G. F. Gribakin, G. Sarri, F. P. Keenan, D. Riley, S. J. Rose, E. G. Hill, Gary J. Ferland, B. Han, F. Wang, G. Zhao

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Ion Beams In Multi-Species Plasma, Evan M. Aguirre, Earl E. Scime, Timothy N. Good

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Spatial Structure Of Ion Beams In An Expanding Plasma, Evan M. Aguirre, Earl E. Scime, Derek S. Thompson, Timothy N. Good

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Confocal Laser Induced Fluorescence With Comparable Spatial Localization To The Conventional Method, Derek S. Thompson, Miguel F. Henriquez, Earl E. Scime, Timothy N. Good

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Screening And Plasma Oscillations In An Electron Gas In The Hydrodynamic Approximation, Eugene B. Kolomeisky, Joseph P. Straley

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The Impact Of Base Stacking On The Conformations And Electrostatics Of Single-Stranded Dna, Alex Plumridge, Steve P. Meisburger, Kurt Andresen, Lois Pollack

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Selective Growth Of Epitaxial Sr2Iro4 By Controlling Plume Dimensions In Pulsed Laser Deposition, Sung S. Ambrose Seo, J. Nichols, J. Hwang, Jsaminka Terzic, John H. Gruenewald, Maryam Souri, Justin K. Thompson, John G. Connell, Gang Cao

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications