Physics Commons^™

Implementing General Moment Equations For Parallel Closures In Nimrod, Hankyu Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Understanding how magnetic fields impact plasma transport is essential for improving the efficiency of thermonuclear fusion power plants. To address the transport problem, both plasma fluid equations and Maxwell’s equations must be solved. To solve these equations, it is necessary to derive closure relations that allow the system to be closed. Previous closure models are useful for describing the behavior of high-collisionality plasma but are not effective at low collisionality. To obtain closure relations valid for low collisionality, the first-order drift kinetic equation must be solved.

This study presents methods for numerically obtaining parallel closures for NIMROD code by deriving …

The Magnetic Field Of Protostar-Disk-Outflow Systems, Mahmoud Sharkawi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Recent observations of protostellar cores reveal complex magnetic field configurations that are distorted in the innermost disk region. Unlike the prestellar phase, where the magnetic field geometry is simpler with an hourglass configuration, magnetic fields in the protostellar phase are sculpted by the formation of outflows and rapid rotation. This gives rise to a significant azimuthal (or toroidal) component that has not yet been analytically modelled in the literature. Moreover, the onset of outflows, which act as angular momentum transport mechanisms, have received considerable attention in the past few decades. Two mechanisms: 1) the driving by the gradient of a …

Drift Orbit Bifurcation Effects On Earth’S Radiation Belt Electrons, Jinbei Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Energetic charged particles trapped in the Earth’s radiation belt form a hazardous space environment for artificial electronic systems and astronauts. The study of Earth's radiation belt is becoming increasingly important with the development of communication technology, which plays a significant role in modern society. Earth’s radiation belt is highly dynamic, and the electron flux can drop by several orders of magnitude within a few hours which is called radiation belt dropout. The fast dropout of energetic electrons in the radiation belt, despite its significance, has not been thoroughly studied. One of the most compelling outstanding questions in Earth's radiation belt …

Collector Probe Measurements Of Sol Impurity Accumulation And The Implications Of Sol Flows On The Accumulation Amount, Shawn Zamperini

Doctoral Dissertations

A collector probe in its simplest form is a rod inserted into a plasma so that impurities are deposited onto it. These probes are then removed and analyzed to determine the deposition profile both along the length of probe and across the width of it. This dissertation covers a series of collector probes experiments and accompanying interpretive modelling all with the main goal of providing evidence for long-hypothesized near scrape-off layer (SOL) accumulation of impurities that can lead to efficient core contamination. The structure of this dissertation is as follows. A brief outline of fusion energy and why we need …

One Dimensional Study Of Magnetoplasmadynamic Thrusters For A Potential New Class Of Heavy Ion Drivers For Plasma Jet Driven Magnetoinertial Fusion, Patrick M. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Plasma Jet Driven Magnetoinertial Fusion (PJMIF) requires high velocity heavy ion drivers in order to compress a magnetized target to fusion conditions. Previous work with heavy ion drivers has revealed sub-par accelerations due to plasma instabilities; thus, it is necessary to investigate new methods of heavy ion plasma acceleration. One such method is Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thrusters. Past studies of these thrusters have been conducted at an initial temperature at or below the energy of full ionization. Here MPD thrusters are investigated using a Godunov type MHD solver with a Harten-Lax van Leer-D (HLLD) flux solving scheme assuming the plasma is …

Acoustic Confinement And Characterization Of A Microwave Plasma, Seth Lee Pree '09

Doctoral Dissertations

High amplitude acoustic fields are used to confine, characterize, and manipulate collisional plasmas with temperatures of a few thousand Kelvin. This dissertation describes the theory, experimental techniques, and apparatus necessary both to generate high amplitude sound in a few thousand Kelvin plasma and to use that sound field to manipulate the plasma within a resonant acoustic cavity. The acoustic field in a spherically symmetric oscillating plasma has been measured to have a Mach number of .03, which is sufficient to cause acoustic radiation pressure effects to confine the plasma to the center of its container. This field also generates convection …

Concentric Double Hollow Grid Cathode Discharges, C. T. Teodorescu-Soare, S. A. Irimiciuc, C. Ionita, D. G. Dimitriu, B. Hodoroaba, T. O'Hara, O. Vasilovici, L. Amarandi, R. W. Schrittwieser

Articles

A new cathode system, consisting of two concentric spherical hollow grids with two aligned orifices, is investigated by space-resolved Langmuir probe measurements and non-linear dynamics analysis. Negative biases of this spherical hollow grids arrangement lead to the formation of two complex space charge structures in the regions of the orifices. The overall dynamics of the current-voltage characteristic (I–V characteristic) of each discharge is characterized by strong oscillatory behaviour with various waveforms correlated with jumps in the static I–V characteristics. Space-resolved measurements through the two aligned orifices of the two grids show a peak increase of the electron temperature and particle …

Numerical Solutions To Hall Magnetohydrodynamic Equations Near An X-Type Magnetic Neutral Line, Kyle Reger

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The Hall Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model is a new paradigm for describing fast magnetic reconnection processes in space and laboratory plasmas. Current sheets form and store enormous amounts of magnetic energy at X-type magnetic neutral points, which is released as magnetic storms when the sheets break up. The fast magnetic reconnection process impacts solar flares and Earth's geomagnetic sub-storms, which affect global weather. The fast magnetic reconnection process also influences fusion reactors, which may be used as a future energy source. Numerical analysis of approximate solutions to the Hall MHD equations at X-type magnetic neutral points offer these solutions further credence …

Spectroscopic Characterization Of A Radio-Frequency Argon Plasma Jet Discharge In Ambient Air, Patrick Cullen, Vladimir Milosavljevic

Articles

This study includes a detailed experimental investigation of the spatial and temporal spectroscopic emission of an argon plasma jet discharge. The study is carried out in ambient air and quenching by inflowing air species is considered. The optical emission spectroscopy of neutral atomic spectral lines and molecular bands, over a range of plasma process parameters, is investigated. Wavelength-resolved argon optical emission profiles are used to monitor the electron energy distribution function and the density of argon metastable atoms. The experimental data indicates that the argon flow rate, in a confined open-air plasma discharge, limits the impact of molecular oxygen in …

Towards A Resolution Of The Proton Form Factor Problem: New Electron And Positron Scattering Data, Clas Collaboration, D. Adikaram, L. B. Weinstein, R. P. Bennett, K. P, Adhikari, M. J. Amaryan, S. Careccia, L. El Fassi, C. E. Hyde, A. Klein, S E. Kuhn, M. Mayer, Z. W. Zhao

Physics Faculty Publications

There is a significant discrepancy between the values of the proton electric form factor, G^p_E, extracted using unpolarized and polarized electron scattering. Calculations predict that small two-photon exchange (TPE) contributions can significantly affect the extraction of G^p_Efrom the unpolarized electron-proton cross sections. We determined the TPE contribution by measuring the ratio of positron-proton to electron-proton elastic scattering cross sections using a simultaneous, tertiary electron-positron beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target and detecting the scattered particles in the Jefferson Lab CLAS detector. This novel technique allowed us to cover a wide range in virtual …

Towards Stronger Coulomb Coupling In An Ultracold Neutral Plasma, Mary Elizabeth Lyon

Theses and Dissertations

Ultracold neutral plasmas are created by photoionizing laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Due to their large electrical potential energies and comparatively small kinetic energies, ultracold plasmas fall into a regime of plasma systems which are called “strongly coupled.” A priority in the field of ultracold plasmas is to generate plasmas with higher values of the strong coupling parameter Γ, which is given as the ratio of the nearest-neighbor Coulomb potential energy to the average kinetic energy. The equilibrium strong coupling in ultracold plasmas is limited by the ultrafast relaxation of the ions due to spatial disorder in the …

Suppression Of Dielectronic Recombination At Finite Densities, T. W. Gorczyca, D. Nikolić, N. R. Badnell, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Density-dependent effective dielectronic recombination rate coefficients are determined in order to explore finite-density effects on the ionization balance of plasmas.

Intrinsic Rotation Of Toroidally Confined Magnetohydrodynamics, Jorge A. Morales, Wouter J. T. T. Bos, Kai Schneider, David C. Montgomery

Dartmouth Scholarship

The spatiotemporal self-organization of viscoresistive magnetohydrodynamics in a toroidal geometry is studied. Curl-free toroidal magnetic and electric fields are imposed. It is observed in our simulations that a flow is generated, which evolves from dominantly poloidal to toroidal when the Lundquist numbers are increased. It is shown that this toroidal organization of the flow is consistent with the tendency of the velocity field to align with the magnetic field. Up-down asymmetry of the geometry causes the generation of a nonzero toroidal angular momentum.

Magnetic Field Amplification In Electron Phase-Space Holes And Related Effects, R. A. Treumann, W. Baumjohann

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Model Of So-Called "Zebra" Emissions In Solar Flare Radio Burst Continua, R. A. Treumann, R. Nakamura, W. Baumjohann

Dartmouth Scholarship

A simple mechanism for the generation of elec- tromagnetic “Zebra” pattern emissions is proposed. “Zebra” bursts are regularly spaced narrow-band radio emissions on the otherwise broadband radio continuum emitted by the ac- tive solar corona. The mechanism is based on the generation of an ion-ring distribution in a magnetic mirror geometry in the presence of a properly directed field-aligned electric po- tential field. Such ion-rings or ion-conics are well known from magnetospheric observations. Under coronal condi- tions they may become weakly relativistic. In this case the ion-cyclotron maser generates a number of electromagnetic ion-cyclotron harmonics which modulate the electron maser …

Resistive Mhd Reconstruction Of Two-Dimensional Coherent Structures In Space, W L. Teh, B U. Sonnerup, J Birn, R E. Denton

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a reconstruction technique to solve the steady resistive MHD equations in two dimensions with initial inputs of field and plasma data from a single space- craft as it passes through a coherent structure in space. At least two components of directly measured electric fields (the spacecraft spin-plane components) are required for the reconstruction, to produce two-dimensional (2-D) field and plasma maps of the cross section of the structure. For con- venience, the resistivity tensor η is assumed diagonal in the reconstruction coordinates, which allows its values to be es- timated from Ohm’s law, E+v×B=η·j. In the present paper, …

On Arc-Polarized Structures In The Solar Wind, B U. Sonnerup, S E. Haaland, G Paschmann

Dartmouth Scholarship

A theoretical model is proposed to account for some of the behavior of arc-polarized magnetic structures seen in the solar wind. To this end, an exact analytical solu- tion is developed that describes infinite plane wave trains of arbitrary amplitude in a plasma governed by ideal Hall MHD. The main focus is on intermediate-mode wave trains, which display double-branched magnetic hodogram signatures sim- ilar to those seen in the solar wind. The theoretically derived hodograms have field rotation in the ion-polarized sense at a slightly depressed field magnitude on one branch and an electron-polarized rotation at a slightly enhanced field …

Hydrodynamic And Magnetohydrodynamic Computations Inside A Rotating Sphere, P. D. Mininni, D. C. Montgomery, L. Turner

Dartmouth Scholarship

Numerical solutions of the incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations are reported for the interior of a rotating, perfectly-conducting, rigid spherical shell that is insulator-coated on the inside. A previously-reported spectral method is used which relies on a Galerkin expansion in Chandrasekhar–Kendall vector eigenfunctions of the curl. The new ingredient in this set of computations is the rigid rotation of the sphere. After a few purely hydrodynamic examples are sampled (spin down, Ekman pumping, inertial waves), attention is focused on selective decay and the MHD dynamo problem. In dynamo runs, prescribed mechanical forcing excites a persistent velocity field, usually turbulent at modest …

Coefficient Of Bohm Diffusion In Fully Ionized Plasma And Its Theoretical Proof, Ahmad Talaei, Reza Amrollahi

Ahmad Talaei

Structured Waves Near The Plasma Frequency Observed In Three Auroral Rocket Flights, M Samara, J Labelle

Dartmouth Scholarship

Abstract. We present observations of waves at and just above the plasma frequency (fpe) from three high frequency electric field experiments on three recent rockets launched to altitudes of 300–900 km in active aurora. The predominant observed HF waves just above fpe are narrowband, short- lived emissions with amplitudes ranging from <1mV/m to 20 mV/m, often associated with structured electron den- sity. The nature of these HF waves, as determined from frequency-time spectrograms, is highly variable: in some cases, the frequency decreases monotonically with time as in the “HF-chirps” previously reported (McAdams and La- Belle, 1999), but in other cases rising frequencies are ob- served, or features which alternately rise and fall in fre- quency. They exhibit two timescales of amplitude variation: a short timescale, typically 50–100 ms, associated with in- dividual discrete features, and a longer timescale associated with the general decrease in the amplitudes of the emissions as the rocket moves away from where the condition f ∼fpe holds. The latter timescale ranges from 0.6 to 6.0 s, corre- sponding to distances of 2–7 km, assuming the phenomenon to be stationary and using the rocket velocity to convert time to distance.

The Structure Of Flux Transfer Events Recovered From Cluster Data, H Hasegawa, B U. Ö Sonnerup, C J. Owen, B Klecker, G Paschmann, A Balogh, H Re`Me

Dartmouth Scholarship

The structure and formation mechanism of a to- tal of five Flux Transfer Events (FTEs), encountered on the equatorward side of the northern cusp by the Cluster space- craft, with separation of ∼5000 km, are studied by apply- ing the Grad-Shafranov (GS) reconstruction technique to the events. The technique generates a magnetic field/plasma map of the FTE cross section, using combined magnetic field and plasma data from all four spacecraft, under the assump- tion that the structure is two-dimensional (2-D) and time- independent. The reconstructed FTEs consist of one or more magnetic flux ropes embedded in the magnetopause, suggest- ing …

Low Magnetic Prandtl Number Dynamos With Helical Forcing, Pablo D. Mininni, David C. Montgomery

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present direct numerical simulations of dynamo action in a forced Roberts flow. The behavior of the dynamo is followed as the mechanical Reynolds number is increased, starting from the laminar case until a turbulent regime is reached. The critical magnetic Reynolds for dynamo action is found, and in the turbulent flow it is observed to be nearly independent on the magnetic Prandtl number in the range from ∼0.3 to ∼0.1. Also the dependence of this threshold with the amount of mechanical helicity in the flow is studied. For the different regimes found, the configuration of the magnetic and velocity …

Optimal Reconstruction Of Magnetopause Structures From Cluster Data, H Hasegawa, B U. Ö Sonnerup, B Klecker, G Paschmann

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Grad-Shafranov (GS) reconstruction tech- nique, a single-spacecraft based data analysis method for recovering approximately two-dimensional (2-D) magneto- hydrostatic plasma/field structures in space, is improved to become a multi-spacecraft technique that produces a single field map by ingesting data from all four Cluster spacecraft into the calculation. The plasma pressure, required for the technique, is measured in high time resolution by only two of the spacecraft, C1 and C3, but, with the help of spacecraft po- tential measurements available from all four spacecraft, the pressure can be estimated at the other spacecraft as well via a relationship, established from C1 …

High-Latitude Propagation Studies Using A Meridional Chain Of Lf/Mf/Hf Receivers, J Labelle

Dartmouth Scholarship

For over a decade, Dartmouth College has oper- ated programmable radio receivers at multiple high-latitude sites covering the frequency range 100–5000 kHz with about a 1-s resolution. Besides detecting radio emissions of auro- ral origin, these receivers record characteristics of the iono- spheric propagation of natural and man-made signals, docu- menting well-known effects, such as the diurnal variation in the propagation characteristics of short and long waves, and also revealing more subtle effects. For example, at auroral zone sites in equinoctial conditions, the amplitudes of dis- tant transmissions on MF/HF frequencies are often enhanced by a few dB just before …

A Study Of Pc-5 Ulf Oscillations, M K. Hudson, R E. Denton, M R. Lessard, E G. Miftakhova, R R. Anderson

Dartmouth Scholarship

A study of Pc-5 magnetic pulsations using data from the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) was carried out. Three-component dynamic mag- netic field spectrograms have been used to survey ULF pul- sation activity for the approximate fourteen month lifetime of CRRES. Two-hour panels of dynamic spectra were exam- ined to find events which fall into two basic categories: 1) toroidal modes (fundamental and harmonic resonances) and 2) poloidal modes, which include compressional oscillations. The occurence rates were determined as a function of L value and local time. The main result is a comparable probabil- ity of occurence of …

Velocity Field Distributions Due To Ideal Line Vortices, Thomas D. Levi, David C. Montgomery

Dartmouth Scholarship

We evaluate numerically the velocity field distributions produced by a bounded, two-dimensional fluid model consisting of a collection of parallel ideal line vortices. We sample at many spatial points inside a rigid circular boundary. We focus on “nearest-neighbor” contributions that result from vortices that fall (randomly) very close to the spatial points where the velocity is being sampled. We confirm that these events lead to a non-Gaussian high-velocity “tail” on an otherwise Gaussian distribution function for the Eulerian velocity field. We also investigate the behavior of distributions that do not have equilibrium mean-field probability distributions that are uniform inside the …

Inception Of Snapover And Gas Induced Glow Discharges, J. T. Galofaro, B. V. Vayner, D. C. Ferguson, W. A. Degroot, C. D. Thomson, John R. Dennison, R. E. Davies

All Physics Faculty Publications

Ground based experiments of the snapover phenomenon were conducted in the large vertical simulation chamber at the Glenn Research Center (GRC) Plasma Interaction Facility (PIF). Two Penning sources provided both argon and xenon plasmas for the experiments. The sources were used to simulate a variety of ionospheric densities pertaining to a spacecraft in a Low Earth Orbital (LEO) environment. Secondary electron emission is believed responsible for dielectric surface charging, and all subsequent snapover phenomena observed. Voltage sweeps of conductor potentials versus collected current were recorded in order to examine the specific charging history of each sample. The average time constant …

A Nonlinear Eigenvalue Problem In Astrophysical Magnetohydrodynamics: Some Properties Of The Spectrum, John A. Adam

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

The equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) with an external gravitational potential—a ‘‘magnetoatmosphere’’—are examined in detail as a singular nonlinear eigenvalue problem. Properties of the spectrum are discussed with specific emphasis on two systems relevant to solar magnetohydrodynamics. In the absence of a gravitational potential, the system reduces to that of importance in MHD and plasma physics, albeit in a different geometry. This further reduces to a form isomorphic to that derived in the study of plasma oscillations in a cold plasma, Alfvén wave propagation in an inhomogeneous medium, and MHD waves in a sheet pinch. In cylindrical geometry, the relevant …