Cold Positrons Research Articles

Nonplanar positron-acoustic Gardner solitary waves in electron-positron-ion plasmas with superthermal electrons and positrons

Nonplanar (cylindrical and spherical) positron-acoustic (PA) Gardner solitary waves (SWs) in an unmagnetized plasma system consisting of immobile positive ions, mobile cold positrons, and superthermal (kappa distributed) hot positrons and electrons are investigated. The modified Gardner equation is derived by using the reductive perturbation technique. The effects of cylindrical and spherical geometries, superthermal parameter of hot positrons and electrons, relative temperature ratios, and relative number density ratios on the PA Gardner SWs are studied by using the numerical simulations. The implications of our results in various space and laboratory plasma environments are briefly discussed.

Roles of superthermal electrons and positrons on positron-acoustic solitary waves and double layers in electron-positron-ion plasmas.

Positron-acoustic (PA) solitary waves (SWs) and double layers (DLs) in four-component plasmas consisting of immobile positive ions, mobile cold positrons, and superthermal (kappa distributed) hot positrons and electrons are investigated both numerically and analytically by deriving Korteweg-de Vries (K-dV), modified K-dV (mK-dV), and Gardner equations along with their DLs solutions using the reductive perturbation method. It is examined that depending on the plasma parameters, the K-dV SWs, Gardner SWs, and DLs support either compressive or rarefactive structures, whereas mK-dV SWs support only compressive structure. It is also found that the presence of superthermal (kappa distributed) hot positrons and hot electrons significantly modify the basic features of PA SWs as well as PA DLs. Besides, the critical number density ratio of hot positrons and cold positrons play an important role in the polarity of PA SWs and DLs. The implications of our results in different space as well as laboratory plasma environments are briefly discussed.

Antihydrogen trapping assisted by sympathetically cooled positrons

Antihydrogen, the bound state of an antiproton and a positron, is of interest for use in precision tests of nature's fundamental symmetries. Antihydrogen formed by carefully merging cold plasmas of positrons and antiprotons has recently been trapped in magnetic traps. The efficiency of trapping is strongly dependent on the temperature of the nascent antihydrogen, which, to be trapped, must have a kinetic energy less than the trap depth of . In the conditions in the ALPHA experiment, the antihydrogen temperature seems dominated by the temperature of the positron plasma used for the synthesis. Cold positrons are therefore of paramount interest in that experiment. In this paper, we propose an alternative route to make ultra-cold positrons for enhanced antihydrogen trapping. We investigate theoretically how to extend previously successful sympathetic cooling of positrons by laser-cooled positive ions to be used for antihydrogen trapping. Using simulations, we investigate the effectiveness of such cooling in conditions similar to those in ALPHA, and discuss how the formation process and the nascent antihydrogen may be influenced by the presence of positive ions. We argue that this technique is a viable alternative to methods such as evaporative and adiabatic cooling, and may overcome limitations faced by these. Ultra-cold positrons, once available, may also be of interest for a range of other applications.

Positron acoustic shock waves in four-component plasmas with nonthermal electrons and positrons

Positron acoustic shock waves (PASWs) in an unmagnetized four-component plasma system consisting of a cold mobile viscous positron fluid, hot positrons and electrons following the nonthermal distributions of Cairns et al. [Geophys. Res. Lett. 22, 2709 (1995)], and immobile positive ions are studied both analytically and numerically. The well-known reductive perturbation method is used to derive the Burgers equation. The basic features of the PASWs are significantly modified by the effects of the kinematic viscosity, the nonthermal electrons and hot positrons, the ratio of the electron temperature to the hot positron temperature σ, and the ratio of the hot positron (electron) number density to the cold positron number density μ 1 (μ 2). The importance of our results to various astrophysical and laboratory plasmas are concisely discussed.

Positron-acoustic Gardner solitons and double layers in electron-positron-ion plasmas with nonthermal electrons and positrons

A theoretical investigation has been made on positron-acoustic (PA) Gardner solitons (GSs) and double layers (DLs) in four-component plasma system consisting of immobile positive ions, mobile cold positrons, nonthermal hot positrons, and nonthermal hot electrons. The reductive perturbation method has been used to derive Korteweg-de Vries (K-dV), modified K-dV (mK-dV), and Gardner equations. The basic features (viz. amplitude, polarity, speed, etc.) of the PA GSs as well as PA DLs are examined. The analytical comparison among K-dV solitons, mK-dV solitons, and GSs are also made. It has been identified that the amplitude, polarity, speed, thickness of such PA solitons and DLs are significantly modified due to the presence of nonthermal distributed hot electrons and hot positrons. The results of our investigation should be useful for understanding various interstellar space plasma environments (viz. ionosphere, lower part of magnetosphere, auroral acceleration regions, supernovas, pulsar environments, cluster explosions, active galactic nuclei, etc.).

Cylindrical and spherical positron-acoustic Gardner solitons in electron-positron-ion plasmas with nonthermal electrons and positrons

A theoretical investigation has been performed on the nonlinear propagation of nonplanar (cylindrical and spherical) Gardner solitons (GSs) associated with the positron-acoustic (PA) waves in a four component plasma system consisting of nonthermal distributed electrons and hot positrons, mobile cold positrons, and immobile positive ions. The well-known reductive perturbation method has been employed to derive the modified Gardner (MG) equation. The basic features (viz. amplitude, polarity, speed, etc.) of nonplanar PA Gardner solitons (GSs) have been examined by the numerical analysis of the MG equation. It has been observed that the properties of the PA GSs in a nonplanar geometry differ from those in a planar geometry. It has been also investigated that the presence of nonthermal (Cairns distributed) electrons and hot positrons significantly modify the amplitude, polarity, speed, and thickness of such PA GSs. The results of our investigation should play an important role in understanding various interstellar space plasma environments as well as laboratory plasmas.

Electrostatic electron acoustic solitons in electron-positron-ion plasma with superthermal electrons and positrons

Properties of fully nonlinear electron-acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized and collisionless electron-positron-ion plasma containing cold dynamical electrons, superthermal electrons and positrons obeying Cairns’ distribution have been analyzed in the stationary background of massive positive ions. A linear dispersion relation has been derived, from which it is found that even in the absence of superthermal electrons, the superthermal positron component can provide the restoring force to the cold inertial electrons to excite electron-acoustic waves. Moreover, superthermal electron and positron populations seem to enhance the electron acoustic wave phase speed. For nonlinear analysis, Korteweg-de Vries equation is obtained using the reductive perturbation technique. It is found that in the presence of positron both hump and dip type solitons appear to excite. The present work may be employed to explore and to understand the formation of electron acoustic soliton structures in the space and laboratory plasmas with nonthermal electrons and positrons.

On the fully nonlinear acoustic waves in a plasma with positrons beam impact and superthermal electrons

Arbitrary amplitude ion-acoustic waves in an unmagnetized plasma consisting of cold positive ions, superthermal electrons, and positrons beam are reported. The basic set of fluid equations is reduced to an energy-balance like equation. The latter is numerically analyzed to examine the existence regions for solitary and shock waves. It is found that only solitary waves can propagate, however, the model cannot support shocks. The effects of superthermality and beam parameters (via, positrons concentration and streaming velocity) on the existence region, as well as solitary wave profile have been discussed.

Functional Imaging of Brown Fat in Mice with <sup>18</sup>F-FDG micro-PET/CT

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) differs from white adipose tissue (WAT) by its discrete location and a brown-red color due to rich vascularization and high density of mitochondria. BAT plays a major role in energy expenditure and non-shivering thermogenesis in newborn mammals as well as the adults (1). BAT-mediated thermogenesis is highly regulated by the sympathetic nervous system, predominantly via β adrenergic receptor (2, 3). Recent studies have shown that BAT activities in human adults are negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and other diabetic parameters (4-6). BAT has thus been proposed as a potential target for anti-obesity/anti-diabetes therapy focusing on modulation of energy balance (6-8). While several cold challenge-based positron emission tomography (PET) methods are established for detecting human BAT (9-13), there is essentially no standardized protocol for imaging and quantification of BAT in small animal models such as mice. Here we describe a robust PET/CT imaging method for functional assessment of BAT in mice. Briefly, adult C57BL/6J mice were cold treated under fasting conditions for a duration of 4 hours before they received one dose of (18)F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). The mice were remained in the cold for one additional hour post FDG injection, and then scanned with a small animal-dedicated micro-PET/CT system. The acquired PET images were co-registered with the CT images for anatomical references and analyzed for FDG uptake in the interscapular BAT area to present BAT activity. This standardized cold-treatment and imaging protocol has been validated through testing BAT activities during pharmacological interventions, for example, the suppressed BAT activation by the treatment of β-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol (14, 15), or the enhanced BAT activation by β3 agonist BRL37344 (16). The method described here can be applied to screen for drugs/compounds that modulate BAT activity, or to identify genes/pathways that are involved in BAT development and regulation in various preclinical and basic studies.

Trapped Antihydrogen in Its Ground State

Antihydrogen atoms (H¯) are confined in an Ioffe trap for 15-1000 s-long enough to ensure that they reach their ground state. Though reproducibility challenges remain in making large numbers of cold antiprotons (p¯) and positrons (e(+)) interact, 5±1 simultaneously confined ground-state atoms are produced and observed on average, substantially more than previously reported. Increases in the number of simultaneously trapped H¯ are critical if laser cooling of trapped H¯ is to be demonstrated and spectroscopic studies at interesting levels of precision are to be carried out.

Gotcha!

Refined techniques to mix cold antiprotons and positrons in a magnetic bottle show that antihydrogen atoms can be trapped for 15 minutes — an improvement of four orders of magnitude over previous experiments.

Positron acoustic shock waves in planar and nonplanar geometry

The nonlinear positron acoustic shock waves (PASWs) in an unmagnetized plasma consisting of cold positrons, immobile positive ions and Boltzmann-distributed electrons and hot positrons are studied in both unbounded planar geometry and bounded nonplanar geometry. In this regard, with the help of the reductive perturbation method, the cylindrical and spherical Korteweg–de Vries Burger (KdVB) equations are derived for PASWs. Numerically, the effects of several parameters and ion kinematic viscosities on the properties of PASWs in both planar and nonplanar geometry are discussed. It is found that PASWs in nonplanar geometry significantly differ from those in planar geometry.

Waves in pulsar winds

The radio, optical, x-ray and gamma-ray nebulae that surround many pulsars are thought to arise from synchrotron and inverse Compton emission. The energy powering this emission as well as the magnetic fields and relativistic particles are supplied by a ‘wind’ driven by the central object. The inner parts of the wind can be described using the equations of MHD, but these break down in the outer parts, when the density of charge carriers drops below a critical value. This paper reviews the wave properties of the inner part (striped wind), and uses a relativistic two-fluid model (cold electrons and positrons) to re-examine the nonlinear electromagnetic modes that propagate in the outer parts. It is shown that in a radial wind, two solutions exist for circularly polarized electromagnetic modes. At large distances one of them turns into a freely expanding flow containing a vacuum wave, whereas the other decelerates, corresponding to a confined flow.

Spherical and cylindrical imploding and exploding shock waves in plasma system dominated by pair production

The propagation of ion acoustic shock waves in cylindrical and spherical geometries has been investigated. The plasma system consists of cold ions, Boltzmannian electrons and positrons. Spherical, cylindrical Korteweg–de Vries–Burger equations have been derived by reductive perturbation technique and their shock behavior is studied by employing finite difference method. Our main emphasis is on the behavior of shock as it moves toward and away from center of spherical and cylindrical geometries. It is noticed, that the shock wave strength and steepness accrues with time as it moves toward the center and shock enervates as it moves away from center. The strength of shock in spherical geometry is found to dominate over shock strength in cylindrical geometry. Positron concentration, kinematic viscosity are also found to have significant effect on the shock structure and propagation. The results may have relevance in the inertial confinement fusion plasmas.

Propagation of solitary waves in magnetized three-component plasmas

The propagation of nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in magnetized plasma consisting of cold ions, hot electrons and positrons has been studied. It is demonstrated that in the case of weak nonlinearity the ion-acoustic waves are described by the Korteweg–de Vries (K-dV) equation. The influence of finite positron density and temperature and external magnetic field on the properties of soliton-like waves is discussed.

Nonlinear positron acoustic solitary waves

The problem of nonlinear positron acoustic solitary waves involving the dynamics of mobile cold positrons is addressed. A theoretical work is presented to show their existence and possible realization in a simple four-component plasma model. The results should be useful for the understanding of the localized structures that may occur in space and laboratory plasmas as new sources of cold positrons are now well developed.

On the origin of the 511-keV emission in the Galactic Centre

Diffuse 511-keV line emission, from the annihilation of cold positrons, has been observed in the direction of the Galactic Centre for more than 30 yr. The latest high-resolution maps of this emission produced by the SPI instrument on INTEGRAL suggest at least one component of the emission is spatially coincident with the distribution of ∼70 luminous, low-mass X-ray binaries detected in the soft gamma-ray band. The X-ray band, however, is generally a more sensitive probe of X-ray binary populations. Recent X-ray surveys of the Galactic Centre have discovered a much larger population (>4000) of faint, hard X-ray point sources. We investigate the possibility that the positrons observed in the direction of the Galactic Centre originate in pair-dominated jets generated by this population of fainter accretion-powered X-ray binaries. We also consider briefly whether such sources could account for unexplained diffuse emission associated with the Galactic Centre in the microwave (the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe‘haze’) and at other wavelengths. Finally, we point out several unresolved problems in associating Galactic Centre 511-keV emission with the brightest X-ray binaries.

Producing ultracold and trappable antihydrogen atoms

Both experiments and simulations have shown that the temperature of antihydrogen atoms $(\overline{\mathrm{H}})$ formed in a strongly magnetized positron-antiproton plasma is mainly determined by the heavy particles' temperature. A routine to keep cooling antiprotons $(\overline{p})$ by using ultracold $(<1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K})$ electrons is proposed under attainable experimental conditions. When cold positrons are loaded into such a low-temperature electron-antiproton mixture, ultracold antihydrogen atoms can be produced at a temperature below $\ensuremath{\sim}1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$. Our large-scale molecular-dynamics simulations, which involve $20\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}000$ particles (${e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, ${e}^{+}$, and $\overline{p}$) evolving up to $1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{s}$, have confirmed the generation of trappable $\overline{\mathrm{H}}$ atoms.

Effects of positron density and temperature on ion acoustic dressed solitons in an electron–positron–ion plasma

Abstract Ion acoustic dressed solitons in a three component plasma consisting of cold ions, hot electrons and positrons are studied. Using reductive perturbation method, Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation and a linear inhomogeneous equation, governing respectively the evolution of first and second order potentials are derived for the system. Renormalization procedure of Kodama and Taniuti is used to obtain nonsecular solutions of these coupled equations. It is found that electron–positron–ion plasma system supports only compressive solitons. For a given amplitude of soliton on increasing the positron concentration, velocity of the KdV as well as dressed soliton increases. For any arbitrary values of soliton's amplitude and positron concentration, velocity of the dressed soliton is found to be larger than that of the KdV soliton. For small amplitude of solitons, the width of KdV as well as dressed soliton decreases as positron concentration increases and width of dressed soliton is found to be larger than that of the KdV soliton. However, for a large value of soliton's amplitude as concentration of positrons increases, instead of decreasing width of dressed soliton starts to increase.

Storage of an electron plasma in a sextupole radial antihydrogen trap

Abstract This work reports for the first time experimental data obtained with electrons stored in a Penning–Malmberg trap surrounded by a sextupole radial magnetic field. This trap geometry is one of the candidates for trapping antihydrogen atoms in the place where they are produced starting from cold antiprotons and positrons or positronium. The measurements show that electron plasmas with parameters matching the range used for positrons and electrons in the antihydrogen experiments (number of particles ranging from few 10 6 up to several 10 7 and densities of the order of 10 8 –10 9 cm −3 , radius of the order of 1–2 mm) can be transported with 100% efficiency in a trap region that simultaneously confines completely the charged particles and the neutral antihydrogen in the radial plane. Inside this trap plasma storage times of the order of several tens of seconds up to some hundreds of seconds are measured. The plasma storage times are consistent with those needed for antihydrogen production; however the increase of the plasma temperature due to the expansion is not negligible; the consequences of this effect on the antihydrogen trapping are outlined.