Cross-field Size Research Articles

Unified transport scaling laws for plasma blobs and depletions

We study the dynamics of seeded plasma blobs and depletions in an (effective) gravitational field. For incompressible flows, the radial center of mass velocity of blobs and depletions is proportional to the square root of their initial cross-field size and amplitude. If the flows are compressible, this scaling holds only for ratios of amplitude to size larger than a critical value. Otherwise, the maximum blob and depletion velocity depends linearly on the initial amplitude and is independent of size. In both cases, the acceleration of blobs and depletions depends on their initial amplitude relative to the background plasma density and is proportional to gravity and independent of their cross-field size. Due to their reduced inertia plasma, depletions accelerate more quickly than the corresponding blobs. These scaling laws are derived from the invariants of the governing drift-fluid equations for blobs and agree excellently with numerical simulations over five orders of magnitude for both blobs and depletions. We suggest an empirical model that unifies and correctly captures the radial acceleration and maximum velocities of both blobs and depletions.

Amplitude and size scaling for interchange motions of plasma filaments

The interchange dynamics and velocity scaling of blob-like plasma filaments are investigated using a two-field reduced fluid model. For incompressible flows due to buoyancy, the maximum velocity is proportional to the square root of the relative amplitude and the square root of its cross-field size. For compressible flows in a non-uniform magnetic field, this square root scaling only holds for ratios of amplitudes to cross-field sizes above a certain threshold value. For small amplitudes and large sizes, the maximum velocity is proportional to the filament amplitude. The acceleration is proportional to the amplitude and independent of the cross-field size in all regimes. This is demonstrated by means of numerical simulations and explained by the energy integrals satisfied by the model.

The influence of plasma edge dynamics on blob properties in the stellarator TJ-K

Blob properties are studied in the scrape-off layer of the stellarator TJ-K. Langmuir probes and a fast camera are used to investigate the generation rate as well as the blob size and velocity scaling. Discharges with different ion species and magnetic field strengths provide access to a large range of plasma parameters. It was found that almost every large amplitude drift wave in the edge of the confined plasma triggers blob generation in the scrape-off layer, which implies that the birth rate of blobs is determined by the turbulence in the edge. Furthermore, the cross-field size of the blobs seems to correlate with the size of the generating drift waves. Since the observed radial propagation velocity of the blobs is well described by a size dependent blob velocity model, the size coupling between the drift waves and the blobs also has an impact on the blob velocities. Thus, the presented results imply that the dynamics in the edge have a large influence on the blob properties in the scrape-off layer.

Blob sizes and velocities in the Alcator C-Mod scrape-off layer

Gas-puff imaging data is used to investigate the dynamics of blob-like structures in the scrape-off layer of Alcator C-Mod. A blob-tracking algorithm is developed and used to compute blob propagation velocities and cross-field sizes for a series of discharges where the line-averaged particle density n¯e is varied. We find that the mean radial blob velocity increases from 150ms-1 for n¯e/nG=0.15 to 450ms-1 for n¯e/nG=0.48, where is the nG the Greenwald density. The cross-field size of the blobs is independent of the line-averaged particle densities. With increasing n¯e/nG the observed blob velocities become larger than predicted by simple blob models for sheath-connected plasma filaments.

SU-E-T-541: Dose Calculation Algorithm for External Neutron Radiotherapy Based on Pencil Beam Method.

To evaluate the availability and performance of pencil beam algorithm for fast neutrons radiotherapy dose calculations and to achieve improvements in universality, speed and inhomogeneities corrections. Pencil beam (PB) method uses integration of dose kernel cross field size to estimate dose distribution. In order to calculate dose kernels we used general purpose Monte-Carlo (MC) code MCNP. The same program was used also for PB benchmarking. Multi-group approach used for kernels calculation virtually allows calculation for arbitrary spectrum. Nevertheless we took four common spectra to investigate accuracy and to establish according corrections. Several approaches for inhomogeneities corrections have been investigated. The output of MC calculations is discrete kernel data, which does not allow fast calculations. To overcome this limitation we investigated different dose kernels approximations and integrations. PB dose kernel library was established. Comparison of PB calculation with reference algorithm shows adequate precision for arbitrary neutron spectra with inhomogeneities correction, while calculations are fast enough for optimization tasks. Secondary photon dose distributions comparison give worse still promising results. Researches of this paper show benefits and limitations of PB method for neutron teletherapy treatment planning. Calculations made during research allow saying that results of PB method are generally acceptable. Still additional data are needed to evaluate our results, probably voxel phantom MC calculations and/or beam data measurements.

Effect of dynamical friction on interchange motion of plasma filaments

Theory and numerical simulations are presented for interchange motion of plasma filaments in the presence of dynamical friction and allowing large relative filament amplitudes. When friction is negligible, the filament velocity is proportional to the square root of gravity and its cross-field size. For strong friction, the filament velocity is independent of the cross-field size, proportional to gravity, and inversely proportional to the friction coefficient. In this frictional regime, the filament moves a large distance with nearly constant velocity and shape. The transition between these velocity scaling regimes and the amplitude dependence are revealed. The results presented here complement previous theories for irregularities in the equatorial ionosphere and are in excellent agreement with recent experiments on simply magnetized toroidal plasmas. The relevance to blob-like structures in the scrape-off layer of magnetically confined plasmas is also discussed.

Velocity scaling for filament motion in scrape-off layer plasmas

The velocity scaling for isolated plasma filaments in non-uniformly magnetized plasmas with respect to filament amplitude and cross-field size has been investigated by means of numerical simulations. The model includes electric currents due to magnetic gradient and curvature drifts, polarization drifts, and parallel currents through sheaths, where the magnetic field lines intersect material walls. In the ideal limit, the radial velocity of the filament increases with the square root of its size. When sheath currents dominate over polarization currents, the filament velocity is inversely proportional to the square of its size. In the presence of sheath currents, the velocity is maximum for an intermediate filament size determined by the balance between diamagnetic, polarization, and sheath currents. The parameter dependence of this filament size and velocity is elucidated. The results are discussed in the context of blob-like structures in basic laboratory plasma experiments and in the scrape-off layer of magnetically confined plasmas.

Recent theoretical progress in understanding coherent structures in edge and SOL turbulence

AbstractIn this paper we review some theoretical aspects of the dynamics of the mesoscale filaments extending along the magnetic field lines in the edge plasma, which are often called ‘blobs’. We start with a brief historical survey of experimental data and the main ideas on edge and SOL plasma transport, which finally evolved into the modern paradigm of convective very-intermittent cross-field edge plasma transport. We show that both extensive analytic treatments and numerical simulations demonstrate that plasma blobs with enhanced pressure can be convected coherently towards the wall. The mechanism of convection is related to an effective gravity force (e.g. owing to magnetic curvature effects), which causes plasma polarization and a corresponding E× B convection. The impacts of different effects (e.g. X-point magnetic geometry, plasma collisionality, plasma beta, etc.) on blob dynamics are considered. Theory and simulation predict, both for current tokamaks and for ITER, blob propagation speeds and cross-field sizes to be of the order of a few hundred meters per second and a centimeter, respectively, which are in reasonable agreement with available experimental data. Moreover, the concept of blobs as a fundamental entity of convective transport in the scrape-off layer provides explanations for observed outwards convective transport, intermittency and non-Gaussian statistics in edge plasmas, and enhanced wall recycling in both toroidal and linear machines.

Quasielectrostatic whistler wave radiation from the hot electron emission of a laser-produced plasma

Measurements are presented of radiated wave electric fields which result from the creation of a dense, laser-produced plasma within a large, uniform background magnetoplasma. The radiated field patterns are consistent for waves propagating along the quasielectrostatic branch of the whistler wave dispersion curve calculated from the background plasma parameters. The energy source of these waves coincides with an observed energetic tail electron population escaping the laser-produced plasma. A prominent feature of the radiated electric fields is a bipolar spike in both time and space, with a cross-field size near that of the initial escaping electron burst and a duration equivalent to one oscillation at the lower hybrid frequency within the background plasma. Additionally, time-windowed snapshots of the whistler wave radiation patterns are shown to provide a remote diagnostic of the cross-field speed of the laser-produced plasma.

Experimental observations of shear Alfvén waves generated by narrow current channels

Alfvén waves are ubiquitous in space plasmas and are the means by which information about changing currents and magnetic fields are communicated. Shear Alfvén waves radiated from sources with cross-field scale size of the order of the electron inertial length, δ=c/ωpe, have properties which differ considerably from planar magneto-hydrodynamic waves. Currents of cross-field size δ are common in space plasmas. A series of experiments in the large plasma device (LAPD) at UCLA is presented which illustrates that waves generated by small scale fluctuating currents radiate across magnetic field lines and are associated with complex three-dimensional currents. Waves generated by two sources are observed to constructively interfere to produce large magnetic fields in spatial regions away from source field lines. Volume data sets will be presented and discussed in the light of space plasma applications.