Evolution Of Particle Density Research Articles

Evolutionary distribution and mode transition in medium frequency from 50 kHz to 5 MHz of argon atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) provide a promising technology for generating non-equilibrium cold plasmas at atmospheric pressure. For both application-focused and fundamental research, it is important to explore the discharge mode transition and electron heating mechanism to enable effective independent tuning of key plasma parameters in a DBD system. In this work, we report numerical studies of the effects of single-frequency excitation on atmospheric argon DBDs, which are carried out in the medium driving frequency (MF) range from 50 kHz to 5 MHz by using a one-dimensional hydrodynamics coupling model. The spatio-temporal evolution of particle density associated with the discharge mode transition and electron dynamic behavior has been investigated. By tuning different components of a single frequency, we observe the electron heating behaviors of the individual modes and mode transitions from the Townsend discharge to the glow discharge in the low frequency to the Ω mode and the hybrid mode in the medium frequency to the α-mode and the γ-mode in the radio frequency. The physical analysis is understood based on these fundamental insights into the plasma physics.

Effective action approach for preheating

We present a semiclassical non-perturbative approach for calculating the preheating process at the end of inflation. Our method involves integrating out the decayed particles within the path integral framework and subsequently determining world-line instanton solutions in the effective action. This enables us to obtain the effective action of the inflaton, with its imaginary part linked to the phenomenon of particle creation driven by coherent inflaton field oscillations. Additionally, we utilize the Bogoliubov transformation to investigate the evolution of particle density within the medium after multiple inflaton oscillations. We apply our approach to various final state particles, including scalar fields, tachyonic fields, and gauge fields. The non-perturbative approach provides analytical results for preheating that are in accord with previous methods.

A one-dimensional modified TASEP model on a track of variable length: analytical and computational results

We present analytical solutions and Monte Carlo simulation results for a one-dimensional modified TASEP model inspired by the interplay between molecular motors and their cellular tracks of variable lengths, known as microtubules. Our TASEP model incorporates rules for changes in the length of the track based on the occupation of the first two sites. Using mean-field theory, we derive analytical results for the particle densities and particle currents and compare them with Monte Carlo simulations. These results show the limited range of mean-field methods for models with localized high correlation between particles. The variability in length adds to the complexity of the model, leading to emergent features for the evolution of particle densities and particle currents compared to the traditional TASEP model.

Revisiting particle dynamics in HiPIMS discharges. II. Plasma pulse effects

A detailed experimental study of high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges is performed using time-resolved ground state density mapping of the sputtered neutrals and ions. This Paper deals with the effects related to the plasma-on phase and can be considered as an extension of Paper I being published simultaneously. The influence of plasma pulse duration, pulse energy, gas pressure as well as molecular oxygen admixture on the spatial and temporal particle density evolution is examined. Special attention is given to the temporal evolution of the ionization fraction distribution of the sputtered atoms. In addition, the 2D vector maps reflecting particle propagation, sputtering, and ionization in the discharge volume are also presented and discussed, similarly to the first part of this study [J. Appl. Phys. 128, 043303 (2020)].

Nano-second temporal particle behavior in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge in a cylindrical cathode

Systematic analysis of discharge processes is needed for a good understanding of the physical mechanism that enables optimal coating deposition, especially pulsed discharges sustained by high voltages and large currents. Owing to the temporal and complex characteristics of the discharge process and relatively simplistic analytical methods, the discharge process and particle evolution in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) are still not well understood. In this work, a cylindrical cathode is introduced to restrict the discharge and delay plasma loss, and a global model is established to simulate the discharge on a Cr target in N2/Ar. Particles with different reaction energies appearing successively produce an asynchronous discharge phenomenon, and a series of inflection points corresponding to different physical processes including excitation, sputtering, ionization, and diffusion are observed from the particle density evolution curves. High-precision and time-resolved spectrometry (400 ns) is utilized to monitor the evolution of particles with time, and inflection points predicted by the model are observed experimentally to verify the particle behavior in the HiPIMS discharge.

Characteristics of temporal evolution of particle density and electron temperature in helicon discharge

On the basis of considering electrochemical reactions and collision relations in detail, a direct numerical simulation model of a helicon plasma discharge with three-dimensional two-fluid equations was employed to study the characteristics of the temporal evolution of particle density and electron temperature. With the assumption of weak ionization, the Maxwell equations coupled with the plasma parameters were directly solved in the whole computational domain. All of the partial differential equations were solved by the finite element solver in COMSOL MultiphysicsTM with a fully coupled method. In this work, the numerical cases were calculated with an Ar working medium and a Shoji-type antenna. The numerical results indicate that there exist two distinct modes of temporal evolution of the electron and ground atom density, which can be explained by the ion pumping effect. The evolution of the electron temperature is controlled by two schemes: electromagnetic wave heating and particle collision cooling. The high RF power results in a high peak electron temperature while the high gas pressure leads to a low steady temperature. In addition, an OES experiment using nine Ar I lines was conducted using a modified CR model to verify the validity of the results by simulation, showing that the trends of temporal evolution of electron density and temperature are well consistent with the numerically simulated ones.

Investigation of NO removal using a pulse-assisted RF discharge

In this paper, removal of nitrogen oxide (NO) is investigated in capacitive atmospheric pressure discharges driven by both radio-frequency (RF) and trapezoidal pulsed power with a one-dimensional self-consistent fluid model. The results show that the number density of NO could be reduced significantly once a short pulse of low duty ratio is additionally applied to the RF power. It is found that the process of NO removal by the pulse-modulated RF discharge could be divided into three stages: the quick reaction stage, the NO removal stage, and the sustaining stage. Furthermore, the temporal evolution of particle densities is analyzed, and the key reactions in each stage are discovered. Finally, the influence on the removal efficiency of the voltage amplitude of the pulse and the RF voltage amplitude is investigated.

Diffusion and transport in locally disordered driven lattices.

We study the effect of disorder on the particle density evolution in a classical Hamiltonian driven lattice setup. If the disorder is localized within a finite sub-domain of the lattice, the emergence of strong tails in the density distribution which even increases towards larger positions is shown, thus yielding a highly non-Gaussian particle density evolution. As the key underlying mechanism, we identify the conversion between different components of the unperturbed systems mixed phase space which is induced by the disorder. Based on the introduction of individual conversion rates between chaotic and regular components, a theoretical model is developed which correctly predicts the scaling of the particle density. The effect of disorder on the transport properties is studied where a significant enhancement of the transport for cases of localized disorder is shown, thereby contrasting strongly the merely weak modification of the transport for global disorder.

Single file diffusion into a semi-infinite tube

We investigate single file diffusion (SFD) of large particles entering a semi-infinite tube, such as luminal diffusion of proteins into microtubules or flagella. While single-file effects have no impact on the evolution of particle density, we report significant single-file effects for individually tracked tracer particle motion. Both exact and approximate ordering statistics of particles entering semi-infinite tubes agree well with our stochastic simulations. Considering initially empty semi-infinite tubes, with particles entering at one end starting from an initial time t = 0, tracked particles are initially super-diffusive after entering the system, but asymptotically diffusive at later times. For finite time intervals, the ratio of the net displacement of individual single-file particles to the average displacement of untracked particles is reduced at early times and enhanced at later times. When each particle is numbered, from the first to enter (n = 1) to the most recent (n = N), we find good scaling collapse of this distance ratio for all n. Experimental techniques that track individual particles, or local groups of particles, such as photo-activation or photobleaching of fluorescently tagged proteins, should be able to observe these single-file effects. However, biological phenomena that depend on local concentration, such as flagellar extension or luminal enzymatic activity, should not exhibit single-file effects.

Moving perturbation in a one-dimensional Fermi gas

We simulate a balanced attractively interacting two-component Fermi gas in a one-dimensional lattice perturbed with a moving potential well or barrier. Using the time-evolving block decimation method, we study different velocities of the perturbation and distinguish two velocity regimes based on clear differences in the time evolution of particle densities and the pair correlation function. We show that, in the slow regime, the densities deform as particles are either attracted by the potential well or repelled by the barrier, and a wave front of hole or particle excitations propagates at the maximum group velocity. Simultaneously, the initial pair correlations are broken and coherence over different sites is lost. In contrast, in the fast regime, the densities are not considerably deformed and the pair correlations are preserved.

Computational Modeling of Biomass Thermochemical Conversion in Fluidized Beds: Particle Density Variation and Size Distribution

The design and scale-up of fluidized-bed reactors is an important step to commercialize viable conversion pathways (such as fast pyrolysis) for biomass into hydrocarbon intermediates and fuels that lead to “drop-in” replacements for jet fuel, diesel, gasoline, and other petroleum-based products. Detailed information about the particle size distribution (PSD) and particle density evolution throughout the fluidized-bed reactor can play a critical role in determining in situ catalyst selectivity, intermediate components, and reactor performance. This work presents an Euler–Euler computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model applied to biomass thermochemical conversion for use in fluidized-bed reactor simulations. The complex chemical and physical processes of particle devolatilization and their interaction with the reacting gas environment are described within a multifluid framework based on the kinetic theory of granular flows. The direct quadrature method of moments is used to describe the biomass PSD. Continuo...

Evolution of particle density in high-energy pp collisions

We study the evolution of the particle density, dn/d\eta at fixed \eta with the beam rapidity Y in the framework of string percolation model. Our main results are: (i) The width of the "plateau" increases proportionally to Y, (ii) limiting fragmentation is violated, and (iii) the particle density, reduces to a step function.

Quantum mechanics of leptogenesis

Thermal leptogenesis is an attractive mechanism that explains in a simple way the matter–antimatter asymmetry of the universe. It is usually studied via the Boltzmann equations, which describes the time evolution of particle densities or distribution functions in a thermal bath. The Boltzmann equations are classical equations and suffer from basic conceptual problems and they lack to include many quantum phenomena. We show how to address leptogenesis systematically in a purely quantum way, by describing non-equilibrium excitations of a Majorana particle in the Kadanoff–Baym equations with significant emphasis on the initial and boundary conditions of the solutions. We apply our results to thermal leptogenesis, computing analytically the asymmetry generated, comparing it with the semiclassical Boltzmann approach. The non-locality of the Kadanoff–Baym equations shows how off-shell effects can have a huge impact on the generated asymmetry. The insertion of standard model decay widths to the particles excitations of the bath is also discussed. We explain how with a trivial insertion of these widths we regain locality on the processes.

Ondulating 2D waveguides. Dynamical and transport properties

We study the transport of non-interaction particles traveling in 2D waveguides, periodic in one direction. In particular, we study waveguides with smooth profiles yielding generic Hamiltonian chaos. We compute their diffusion σ2(t) and the time evolution of particle density. We find normal and super-diffusive behavior depending on the underlying dynamics. We compare our results with those of the Lorentz channel, the serpent billiard, and polygonal billiards.

Aging of Organic Aerosol: Bridging the Gap Between Laboratory and Field Studies

The oxidation of organics in aerosol particles affects the physical properties of aerosols through a process known as aging. Atmospheric particles compose a huge set of specific organic compounds, most of which have not been identified in field measurements. Laboratory experiments inevitably address model systems of reduced complexity to isolate critical chemical phenomena, but growing evidence suggests that composition effects may play a central role in the atmospheric aging of organic particles. In this review we seek to address the connections between recent laboratory studies and recent field campaigns addressing the aging of organic aerosols. We review laboratory studies on the uptake of oxidants, the evolution of particle-water interactions, and the evolution of particle density with aging. Finally, we review field data addressing condensed-phase lifetimes of organic tracers. These data suggest that although matrix effects identified in the laboratory have taken a step toward reconciling laboratory-field disagreements, further work is needed to understand the actual aging rates of organics in ambient particles.

Three-Field Model for Drift Waves in a Simple Magnetized Torus

A three-field model for resistive drift waves in a weakly ionized plasma, comprising the evolution of particle density, vorticity, and electron temperature, is investigated in a simple toroidal geometry. A derivation of the model is presented, along with a linear normal mode analysis. The non-linear evolution and saturation are studied by means of two-dimensional computations for a double-periodic domain. The analysis is focused in particular on the dependence of the behavior of the system on the parameter C which is inversely proportional to the electron-neutral collision frequency and which couples potential, density and electron temperature fluctuations along the magnetic field. In the adiabatic regime, corresponding to C >> 1 it is found that many of the linear fluctuation characteristics are preserved, including cross phases and a clear wave-like feature with propagation in the electron diamagnetic drift direction. Electron temperature fluctuations in this regime turn out to be strongly damped due to the large parallel heat flux. In the hydrodynamic regime (C << 1) the wave motion is less evident and non-linear behavior prevails. The convective heat transport is seen to dominate the conductive one for all values of the coupling parameter.

Kinetic treatment of the heavy ion charge exchange injection in synchrotrons

This paper describes the results of a kinetic treatment of the charge exchange injection of heavy ions into synchrotrons. Analytical expressions for the evolution of particle density in the transverse phase space and for the emittance growth due to elastic scattering and energy losses in the stripper have been derived. Numerical examples for the superconducting heavy ion synchrotron Nuclotron in JINR-Dubna are given as well.

Dynamics of laser-produced carbon plasma

Carbon plasmas produced by radiation from a ruby laser (wavelength 694.3 nm) focussed onto a carbon target in vacuum are studied spectroscopically with a time resolution of 40 ns. Measured line profiles of several ionic species (CI-CIV) were used to infer electron density and temperature at several positions above the target surface as function of time elapsed after the beginning of the laser pulse. The particle density at several positions above the target surface as function of time was judged from corrected line intensities. Experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions made with the effusion model of plasma expansion (Kelly R and Braren B 1991 Appl. Phys. B 53 160). The effusion model provided the relative particle density in the expanding plasma cloud as a function of initial target temperature. By comparing predicted and measured time evolution of particle density, an initial target temperature of about 125eV was inferred. The coupling of the laser beam energy to the plasma itself was inferred from the failure of the model of the direct target surface heating (Andreić Z, Henč-Bartolić V and Kunze H-J 1993 Physica Scripta 48 331) to produce the required target temperature.

Non-equilibrium between electrons and field in a gas breakdown ionising wave. I. Macroscopic model

The authors propose a macroscopic model for gas breakdown ionising waves based on a consistent hydrodynamic system of equations describing the spatio-temporal evolution of particle density, momentum and energy. They apply this model to investigate the properties of the electron shock zone situated at the head of a discharge channel, so that it can in particular predict the non-equilibrium electron temperature as distinguished from the static equilibrium electron temperature. The temperature dependence of macroscopic coefficients can be predicted from the available electron transport and ionisation data. Their previous analysis (1980) of the role of the photoionisation in a gas discharge is extended to the case of fast electron shock waves by taking into account the finite lifetime of the molecular excited states. This shows that the gas photoionisation process cannot have an important role in fast breakdown waves except at low gas pressures. Finally, this study analyses the different possible causes of a non-equilibrium electron energy.