93743668
Neutralization of positive particle beams by electron trapping
56163569
IPHI, the Saclay high-intensity proton injector project
High-power accelerators are being studied for several projects based on high-flux neutron sources driven by proton or deuteron beams. Since the front end is the most critical part of such accelerators, it has been decided to build a high-intensity proton injector (IPHI) designed to accelerate a CW 100 mA beam up to 11 MeV. The aim is to validate design codes, test technical choices, demonstrate operational reliability and measure the beam parameters in order to optimize the high-energy part of the accelerator. The design chosen for IPHI (ECR source, RFQ, DTL and diagnostic line) and the construction schedule are presented.
36086311
Space charge neutralization of high brightness ion beams
Experiments are under way to investigate the extent to which various space charge neutralization methods will allow one to exceed the space charge limited transport condition. Imperfect spatial neutralization will result in nonlinear fields which have the effect of diluting the phase space density of the beam, and thereby increasing the emittance. These experiments give quantitative results on the problem of vacuum neutralization in the final focus/transport for a heavy ion fusion reactor.
483451
Changes in the morphology of interstellar ice analogues after hydrogen atom exposure.
The morphology of water ice in the interstellar medium is still an open question. Although accretion of gaseous water could not be the only possible origin of the observed icy mantles covering dust grains in cold molecular clouds, it is well known that water accreted from the gas phase on surfaces kept at 10 K forms ice films that exhibit a very high porosity. It is also known that in the dark clouds H(2) formation occurs on the icy surface of dust grains and that part of the energy (4.48 eV) released when adsorbed atoms react to form H(2) is deposited in the ice. The experimental study described in the present work focuses on how relevant changes of the ice morphology result from atomic hydrogen exposure and subsequent recombination. Using the temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) technique and a method of inversion analysis of TPD spectra, we show that there is an exponential decrease in the porosity of the amorphous water ice sample following D-atom irradiation. This decrease is inversely proportional to the thickness of the ice and has a value of ϕ(0) = 2 × 10(16) D-atoms cm(-2) per layer of H(2)O. We also use a model which confirms that the binding sites on the porous ice are destroyed regardless of their energy depth, and that the reduction of the porosity corresponds in fact to a reduction of the effective area. This reduction appears to be compatible with the fraction of D(2) formation energy transferred to the porous ice network. Under interstellar conditions, this effect is likely to be efficient and, together with other compaction processes, provides a good argument to believe that interstellar ice is amorphous and non-porous.
119206019
Sticking coefficient of hydrogen and deuterium on silicates under interstellar conditions
Context. Sticking of H and D atoms on interstellar dust grains is the first step in molecular hydrogen formation, which is a key reaction in the interstellar medium. Isotopic properties of the sticking can have an incidence on the observed HD molecule. Aims. After studying the sticking coefficients of H2 and D2 molecules on amorphous silicate surfaces experimentally and theoretically, we extrapolate the results to the sticking coefficient of atoms and propose a formulae that gives the sticking coefficients of H and D on both silicates and icy dust grains. Methods. In our experiments, we used the King and Wells method for measuring the sticking coefficients of H2 and D2 molecules on a silicate surface held at 10 K. It consists of measuring with a QMS (quadrupole mass spectrometer) the signals of H2 and D2 molecules reflected by the surface during the exposure of the sample to the molecular beam at a temperature ranging from 20 K to 340 K. We tested the efficiency of a physical model, developed previously for sticking on water-ice surfaces. We applied this model to our experimental results for the sticking coefficients of H2 and D2 molecules on a silicate surface and estimated the sticking coefficient of atoms by a single measurement of atomic recombination and propose an extrapolation. Results. Sticking of H, D, HD, H2 ,a nd D 2 on silicates grains behaves the same as on icy dust grains. The sticking decreases with the gas temperature, and is dependent on the mass of the impactor. The sticking coefficient for both surfaces and impactors can be modeled by an analytical formulae S (T ) = S 0(1 + βT/T0)/(1 + T/T0) β , which describes both the experiments and the thermal distribution expected in an astrophysical context. The parameters S 0 and T0 are summarized in a table. Conclusions. Previous estimates for the sticking coefficient of H atoms are close to the new estimation; however, we find that, when isotopic effects are taken into account, the sticking coefficient variations can be as much as a factor of 2 at T = 100 K.
119222326
Coronal Temperature Profiles Obtained from Kinetic Models and from Coronal Brightness Measurements Obtained During Solar Eclipses
Coronal density, temperature, and heat-flux distributions for the equatorial and polar corona have been deduced from Saito’s model of averaged coronal white-light (WL) brightness and polarization observations. These distributions are compared with those determined from a kinetic collisionless/exospheric model of the solar corona. This comparison indicates similar distributions at large radial distances (> 7 R⊙) in the collisionless region. However, rather important differences are found close to the Sun in the acceleration region of the solar wind. The exospheric heat flux is directed away from the Sun, while that inferred from all WL coronal observations is in the opposite direction, i.e. conducting heat from the inner corona toward the chromosphere. This could indicate that the source of coronal heating extends up into the inner corona, where it maximizes at r>1.5 R⊙, well above the transition region.
118409391
A Review on Solar Wind Modeling: Kinetic and Fluid Aspects
The paper reviews the main advantages and limitations of the kinetic exospheric and fluid models of the solar wind (SW). The general theoretical background is outlined: the Boltzmann and Fokker–Planck equations, the Liouville and Vlasov equations, the plasma transport equations derived from an “equation of change”. The paper provides a brief history of the solar wind modeling. It discusses the hydrostatic model imagined by Chapman, the first supersonic hydrodynamic models published by Parker and the first generation subsonic kinetic model proposed by Chamberlain. It is shown that a correct estimation of the electric field, as in the second generation kinetic exospheric models developed by Lemaire and Scherer, provides a supersonic expansion of the corona, reconciling the hydrodynamic and the kinetic approach. The modern developments are also reviewed emphasizing the characteristics of several generations of kinetic exospheric and multi-fluid models. The third generation kinetic exospheric models consider kappa velocity distribution function (VDF) instead of a Maxwellian at the exobase and in addition they treat a non-monotonic variation of the electric potential with the radial distance; the fourth generation exospheric models include Coulomb collisions based on the Fokker–Planck collision term. Multi-fluid models of the solar wind provide a coarse grained description of the system and reproduce with success the spatio-temporal variation of SW macroscopic properties (density, bulk velocity). The main categories of multi-fluid SW models are reviewed: the 5-moment, or Euler, models, originally proposed by Parker to describe the supersonic SW expansion; the 8-moment and 16-moment fluid models, the gyrotropic approach with improved collision terms as well as the gyrotropic models based on observed VDFs. The outstanding problem of collisions, including the long range Coulomb encounters, is also discussed, both in the kinetic and multi-fluid context. Although for decades the two approaches have been seen as opposed, in this paper we emphasize their complementarity. The review of the kinetic and fluid models of the solar wind contributes also to a better evaluation of the open questions still existent in SW modeling and suggests possible future developments.
116897797
What Happens When the Geomagnetic Field Reverses
During geomagnetic field reversals the radiation belt high-energy proton populations become depleted. Their energy spectra become softer, with the trapped particles of highest energies being lost first, and eventually recovering after a field reversal. The radiation belts rebuild in a dynamical way with the energy spectra flattening on the average during the course of many millennia, but without ever reaching complete steady state equilibrium between successive geomagnetic storm events determined by southward turnings of the IMF orientation. Considering that the entry of galactic cosmic rays and the solar energetic particles with energies above a given threshold are strongly controlled by the intensity of the northward component of the interplanetary magnetic field, we speculate that at earlier epochs when the geomagnetic dipole was reversed, the entry of these energetic particles into the geomagnetic field was facilitated when the interplanetary magnetic field was directed northward. Unlike in other complementary work where intensive numerical simulations have been used, our demonstration is based on a simple analytical extension of Stormer's theory. The access of GCR and SEP beyond geomagnetic cut-off latitudes is enhanced during epochs when the Earth's magnetic dipole is reduced, as already demonstrated earlier.
119298597
Convective Instability Of The Solar Corona: Why The Solar Wind Blows
Chapman’s conductive model of the solar corona is characterized by a temperature varying as r−2/7 with heliocentric distance r. The density distribution in this non‐isothermal hydrostatic model has a minimum value at 123 RS, and increases with r above that altitude. It is shown that this hydrostatic model becomes convectively unstable above r = 35 RS, where the temperature lapse rate becomes superadiabatic. Beyond this radial distance heat conduction fails to be efficient enough to keep the temperature gradient smaller than the adiabatic lapse rate. We report the results obtained by Lemaire who showed that an additional mechanism is then required to transport the energy flux away from the Sun into interplanetary space. He pointed out that this additional mechanism is advection: i.e. the stationary hydrodynamic expansion of the corona. In other words the corona is unable to stay in hydrostatic equilibrium. The hydrodynamic solar wind expansion is thus a physical consequence of the too steep (superadiabatic...