118873737
Laminar plasma dynamos
A new kind of dynamo utilizing flowing laboratory plasmas has been identified. The conversion of plasma kinetic energy to magnetic energy is verified numerically by kinematic dynamo simulations for magnetic Reynolds numbers above 210. As opposed to intrinsically-turbulent liquid-sodium dynamos, the proposed plasma dynamo corresponds to laminar flow topology. Modest plasma parameters (1–20 eV temperatures, 1019–1020 m−3 densities in 0.3–1.0 m scale-lengths driven by velocities on the order of the Alfven critical ionization velocity) self-consistently satisfy the conditions needed for the magnetic field amplication. Growth rates for plasma dynamos are obtained numerically with different geometry and magnetic Reynolds numbers. Magnetic-field-free coaxial plasma guns can be used to sustain the plasma flow and the dynamo.
38889804
Experimental demonstration of plasma-drag acceleration of a dust cloud to hypervelocities.
Simultaneous acceleration of hundreds of dust particles to hypervelocities by collimated plasma flows ejected from a coaxial gun is demonstrated. Graphite and diamond grains with radii between 5 and 30 microm, and flying at speeds up to 3.7 km/s, have been recorded with a high-speed camera. The observations agree well with a model for plasma-drag acceleration of microparticles much larger than the plasma screening length.
26132013
Towards hard x-ray imaging at GHz frame rate.
Gigahertz (GHz) imaging using hard x-rays (> or approximately equal to 10 keV) can be useful to high-temperature plasma experiments, as well as research and applications using coherent photons from synchrotron radiation and x-ray free electron lasers. GHz framing rate can be achieved by using multiple cameras through multiplexing. The advantages and trade-offs of single-photon detection mode, when no more than one x-ray photon is detected per pixel, are given. Two possible paths towards x-ray imaging at GHz frame rates using a single camera are: (a) avalanche photodiode arrays of high-Z materials and (b) microchannel plate photomultipliers in conjunction with materials with large indices of refraction.
118530343
Tracking fast neutrons
Abstract Both neutron absorption and elastic scattering can be used to measure neutron momentum. Based on elastic collisions, the linear momentum of a fast neutron can be measured from as few as two consecutive recoil ion tracks plus the vertex position of the third collision, or ‘two and half’ ion tracks. If the time delay between the first two consecutive ion tracks is also measured, the number of ion tracks can be reduced to one and a half. The angular and magnitude resolutions are limited by ion range straggling to about 10%. Multi-wire proportional chambers and light-field imaging can be used for fast neutron tracking. Light-field imaging is free of charge-diffusion-induced image blur, but the limited number of photons available can be a challenge. 1 H, 2 H and 3 He could be used for the initial development of fast neutron trackers based on light-field imaging.
44185566
(3+1)-TQFTs and topological insulators
Levin-Wen models are microscopic spin models for topological phases of matter in (2+1)-dimension. We introduce a generalization of such models to (3 + 1)-dimension based on unitary braided fusion categories, also known as unitary premodular categories. We discuss the ground state degeneracy on 3-manifolds and statistics of excitations which include both points and defect loops. Potential connections with recently proposed fractional topological insulators and projective ribbon permutation statistics are described.
54712303
Constructive Renormalization of the 2-Dimensional Grosse–Wulkenhaar Model
We study a quartic matrix model with partition function $$Z=\int d\ M\exp \mathrm{Tr}\ (-\Delta M^2-\frac{\lambda }{4}M^4)$$Z=∫dMexpTr(-ΔM2-λ4M4). The integral is over the space of Hermitian $$(\varLambda +1)\times (\varLambda +1)$$(Λ+1)×(Λ+1) matrices, the matrix $$\Delta $$Δ, which is not a multiple of the identity matrix, encodes the dynamics and $$\lambda >0$$λ>0 is a scalar coupling constant. We proved that the logarithm of the partition function is the Borel sum of the perturbation series and hence is a well-defined analytic function of the coupling constant in certain analytic domain of $$\lambda $$λ, by using the multi-scale loop vertex expansions. All the non-planar graphs generated in the perturbation expansions have been taken care of on the same footing as the planar ones. This model is derived from the self-dual $$\phi ^4$$ϕ4 theory on the 2-dimensional Moyal space also called the 2-dimensional Grosse–Wulkenhaar model. This would also be the first fully constructed matrix model which is non-trivial and not solvable.
56066308
Plasma deposition of high temperature protective coatings
Oxide ceramic films can be made using a vacuum arc based technique in which a metal plasma is formed in an oxygen background, with ion energy controlled by the application of a repetitive pulse bias to the substrate throughout the deposition. High ion energy early in the process produces atomic mixing at the film-substrate interface while lower but optimized ion energy later in the deposition can control the structure and morphology, and films that are adherent and dense can be formed in this way. In recent work we have investigated the formation of films of aluminum-silicon oxide on silicon carbide substrates by mixed aluminum and silicon plasmas produced from separate plasma sources. The Al to Si ratio was controlled by the plasma gun parameters, and the guns were pulsed simultaneously so as to mix the plasma streams before deposition; a magnetic multiple plasma homogenizer device was also used to further blend the two plasmas. Films with Al:Si ratios varying from 2:1 to 8:1 were produced in this study (Al:Si is 3:1 for Mullite), and the oxygen content in the films was controlled by varying the oxygen partial pressure during deposition. Additionally, we have compared some of the characteristics of alumina films plasma deposited on iron aluminide substrates with films produced by e-beam evaporation of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} using oxygen ion beam assisted deposition onto unheated or heated substrates. Here we outline the film synthesis techniques and describe the characterization results obtained to-date.
13852548
Optical/Infrared Observations of the Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937 During Its 2007 X-Ray Flare
We report on optical and infrared observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 1048.1–5937 made during its ongoing X-ray flare that started in 2007 March. We detected the source in the optical I and near-infrared Ks bands in two ground-based observations and obtained deep flux upper limits from four observations, including one with the Spitzer Space Telescope at 4.5 and 8.0 μm. The detections indicate that the source was approximately 1.3-1.6 mag brighter than in 2003-2006, when it was at the tail of a previous similar X-ray flare. Similar related flux variations have been seen in two other AXPs during their X-ray outbursts, suggesting common behavior for large X-ray flux variation events in AXPs. The Spitzer flux limits are sufficiently deep that we can exclude mid-infrared emission similar to that from the AXP 4U 0142+61, which has been interpreted as arising from a dust disk around the AXP. The optical/near-infrared emission from 1E 1048.1–5937 probably has a magnetospheric origin. The similarity in the flux spectra of 1E 1048.1–5937 and 4U 0142+61 challenges the dust disk model proposed for the latter.
118179000
Magnetic moment of the pentaquark state $\Theta^+(1540)$
In this article, we study the magnetic moment of the pentaquark $ \Theta^+(1540)$ as (scalar)diquark-(pseudoscalar)diquark-antiquark state with the QCD sum rules approach in the external electromagnetic field. Due to the special structure of the interpolating current, only the electromagnetic interactions of the $s$ quark with the external field have contributions to the magnetic moment with tensor structure $\{\sigma_{\mu\nu} {\hat p} +{\hat p}\sigma_{\mu\nu}\}$. The numerical results indicate the magnetic moment of the pentaquark state $ \Theta^+(1540)$ is about $\mu_{\Theta^+}=(0.16\pm0.03)\mu_N$.