Physics

The space electron-ion-positive dust plasma system containing isothermal inertialess electron species, cold inertial ion species, and stationary positive (positivively charged) dust species is considered. The basic features of one dimensional (1D) planar and nonplanar subsonic solitary waves are investigated by the pseudo-potential and reductive perturbation methods, respectively. It is observed that the presence of the positive dust species reduces the phase speed of the ion-acoustic waves, and consequently supports the subsonic solitary waves with the positive wave potential in such a space dusty plasma system. It is observed that the cylindrical and spherical subsonic solitary waves significantly evolve with time, and that the time evolution of the spherical solitary waves is faster than that of the cylindrical ones. The applications of the work in many space dusty plasma systems, particularly in Earth's mesosphere, cometary tails, Jupiter's magnetosphere, etc. are addressed.

We have carried out a 3D ideal-MHD (Magnetohydrodynamic) simulation to study the evolution of laser generated plasma plume in a moderate external magnetic field (0.13 T) oriented perpendicular to the flow direction of the plasma plume. The outcomes of the simulation show that the plasma plume pushes the external magnetic field lines as it expands, thereby creating a cavity in plasma density as well as the external magnetic field. Formation of this cavity is supported and sustained by the plasma pressure. As the plasma pressure drops due to expansion, the imbalance between the magnetic energy and the internal energy results in the collapse of the cavity. These observations have striking similarities with the observations of the experiments [Phys. Plasmas 24, 033511 (2017)] performed recently to study the plasma plume expansion in the presence of an external transverse magnetic field. This similarity indicates that the physical mechanisms dominantly governing the plasma plume expansion in the moderate magnetic field are aptly described in the ideal MHD regime. The studies thus show that the laser generated plasma plume can be utilized to carry out interesting experiments on MHD phenomena in a simple laboratory set up.

We investigate the dynamics of negative surface discharges in air through numerical simulations with a 2D fluid model. A geometry consisting of a flat dielectric embedded between parallel-plate electrodes is used. Compared to negative streamers in bulk gas, negative surface streamers are observed to have a higher electron density, a higher electric field and higher propagation velocity. On the other hand, their maximum electric field and velocity are lower than for positive surface streamers. In our simulations, negative surface streamers are slower for larger relative permittivity. Negative charge accumulates on a dielectric surface when a negative streamer propagates along it, which can lead to a high electric field inside the dielectric. If we initially put negative surface charge on the dielectric, the growth of negative surface discharges is delayed or inhibited. Positive surface charge has the opposite effect.

In collisionless and weakly collisional plasmas, the particle distribution function is a rich tapestry of the underlying physics. However, actually leveraging the particle distribution function to understand the dynamics of a weakly collisional plasma is challenging. The equation system of relevance, the Vlasov-Maxwell-Fokker-Planck (VM-FP) system of equations, is difficult to numerically integrate, and traditional methods such as the particle-in-cell method introduce counting noise into the distribution function. In this thesis, we present a new algorithm for the discretization of VM-FP system of equations for the study of plasmas in the kinetic regime. Using the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element method for the spatial discretization and a third order strong-stability preserving Runge-Kutta for the time discretization, we obtain an accurate solution for the plasma's distribution function in space and time. We both prove the numerical method retains key physical properties of the VM-FP system, such as the conservation of energy and the second law of thermodynamics, and demonstrate these properties numerically. These results are contextualized in the history of the DG method. We discuss the importance of the algorithm being alias-free, a necessary condition for deriving stable DG schemes of kinetic equations so as to retain the implicit conservation relations embedded in the particle distribution function, and the computational favorable implementation using a modal, orthonormal basis in comparison to traditional DG methods applied in computational fluid dynamics. Finally, we demonstrate how the high fidelity representation of the distribution function, combined with novel diagnostics, permits detailed analysis of the energization mechanisms in fundamental plasma processes such as collisionless shocks.

When magnetohydrodynamic turbulence evolves in the presence of a large-scale mean magnetic field, an anisotropy develops relative to that preferred direction. The well-known tendency is to develop stronger gradients perpendicular to the magnetic field, relative to the direction along the field. This anisotropy of the spectrum is deeply connected with anisotropy of estimated timescales for dynamical processes, and requires reconsideration of basic issues such as scale locality and spectral transfer. Here analysis of high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of unforced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence permits quantitative assessment of the behavior of theoretically relevant timescales in Fourier wavevector space. We discuss the distribution of nonlinear times, Alfvén times, and estimated spectral transfer rates. Attention is called to the potential significance of special regions of the spectrum, such as the two-dimensional limit and the "critical balance" region. A formulation of estimated spectral transfer in terms of a suppression factor supports a conclusion that the quasi two-dimensional fluctuations (characterized by strong nonlinearities) are not a singular limit, but may be in general expected to make important contributions.

Coulomb collisions in plasmas are typically modeled using the Boltzmann collision operator, or its variants, which apply to weakly magnetized plasmas in which the typical gyroradius of particles significantly exceeds the Debye length. Conversely, O'Neil has developed a kinetic theory to treat plasmas that are so strongly magnetized that the typical gyroradius of particles is much smaller than the distance of closest approach in a binary collision. Here, we develop a generalized collision operator that applies across the full range of magnetization strength. To demonstrate novel physics associated with strong magnetization, it is used to compute the friction force on a massive test charge. In addition to the traditional stopping power component, this is found to exhibit a transverse component that is perpendicular to both the velocity and Lorentz force vectors in the strongly magnetized regime, as was predicted recently using linear response theory. Good agreement is found between the collision theory and linear response theory in the regime in which both apply, but the new collision theory also applies to stronger magnetization strength regimes than the linear response theory is expected to apply in.

A Hamiltonian six-field gyrofluid model is constructed, based on closure relations derived from the so-called "quasi-static" gyrokinetic linear theory where the fields are assumed to propagate with a parallel phase velocity much smaller than the parallel particle thermal velocities. The main properties of this model, primarily aimed at exploring basic phenomena of interest for space plasmas such as the solar wind, are its ability to provide a reasonable agreement with kinetic theory for linear low-frequency modes, and at the same time to ensure a Hamiltonian structure in the absence of explicit dissipation. The model accounts for equilibrium temperature anisotropy, ion and electron finite Larmor radius corrections, electron inertia, magnetic fluctuations along the direction of a strong guide field, and parallel Landau damping. Remarkably, the quasi-static closure leads to exact expressions for the nonlinear terms involving gyroaveraged electromagnetic perturbations. One of the consequences is that a rather natural identification of the Hamiltonian structure of the model becomes possible when Landau damping is neglected. A slight variant of the model consists of a four-field Hamiltonian reduction of the original six-field model, which we use for the subsequent linear analysis. In the latter, the dispersion relations of kinetic Alfvén waves and the firehose instability are shown to be correctly reproduced, relatively far in the sub-ion range (depending on the plasma parameters), while the spectral range where the slow-wave dispersion relation and the field-swelling instabilities are precisely described is less extended. This loss of accuracy originates from the breaking of the condition of small phase velocity, relative to the parallel thermal velocity of the electrons (for kinetic Alfvén waves and firehose instability) or of the ions (in the case of the field-swelling instabilities).

We present a model for electron-ion transport in Warm Dense Matter that incorporates Coulomb coupling effects into the quantum Boltzmann equation of Uehling and Uhlenbeck through the use of a statistical potential of mean force. Although this model has been derived rigorously in the classical limit [S.D. Baalrud and J. Daligault, Physics of Plasmas 26, 8, 082106 (2019)], its quantum generalization is complicated by the uncertainty principle. Here we apply an existing model for the potential of mean force based on the quantum Ornstein-Zernike equation coupled with an average-atom model [C. E. Starrett, High Energy Density Phys. 25, 8 (2017)]. This potential contains correlations due to both Coulomb coupling and exchange, and the collision kernel of the kinetic theory enforces Pauli blocking while allowing for electron diffraction and large-angle collisions. By solving the Uehling-Uhlenbeck equation for electron-ion relaxation rates, we predict the momentum and temperature relaxation time and electrical conductivity of solid density aluminum plasma based on electron-ion collisions. We present results for density and temperature conditions that span the transition from classical weakly-coupled plasma to degenerate moderately-coupled plasma. Our findings agree well with recent quantum molecular dynamics simulations.

The potential for laser-produced plasmas to yield fundamental insights into high energy density physics (HEDP) and deliver other useful applications can sometimes be frustrated by uncertainties in modeling the properties and behavior of these plasmas using radiation-hydrodynamics codes. In an effort to overcome this and to corroborate the accuracy of the HEDP capabilities that have been added to the publicly available FLASH radiation-hydrodynamics code, we present detailed code-to-code comparisons between FLASH and the HYDRA code developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory using previously published HYDRA simulations from Grava et al. 2008. That study describes a laser experiment that produced a jet-like feature that the authors compare to astrophysical jets. Importantly, the Grava et al. 2008 experiment included detailed x-ray interferometric measurements of electron number densities. Despite radically different methods for treating the computational mesh, and different equation of state and opacity models, the FLASH results greatly resemble the results from HYDRA and, most importantly, the experimental measurements of electron density. Having validated the FLASH code in this way, we use the code to further investigate and understand the formation of the jet seen in the Grava et al. (2008) experiment and discuss its relation to the Wan et al. (1997) experiment at the NOVA laser.

A new optimized quasihelically symmetric configuration is described that has the desir-able properties of improved energetic particle confinement, reduced turbulent transportby 3D shaping, and non-resonant divertor capabilities. The configuration presented in thispaper is explicitly optimized for quasihelical symmetry, energetic particle confinement,neoclassical confinement, and stability near the axis. Post optimization, the configurationwas evaluated for its performance with regard to energetic particle transport, idealmagnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability at various values of plasma pressure, and iontemperature gradient instability induced turbulent transport. The effect of discrete coilson various confinement figures of merit, including energetic particle confinement, aredetermined by generating single-filament coils for the configuration. Preliminary divertoranalysis shows that coils can be created that do not interfere with expansion of thevessel volume near the regions of outgoing heat flux, thus demonstrating the possibilityof operating a non-resonant divertor.