Declan A. Diver

Ionization in atmospheres of brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets. I. The role of electron avalanche

Brown dwarf and extrasolar planet atmospheres form clouds which strongly influence the local chemistry and physics. These clouds are globally neutral obeying dust-gas charge equilibrium which is, on short timescales, inconsistent with the observation of stochastic ionization events of the solar system planets. We argue that a significant volume of the clouds in brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets is susceptible to local discharge events. These are electron avalanches triggered by charged dust grains. Such intra-cloud discharges occur on timescales shorter than the time needed to neutralize the dust grains by collisional processes. An ensemble of discharges is likely to produce enough free charges to suggest a partial and stochastic coupling of the atmosphere to a large-scale magnetic field.

Ionization in Atmospheres of Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets. III. Breakdown Conditions for Mineral Clouds

Electric discharges were detected directly in the cloudy atmospheres of Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, are debatable for Venus, and indirectly inferred for Neptune and Uranus in our solar system. Sprites (and other types of transient luminous events) have been detected only on Earth, and are theoretically predicted for Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. Cloud formation is a common phenomenon in ultra-cool atmospheres such as in brown dwarf and extrasolar planetary atmospheres. Cloud particles can be expected to carry considerable charges which may trigger discharge events via small-scale processes between individual cloud particles (intra-cloud discharges) or large-scale processes between clouds (inter-cloud discharges). We investigate electrostatic breakdown characteristics, like critical field strengths and critical charge densities per surface, to demonstrate under which conditions mineral clouds undergo electric discharge events which may trigger or be responsible for sporadic X-ray emission. We apply results from our kinetic dust cloud formation model that is part of the DRIFT-PHOENIX model atmosphere simulations. We present a first investigation of the dependence of the breakdown conditions in brown dwarf and giant gas exoplanets on the local gas-phase chemistry, the effective temperature, and primordial gas-phase metallicity. Our results suggest that different intra-cloud discharge processes dominate at different heights inside mineral clouds: local coronal (point discharges) and small-scale sparks at the bottom region of the cloud where the gas density is high, and flow discharges and large-scale sparks near, and maybe above, the cloud top. The comparison of the thermal degree of ionization and the number density of cloud particles allows us to suggest the efficiency with which discharges will occur in planetary atmospheres.

Balltracking: an highly efficient method for tracking flow fields

We present a method for tracking solar photospheric flows that is highly efficient, and demonstrate it using high resolution MDI continuum images. The method involves making a surface from the photospheric granulation data, and allowing many small floating tracers or balls to be moved around by the evolving granulation pattern. The results are tested against synthesised granulation with known flow fields and compared to the results produced by Local Correlation tracking (LCT). The results from this new method have similar accuracy to those produced by LCT. We also investigate the maximum spatial and temporal resolution of the velocity field that it is possible to extract, based on the statistical properties of the granulation data. We conclude that both methods produce results that are close to the maximum resolution possible from granulation data. The code runs very significantly faster than our similarly optimised LCT code, making real time applications on large data sets possible. The tracking method is not limited to photospheric flows, and will also work on any velocity field where there are visible moving features of known scale length.

Control to concentrate drug-coated magnetic particles to deep-tissue tumors for targeted cancer chemotherapy

The control problem for concentrating drug-coated magnetic nano-particles to deep-tissue tumors in a patient is developed and initial control ideas are presented In current implementations of magnetically-controlled drug targeting, stationary magnets (creating static magnetic fields) are held outside the patients body, these magnets attract the nano-particles to their corners, and hence focus them to tumors at or near the skin surface. Deep tissue tumors cannot be targeted in this way. Dynamic control of magnetic fields can allow drug targeting to tumors deep in the body, creating high drug concentrations at the tumor (effective treatment) with low concentrations in the rest of the body (eliminating life-threatening side-effects), and thereby dramatically improving chemotherapy treatment. Here we synthesize the control problem (accurately stating the problem definition is itself a serious challenge), show initial results for focusing magnetic particles to a target in air by feedback control of magnetic fields, and present a first-cut approach for doing the same inside the human blood vasculature network and the surrounding tissue. As such, we are presenting preliminary results in a long-term effort: the development of control algorithms and sensing/actuating technology to concentrate chemotherapy drugs to deep tissue tumors for dramatically improved treatment of cancer.

Elliptical dust growth in astrophysical plasmas

Elongated dust grains exist in astrophysical plasmas. Anisotropic growth of elliptical dust grains, via plasma deposition, occurs if the deposited ions are non-inertial. In reality the extent of such growth depends upon the initial kinetic energy of the ions and the magnitude of the electric field in the sheath. Simulations of the dynamics of the ions in the sheath are reported, showing how elliptical growth is related to the initial eccentricity and size of the seed relative to the sheath length. Consequences for the eventual fate of elliptical dust are then discussed.

Ionization in atmospheres of brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets. V. Alfvén Ionization

Observations of continuous radio and sporadic X-ray emission from low-mass objects suggest they harbor localized plasmas in their atmospheric environments. For low-mass objects, the degree of thermal ionization is insufficient to qualify the ionized component as a plasma, posing the question: what ionization processes can efficiently produce the required plasma that is the source of the radiation? We propose Alfv´ en ionization as a mechanism for producing localized pockets of ionized gas in the atmosphere, having sufficient degrees of ionization (10 −7 ) that they constitute plasmas. We outline the criteria required for Alfv´ en ionization and demonstrate its applicability in the atmospheres of low-mass objects such as giant gas planets, brown dwarfs, and M dwarfs with both solar and sub-solar metallicities. We find that Alfv´ en ionization is most efficient at mid to low atmospheric pressures where a seed plasma is easier to magnetize and the pressure gradients needed to drive the required neutral flows are the smallest. For the model atmospheres considered, our results show that degrees of ionization of 10 −6 –1 can be

Energetic Charged Particles Above Thunderclouds

The French government has committed to launch the satellite TARANIS to study transient coupling processes between the Earth’s atmosphere and near-Earth space. The prime objective of TARANIS is to detect energetic charged particles and hard radiation emanating from thunderclouds. The British Nobel prize winner C.T.R. Wilson predicted lightning discharges from the top of thunderclouds into space almost a century ago. However, new experiments have only recently confirmed energetic discharge processes which transfer energy from the top of thunderclouds into the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space; they are now denoted as transient luminous events, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and relativistic electron beams. This meeting report builds on the current state of scientific knowledge on the physics of plasmas in the laboratory and naturally occurring plasmas in the Earth’s atmosphere to propose areas of future research. The report specifically reflects presentations delivered by the members of a novel Franco-British collaboration during a meeting at the French Embassy in London held in November 2011. The scientific subjects of the report tackle ionization processes leading to electrical discharge processes, observations of transient luminous events, electromagnetic emissions, energetic charged particles and their impact on the Earth’s atmosphere. The importance of future research in this area for science and society, and towards spacecraft protection, is emphasized.

Dynamics of freely-suspended drops

Ferrofluid drops are freely suspended for long periods in air in a novel experiment by using magnetic fields to create an attractive force opposing gravity. The suspended drop is then forced to oscillate by perturbing the supporting magnetic field. In addition to small-amplitude behaviour, the driven drop exhibits high order nonlinear modes of oscillation, and can be driven until it splits. A new simplified analytical expression for the general potential for the drop motion is derived, and numerical simulations of the drop behaviour are presented, showing close agreement with the experimental data.

Pulsar magnetospheres: Numerical simulations of large amplitude electron-positron oscillations

The numerical simulation of non-linear electron-positron oscillations is reported, showing the evolution of the electric eld and the plasma number density for large amplitude disturbances. Sharp density gradients and changes in the oscillation frequency are demonstrated, and a new analytical framework is presented to illustrate these phenomena, particularly in the context of pulsar plasmas.

Electron acceleration above thunderclouds

The acceleration of electrons results in observable electromagnetic waves which can be used for remote sensing. Here, we make use of 4 Hz‐66 MHz radio waves emitted by two consecutive intense positive lightning discharges to investigate their impact on the atmosphere above a thundercloud. It is found that the first positive lightning discharge initiates a sprite where electrons are accelerated during the exponential growth and branching of the sprite streamers. This preconditioned plasma above the thundercloud is subsequently exposed to a second positive lightning discharge associated with a bouncing-wave discharge. This discharge process causes a re-brightening of the existing sprite streamers above the thundercloud and initiates a subsequent relativistic electron beam.