Showing papers in "Contributions To Plasma Physics in 2020"

Ab initio results for the plasmon dispersion and damping of the warm dense electron gas

Abstract: Warm dense matter (WDM) is an exotic state on the border between condensed matter and dense plasmas. Important occurrences of WDM include dense astrophysical objects, matter in the core of our Earth, as well as matter produced in strong compression experiments. As of late, x-ray Thomson scattering has become an advanced tool to diagnose WDM. The interpretation of the data requires model input for the dynamic structure factor $S(q,\omega)$ and the plasmon dispersion $\omega(q)$. Recently the first \textit{ab initio} results for $S(q,\omega)$ of the homogeneous warm dense electron gas were obtained from path integral Monte Carlo simulations, [Dornheim \textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{121}, 255001 (2018)]. Here, we analyse the effects of correlations and finite temperature on the dynamic dielectric function and the plasmon dispersion. Our results for the plasmon dispersion and damping differ significantly from the random phase approximation and from earlier models of the correlated electron gas. Moreover, we show when commonly used weak damping approximations break down and how the method of complex zeros of the dielectric function can solve this problem for WDM conditions.

Kinetic‐diffusion asymptotic‐preserving Monte Carlo algorithms for plasma edge neutral simulation

Abstract: We develop a novel Monte Carlo strategy for the simulation of the Boltzmann-BGK model with both low-collisional and high-collisional regimes present. The presented solution to maintain accuracy in low-collisional regimes and remove exploding simulation costs in high-collisional regimes uses hybridized particles that exhibit both kinetic behaviour and diffusive behaviour depending on the local collisionality. In this work, we develop such a method that maintains the correct mean, variance, and correlation of the positional increments over multiple time steps of fixed step size for all values of the collisionality, under the condition of spatial homogeneity during the time step. In the low-collisional regime, the method reverts to the standard velocity-jump process. In the high-collisional regime, the method collapses to a standard random walk process. We analyze the error of the presented scheme in the low-collisional regime for which we obtain the order of convergence in the time step size. We furthermore provide an analysis in the high-collisional regime that demonstrates the asymptotic-preserving property.

Role of poloidal E × B drift in divertor heat transport in DIII‐D

Abstract: Simulations for DIII-D high confinement mode plasmas with the multifluid code UEDGE show a strong role of poloidal $\mathbf{E}\times\mathbf{B}$ drifts on divertor heat transport, challenging the paradigm of conduction limited scrape-off layer (SOL) transport. While simulations with reduced drift magnitude are well aligned with the assumption that electron heat conduction dominates the SOL heat transport, simulations with drifts predict that the poloidal convective $\mathbf{E}\times\mathbf{B}$ heat transport dominates over electron heat conduction in both attached and detached conditions. Since poloidal $\mathbf{E}\times\mathbf{B}$ flow propagates across magnetic field lines, poloidal transport with shallow magnetic pitch angles can reach values that are of the same order as would be provided by sonic flows parallel to the field lines. These flows can lead to strongly convection dominated divertor heat transport, increasing the poloidal volume of radiative power front, consistent with previous measurements at DIII-D. Due to these convective flows, the Lengyel integral approach, assuming zero convective fraction, is expected to provide a pessimistic estimate for radiative capability of impurities in the divertor. For the DIII-D simulations shown here, the Lengyel integral approach underestimates the radiated power by a factor of 6, indicating that for reliable DIII-D divertor power exhaust predictions, full 2D calculations, including drifts, would be necessary.

Electron transfer in proton‐hydrogen collisions in nonideal classical plasmas

Abstract: Effects of nonideality of classical plasma on the reaction: p + H(1s) → H(nlm) + p has been investigated by carrying out fully quantum mechanical calculations within the framework of a first-order distorted wave method. Scattering amplitude is calculated conveniently by employing a simple, variationally determined wave function of hydrogen atom embedded in nonideal classical plasma. A detailed study is made on the changes in electron transfer cross sections due to the nonideality of plasma varying from 0 to 4 and the incident proton energy lying between 10 and 500 keV. It has been found that nonideality of plasma causes substantial change in capture cross section.

Influence of external magnetic field on dust acoustic waves in a capacitive RF discharge

Abstract: This paper reports experiments on self$-$excited dust acoustic waves (DAWs) and its propagation characteristics in a magnetized rf discharge plasma. The DAWs are spontaneously excited in dusty plasma after adding more particles in the confining potential well and found to propagate in the direction of streaming ions. The spontaneous excitation of such low-frequency modes is possible due to the instabilities associated with streaming ions through the dust grain medium. The background E-field and neutral pressure determine the stability of excited DAWs. The characteristics of DAWs strongly depend on the strength of external magnetic field. The magnetic field of strength B $ $ 0.05 T and get completely damped at higher magnetic field B $\sim$ 0.13 T. After lowering the power and pressure to 3 W and 23 Pa respectively, the excited DAWs in the absence of B are slightly unstable. In this case, the magnetic field only stabilizes and modifies the propagation characteristics of DAWs while the strength of B is increased up to 0.1 T or even higher. The modification of the sheath electric field where particles are confined in the presence of the external magnetic field is the main cause of the modification and damping of the DAWs in a magnetized rf discharge plasma.

Collisional gyrokinetic full-f particle-in-cell simulations on open field lines with PICLS

Abstract: Applying gyrokinetic simulations for theoretical turbulence and transport studies to the plasma edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) presents significant challenges. To in particular account for steep density and temperature gradients in the SOL, the "full-f" code PICLS was developed. PICLS is a gyrokinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) code and is based on an electrostatic model with a linearized field equation and uses kinetic electrons. In previously published results we were applying PICLS to the well-studied 1D parallel transport problem during an edge-localized mode (ELM) in the SOL without collisions. As an extension to this collision-less case and in preparation for 3D simulations, in this work a collisional model will be introduced. The implemented Lenard-Bernstein collision operator and its Langevin discretization will be shown. Conservation properties of the collision operator as well as a comparison of the collisional and non-collisional case will be discussed.

Tabular electrical conductivity for aluminium

Abstract: A new Sesame-type table for the electrical conductivity of aluminum is described. The table is based on density functional theory calculations and ranges from 0.001 to 1 times solid density (2.7 g/cm^3 ), and from 0.01 to 1000 eV in temperature. The table is compared to other simulations and to experiments and is generally in good agreement. The high temperature, classical limit of the conductivity is recovered for the highest temperatures and lowest densities. The table is critically evaluated and directions for improvements are discussed.

Effects of the Chodura sheath on tungsten ionization and emission in tokamak divertors

Abstract: Funding information U.S. Department of Energy, DE-FG02-95ER54309, DE-SC0018423 Abstract The decay of the electric potential in the sheath region in tokamak divertors occurs on a scale length on the order of the main ion gyroradius (Chodura sheath) due to magnetic fields lines intersecting the divertor plates at grazing incidence. As a consequence, high-Z impurities like tungsten ionize within the sheath region in attached plasma conditions. The modification of the electron distribution in the sheath region must thus be taken into account to accurately model ionization and emission of impurities within the sheath region. To that end, an analytical expression of the distribution of the vertical ionization path for impurities sputtered from divertor plasma-facing components is derived. This expression is then used to estimate the fraction of neutral impurities ionizing within the sheath and the average vertical ionization path, and to derive an effective SXB (the number of ionizations per emitted photon) coefficient which includes the effects of the variation of the electron distribution in the sheath region. These results are applied to tungsten impurities sputtered from divertor plates. It is shown that the SXB coefficient for neutral tungsten is significantly reduced in high-density attached divertor plasma conditions (ne ≳ 5× 1013 cm−3) because of the ionization of neutral tungsten well within the sheath region.