Computational Prediction of Atomic Structures of Helical Membrane Proteins Aided by EM Maps

PubMed Central

Kovacs, Julio A.; Yeager, Mark; Abagyan, Ruben

2007-01-01

Integral membrane proteins pose a major challenge for protein-structure prediction because only ≈100 high-resolution structures are available currently, thereby impeding the development of rules or empirical potentials to predict the packing of transmembrane α-helices. However, when an intermediate-resolution electron microscopy (EM) map is available, it can be used to provide restraints which, in combination with a suitable computational protocol, make structure prediction feasible. In this work we present such a protocol, which proceeds in three stages: 1), generation of an ensemble of α-helices by flexible fitting into each of the density rods in the low-resolution EM map, spanning a range of rotational angles around the main helical axes and translational shifts along the density rods; 2), fast optimization of side chains and scoring of the resulting conformations; and 3), refinement of the lowest-scoring conformations with internal coordinate mechanics, by optimizing the van der Waals, electrostatics, hydrogen bonding, torsional, and solvation energy contributions. In addition, our method implements a penalty term through a so-called tethering map, derived from the EM map, which restrains the positions of the α-helices. The protocol was validated on three test cases: GpA, KcsA, and MscL. PMID:17496035

Comparison of an Atomic Model and Its Cryo-EM Image at the Central Axis of a Helix

PubMed Central

He, Jing; Zeil, Stephanie; Hallak, Hussam; McKaig, Kele; Kovacs, Julio; Wriggers, Willy

2016-01-01

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is an important biophysical technique that produces three-dimensional (3D) density maps at different resolutions. Because more and more models are being produced from cryo-EM density maps, validation of the models is becoming important. We propose a method for measuring local agreement between a model and the density map using the central axis of the helix. This method was tested using 19 helices from cryo-EM density maps between 5.5 Å and 7.2 Å resolution and 94 helices from simulated density maps. This method distinguished most of the well-fitting helices, although challenges exist for shorter helices. PMID:27280059

Current induced vortex wall dynamics in helical magnetic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roostaei, Bahman

2015-03-01

Nontrivial topology of interfaces separating phases with opposite chirality in helical magnetic metals result in new effects as they interact with spin polarized current. These interfaces or vortex walls consist of a one dimensional array of vortex lines. We predict that adiabatic transfer of angular momentum between vortex array and spin polarized current will result in topological Hall effect in multi-domain samples. Also we predict that the motion of the vortex array will result in a new damping mechanism for magnetic moments based on Lenz's law. We study the dynamics of these walls interacting with electric current and use fundamental electromagnetic laws to quantify those predictions. On the other hand discrete nature of vortex walls affects their pinning and results in low depinning current density. We predict the value of this current using collective pinning theory.

Physics of the current injection process during localized helicity injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinson, Edward Thomas

An impedance model has been developed for the arc-plasma cathode electron current source used in localized helicity injection tokamak startup. According to this model, a potential double layer (DL) is established between the high-density arc plasma (narc ˜ 1021 m-3) in the electron source, and the less-dense external tokamak edge plasma (nedge ˜ 10 18 m-3) into which current is injected. The DL launches an electron beam at the applied voltage with cross-sectional area close to that of the source aperture: Ainj ≈ 2 cm 2. The injected current, Iinj, increases with applied voltage, Vinj, according to the standard DL scaling, Iinj ˜ V(3/2/ inj), until the more restrictive of two limits to beam density nb arises, producing Iinj ˜ V(1/2/inj), a scaling with beam drift velocity. For low external tokamak edge density nedge, space-charge neutralization of the intense electron beam restricts the injected beam density to nb ˜ nedge. At high Jinj and sufficient edge density, the injected current is limited by expansion of the DL sheath, which leads to nb ˜ narc. Measurements of narc, Iinj , nedge, Vinj, support these predicted scalings, and suggest narc as a viable control actuator for the source impedance. Magnetic probe signals ≈ 300 degrees toroidally from the injection location are consistent with expectations for a gyrating, coherent electron beam with a compact areal cross-section. Technological development of the source has allowed an extension of the favorable Iinj ˜ V(1/2/inj) to higher power without electrical breakdown.

NIMROD simulations of HIT-SI plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akcay, Cihan; Jarboe, Thomas; Nelson, Brian; Kim, Charlson

2011-10-01

HIT-SI (Steady Inductive Helicity Injected Torus) is a current drive experiment that uses two semi-toroidal helicity injectors driven at 5-15 kHz to generate steady inductive helicity injection (SIHI). All the plasma-facing walls of the experiment are coated with an insulating material to guarantee an inductive discharge. NIMROD is a 3-D extended MHD code that can only model toroidally-uniform geometries. The helicity injectors of the experiment are simulated as flux and voltage boundary conditions with odd toroidal symmetry. A highly resistive, thin edge-layer approximates the insulating walls. The simulations are initial-value calculations that use a zero β resistive MHD (rMHD) model with uniform density. The Prandtl number (Pr = 10), and Lundquist number (S = 5 - 50) closely match the experimental values. rMHD calculations at S ~ 10 show no growth of an n = 0 mode and only a few kA of toroidal current whereas HIT-SI has demonstrated toroidal currents greater than 50 kA with a current amplification of 3. At higher S (>= 20) the simulations exhibit significant n = 0 magnetic energy growth and a current amplification exceeding unity: Itor/Iinj >= 1 . While HIT-SI has shown evidence for separatrix formation, rMHD calculations indicate an entirely stochastic magnetic structure during sustainment. Results will also presented for Hall MHD, anticipated to play a crucial role in the physics of SIHI.

Dynamics of Single Flux Rope in the Reconnection Scaling Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Y.; Sears, J.; Intrator, T.; Weber, T.; Swan, H.; Dunn, J. P.; Gao, K.; Chapdelaine, L.

2013-12-01

A magnetic flux tube threaded by current is a flux rope with helically twisted field lines. In the Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX) we use a plasma gun to generate a single flux rope with a choice of axial boundary conditions. If this flux rope is driven hard enough, i.e., when J●B /B2 is larger than the kink instability threshold, we measure a helically distorted kinked structure. Rather than exploding in an Alfvén time, this kink appears to saturate to a steady amplitude, helical, gyrating flux rope, which persists as long as the plasma gun sources the current. To understand it, we have experimentally measured three-dimensional (3D) profiles of various quantities of this flux rope. These quantities include magnetic field B, plasma density n and potential φ, ion flow velocity vi, so that current density J, electron flow velocity ve and electron pressure Pe can also be derived. Consequently we can analyze the single flux rope dynamics systematically in 3D. Besides gyrating (writhe), we also find the flux rope has a spin (twist) center, around which the J×B - ▽Pe ≠ 0 suggesting that there should be other forces for the radial balance. We also find that there is a reverse current moving around with the flux rope at some locations, i.e. there are local induced currents that are not at all apparent from measurements outside the 3D volume. Work supported by LANL-DOE, DOE Fusion Energy Sciences DE-AC52-06NA25396, NASA Geospace NNHIOA044I Basic, CMSO, SULI, NUF.

Arbitrary helicity control of circularly polarized light from lateral-type spin-polarized light-emitting diodes at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishizawa, Nozomi; Aoyama, Masaki; Roca, Ronel C.; Nishibayashi, Kazuhiro; Munekata, Hiro

2018-05-01

We demonstrate arbitrary helicity control of circularly polarized light (CPL) emitted at room temperature from the cleaved side facet of a lateral-type spin-polarized light-emitting diode (spin-LED) with two ferromagnetic electrodes in an antiparallel magnetization configuration. Driving alternate currents through the two electrodes results in polarization switching of CPL with frequencies up to 100 kHz. Furthermore, tuning the current density ratio in the two electrodes enables manipulation of the degree of circular polarization. These results demonstrate arbitrary electrical control of polarization with high speed, which is required for the practical use of lateral-type spin-LEDs as monolithic CPL light sources.

Plasma Flow During RF Discharges in VASIMR

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobson, V. T.; Chang Diaz, F. R.; Squire, J. P.; Ilin, A. V.; Bengtson, R. D.; Carter, M. D.; Goulding, R. H.

1999-01-01

The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) plasma source consists of a helical antenna, driven at frequencies of 4 to 19 MHz with powers up to 1 kW, in a magnetic field up to 3 kG. Helium is the current test gas, and future experiments with hydrogen are planned. Plasma density and temperature profiles were measured by a reciprocating Langmuir probe, and plasma flow profiles were measured with a reciprocating Mach probe. Both probes were located about 0.5 m downstream from the helical antenna. The plasma source operated in capacitive and inductive modes in addition to a helicon mode. During capacitive and inductive modes, densities were low and plasma flow was < 0.5 Cs. When the plasma operated in a helicon mode, the densities measured downstream from the source were higher [10(exp 12) / cubic cm ] and plasma flow along the magnetic field was of the order Mach 1. Details of the measurements will be shown.

Relaxation of flux ropes and magnetic reconnection in the Reconnection Scaling Experiment at LANL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furno, I.; Intrator, T.; Hemsing, E.; Hsu, S.; Lapenta, G.; Abbate, S.

2004-12-01

Magnetic reconnection and plasma relaxation are studied in the Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX) with current carrying plasma columns (magnetic flux ropes). Using plasma guns, multiple flux ropes (Bθ ≤ 100 Gauss, L=90 cm, r≤3 cm) are generated in a three-dimensional (3D) cylindrical geometry and are observed to evolve dynamically during the injection of magnetic helicity. Detailed evolution of electron density, temperature, plasma potential and magnetic field structures is reconstructed experimentally and visible light emission is captured with a fast-gated, intensified CCD camera to provide insight into the global flux rope dynamics. Experiments with two flux ropes in collisional plasmas and in a strong axial guide field (Bz / Bθ > 10) suggest that magnetic reconnection plays an important role in the initial stages of flux rope evolution. During the early stages of the applied current drive (t≤ 20 τ Alfv´ {e}n), the flux ropes are observed to twist, partially coalesce and form a thin current sheet with a scale size comparable to that of the ion sound gyro-radius. Here, non-ideal terms in a generalized Ohm's Law appear to play a significant role in the 3D reconnection process as shown by the presence of a strong axial pressure gradient in the current sheet. In addition, a density perturbation with a structure characteristic of a kinetic Alfvén wave is observed to propagate axially in the current layer, anti-parallel to the induced sheet current. Later in the evolution, when a sufficient amount of helicity is injected into the system, a critical threshold for the kink instability is exceeded and the helical twisting of each individual flux rope can dominate the dynamics of the system. This may prevent the complete coalescence of the flux ropes.

Relaxation of flux ropes and magnetic reconnection in the Reconnection Scaling Experiment at LANL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furno, Ivo

2004-11-01

Magnetic reconnection and plasma relaxation are studied in the Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX) with current carrying plasma columns (magnetic flux ropes). Using plasma guns, multiple flux ropes (B_pol < 100 Gauss, L=90 cm, r < 3 cm) are generated in a three-dimensional (3D) cylindrical geometry and are observed to evolve dynamically during the injection of magnetic helicity. Detailed evolution of electron density, temperature, plasma potential and magnetic field structures is reconstructed experimentally and visible light emission is captured with a fast-gated, intensified CCD camera to provide insight into the global flux rope dynamics. Experiments with two flux ropes in collisional plasmas and in a strong axial guide field (Bz / B_pol > 10) suggest that magnetic reconnection plays an important role in the initial stages of flux rope evolution. During the early stages of the applied current drive (t < 20τ_Alfven), the flux ropes are observed to twist, partially coalesce and form a thin current sheet with a scale size comparable to that of the ion sound gyro-radius. Here, non-ideal terms in a generalized Ohm's Law appear to play a significant role in the 3D reconnection process as shown by the presence of a strong axial pressure gradient in the current sheet. In addition, a density perturbation with a structure characteristic of a kinetic Alfvén wave is observed to propagate axially in the current layer, anti-parallel to the induced sheet current. Later in the evolution, when a sufficient amount of helicity is injected into the system, a critical threshold for the kink instability is exceeded and the helical twisting of each individual flux rope can dominate the dynamics of the system. This may prevent the complete coalescence of the flux ropes.

Experimental demonstration of plasma startup by coaxial helicity injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raman, R.; Jarboe, T. R.; Nelson, B. A.; Hamp, W. T.; Izzo, V. A.; O'Neill, R. G.; Redd, A. J.; Sieck, P. E.; Smith, R. J.

2004-05-01

Experimental results on the transfer of a coaxial-helicity-injection (CHI) produced discharge to inductive operation are reported. CHI assisted plasma startup is more robust than inductive only operation and reduces volt-seconds consumption. After handoff to inductive operation, the initial 100 kA of CHI produced current drops to 50 kA, then ramps up to 180 kA, using only 30 mVs, about 40% higher than that produced by induction alone. Results show that initiation of CHI discharges at lower densities produce higher levels of coupling current. Coupling a CHI produced discharge to induction from a precharged central solenoid has produced record currents of 290 kA using only 52 mWb of central solenoid flux. CHI discharges can also be generated while the central transformer is in the process of being precharged, during which period it induces a negative loop voltage on the CHI discharge. These significant results were obtained on the Helicity Injected Torus-II (HIT-II) [T.R. Jarboe, Fusion Technol. 15, 7 (1989)] spherical torus experiment (major/minor radius of 0.3/0.2 m and elongation of 1.5).

Magnetic field generation by pointwise zero-helicity three-dimensional steady flow of an incompressible electrically conducting fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasskazov, Andrey; Chertovskih, Roman; Zheligovsky, Vladislav

2018-04-01

We introduce six families of three-dimensional space-periodic steady solenoidal flows, whose kinetic helicity density is zero at any point. Four families are analytically defined. Flows in four families have zero helicity spectrum. Sample flows from five families are used to demonstrate numerically that neither zero kinetic helicity density nor zero helicity spectrum prohibit generation of large-scale magnetic field by the two most prominent dynamo mechanisms: the magnetic α -effect and negative eddy diffusivity. Our computations also attest that such flows often generate small-scale field for sufficiently small magnetic molecular diffusivity. These findings indicate that kinetic helicity and helicity spectrum are not the quantities controlling the dynamo properties of a flow regardless of whether scale separation is present or not.

Overview of HIT-SI3 experiment: Simulations, Diagnostics, and Summary of Current Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penna, James; Jarboe, Thomas; Nelson, Brian; Hossack, Aaron; Sutherland, Derek; Morgan, Kyle; Hansen, Chris; Benedett, Thomas; Everson, Chris; Victor, Brian

2016-10-01

The Helicity Injected Torus - Steady Inductive 3(HIT-SI3)experiment forms and maintains spheromaks via Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI). Three injector units allow for continuous injection of helicity into a copper flux conserver in order to sustain a spheromak. Firing of the injectors with a phase difference allows finite rotation of the plasma to provide a stabilizing effect. Simulations in the MHD code NIMROD and the fluid-model code PSI-TET provide validation and a basis for interpretation of the observed experimental data. Thompson Scattering (TS) and Far Infrared (FIR) Interferometer systems allow temperature and line-averaged density measurements to be taken. An Ion Doppler Spectroscopy (IDS) system allows measurement of the plasma rotation and velocity. HIT-SI3 data has been used for validation of IDCD predictions, in particular the projected impedance of helicity injectors according to the theory. The experimental impedances have been calculated here for the first time for different HIT-SI3 regimes. Such experimental evidence will contribute to the design of future experiments employing IDCD as a current-drive mechanism. Work supported by the D.O.E., Office of Science, Office of Fusion Science.

Non-solenoidal Startup with High-Field-Side Local Helicity Injection on the Pegasus ST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, J. M.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Pachicano, J. L.; Pierren, C.; Richner, N. J.; Rodriguez Sanchez, C.; Schlossberg, D. J.; Reusch, J. A.; Weberski, J. D.

2017-10-01

Local Helicity Injection (LHI) is a non-solenoidal startup technique utilizing electron current injectors at the plasma edge to initiate a tokamak-like plasma at high Ip . Recent experiments on Pegasus explore the inherent tradeoffs between high-field-side (HFS) injection in the lower divertor region and low-field-side (LFS) injection at the outboard midplane. Trade-offs include the relative current drive contributions of HI and poloidal induction, and the magnetic geometry required for relaxation to a tokamak-like state. HFS injection using a set of two increased-area injectors (Ainj = 4 cm2, Vinj 1.5 kV, and Iinj 8 kA) in the lower divertor is demonstrated over the full range of toroidal field available on Pegasus (BT 0 <= 0.15 T). Increased PMI on both the injectors and the lower divertor plates was observed during HFS injection, and was substantively mitigated through optimization of injector geometry and placement of local limiters to reduce scrape-off density in the divertor region. Ip up to 200 kA is achieved with LHI as the dominant current drive, consistent with expectations from helicity balance. To date, experiments support Ip increasing linearly with helicity injection rate. The high normalized current (IN >= 10) attainable with LHI and the favorable stability of the ultra-low aspect ratio, low-li LHI-driven plasmas allow access to high βt-up to 100 % , as indicated by kinetically-constrained equilibrium reconstructions. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Tubular Crystals and Helical Arrays: Structural Determination of HIV-1 Capsid Assemblies Using Iterative Helical Real-Space Reconstruction

PubMed Central

Zhang, Peijun; Meng, Xin; Zhao, Gongpu

2013-01-01

Helical structures are important in many different life forms and are well-suited for structural studies by cryo-EM. A unique feature of helical objects is that a single projection image contains all the views needed to perform a three-dimensional (3D) crystallographic reconstruction. Here, we use HIV-1 capsid assemblies to illustrate the detailed approaches to obtain 3D density maps from helical objects. Mature HIV-1 particles contain a conical- or tubular-shaped capsid that encloses the viral RNA genome and performs essential functions in the virus life cycle. The capsid is composed of capsid protein (CA) oligomers which are helically arranged on the surface. The N-terminal domain (NTD) of CA is connected to its C-terminal domain (CTD) through a flexible hinge. Structural analysis of two- and three-dimensional crystals provided molecular models of the capsid protein (CA) and its oligomer forms. We determined the 3D density map of helically assembled HIV-1 CA hexamers at 16 Å resolution using an iterative helical real-space reconstruction method. Docking of atomic models of CA-NTD and CA-CTD dimer into the electron density map indicated that the CTD dimer interface is retained in the assembled CA. Furthermore, molecular docking revealed an additional, novel CTD trimer interface. PMID:23132072

Self-assembly of hard helices: a rich and unconventional polymorphism.

PubMed

Kolli, Hima Bindu; Frezza, Elisa; Cinacchi, Giorgio; Ferrarini, Alberta; Giacometti, Achille; Hudson, Toby S; De Michele, Cristiano; Sciortino, Francesco

2014-11-07

Hard helices can be regarded as a paradigmatic elementary model for a number of natural and synthetic soft matter systems, all featuring the helix as their basic structural unit, from natural polynucleotides and polypeptides to synthetic helical polymers, and from bacterial flagella to colloidal helices. Here we present an extensive investigation of the phase diagram of hard helices using a variety of methods. Isobaric Monte Carlo numerical simulations are used to trace the phase diagram; on going from the low-density isotropic to the high-density compact phases a rich polymorphism is observed, exhibiting a special chiral screw-like nematic phase and a number of chiral and/or polar smectic phases. We present full characterization of the latter, showing that they have unconventional features, ascribable to the helical shape of the constituent particles. Equal area construction is used to locate the isotropic-to-nematic phase transition, and the results are compared with those stemming from an Onsager-like theory. Density functional theory is also used to study the nematic-to-screw-nematic phase transition; within the simplifying assumption of perfectly parallel helices, we compare different levels of approximation, that is second- and third-virial expansions and a Parsons-Lee correction.

Helical structures in a Rosette elephant trunk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlqvist, Per; Kristen, Helmuth; Gahm, Gosta F.

1998-04-01

We discuss small-scale, helical, interstellar filaments on the basis of optical observations of an elephant trunk in the Rosette nebula. The trunk studied is composed of a number of sinusoidal or serpentine-like dark filaments, preferentially in the outer part of the trunk, where their wavelength is 7-9 times the trunk radius. The diameters are down to the limit of resolution of 1.0 arcsec, corresponding to 1600 au, and ranging up to about 6400 au. At some positions filament crossings give rise to enhanced extinction. We suggest that the sinusoidal filaments are helices lined up by magnetic fields. We derive average extinctions of 0.5-1.0 mag in the filaments, implying molecular densities of n_H2 ~ 10(4) cm(-3) . From existing data on the Rosette HiI region, we conclude that the surrounding kinetic and dynamic pressure and the background radiation field suffice to balance even the denser filaments and to exert drag forces on the trunk as a whole, consistent with evidence of stretching of the trunk. The helical magnetic structures imply the presence of electric currents along the trunk axis. These currents should form a nearly force-free geometry and are consistent with a model consisting of 4-7 helical cables on the surface of a cylinder and which produce the observed wavelength of the helices. We suggest that the Rosette elephant trunks form an interconnected system of rope-like structures which are relics from filamentary skeletons of magnetic fields in the primordial cloud. Based on observations collected at the Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma, Spain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sugiyama, Linda E.

The m/n = 1/1 helical ion density 'snake' located near the q = 1 magnetic surface in a toroidal, magnetically confined plasma arises naturally in resistive MHD, when the plasma density evolves separately from pressure. Nonlinear numerical simulations show that a helical density perturbation applied around q = 1 can form a quasi-steady state over q Greater-Than-Or-Equivalent-To 1 with T(tilde sign) of opposite average sign to n. Two principal outcomes depend on the magnitude of n/n and the underlying stability of the 1/1 internal kink mode. For a small q<1 central region, a moderate helical density drives a new, slowlymore » growing type of nonlinear 1/1 internal kink inside q<1, with small n and {nabla}p(tilde sign) Asymptotically-Equal-To {nabla}(nT(tilde sign)). The hot kink core moves away from, or perpendicular to, the high density region near q Asymptotically-Equal-To 1, preserving the snake density during a sawtooth crash. The mode resembles the early stage of heavy-impurity-ion snakes in ohmic discharges, including recent observations in Alcator C-Mod. For a larger, more unstable q<1 region, the helical density perturbation drives a conventional 1/1 kink where n aligns with T(tilde sign), leading to a rapid sawtooth crash. The crash redistributes the density to a localized helical concentration inside q Less-Than-Or-Equivalent-To 1, similar to experimentally observed snakes that are initiated by a sawtooth crash.« less

Numerical simulation of helical flow in a cylindrical channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasiliev, A.; Sukhanovskii, A.; Stepanov, R.

2017-06-01

Numerical simulation of the helical flow in a cylindrical channel with diverter was carried out using open-source software OpenFOAM Extend 4.0. The velocity, vorticity and helicity density distributions were analyzed. It was shown that azimithal contribution of helicity is negative near the wall and positive in the center. In opposite axial helicity contribution is negative in the center and positive near the wall. Analysis of helicity of non-axisymmetric part of the flow showed that it has substantial values near the diverter but than rapidly decreases with y (axial coordinate) and further downstream it can be neglected. Dependencies of integrated values of azimuthal Hϕ and axial Hy contributions of helicity density on y show a remarkable quantitative similarity. It was found that integral values of Hϕ and Hy are negative for all y. Magnitudes of Hϕ and Hy decrease after the diverter up to y ≈ 70 mm and after that monotonically increase. The flow behind the diverter is characterized by substantial amount of helicity and can be used as a helicity generator.

Experiments on Turbulent Modifications to Ohm's Law in the Madison Dynamo Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldwin, J.; O'Connell, R.; Kendrick, R.; Bastian, N.; Forest, C. B.

1998-11-01

Theories of MHD turbulence predict the existence of an anomalous resistivity and field-aligned current generation: j = β nabla × B + α B. The dynamo experiment being built at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is well suited for quantifying the turbulent transport coefficients α and β. The experiment is a spherical volume of liquid sodium with helical flows driven by propellers and high Reynolds number (Re ≈ 10^7), making it well suited for these studies. Two experiments are proposed: (1) A Helmholtz coil will produce a magnetic field in the z-direction, and the resulting toroidal field will be measured for the anomalous resistivity-the β-effect and (2) A toroidal magnetic field will be applied to the sphere through currents in a center column, and the induced toroidal current will be measured with a Rogowski coil-the α-effect. Complete measurements of turbulent velocity fields (including the turbulent helicity density) are being made in a dimensionally similar water experiment (water and sodium have the same viscosity and mass density) such that the magnitude of the α and β values can be estimated for the sodium experiment.

Measurements of the canonical helicity evolution of a gyrating kinked plasma column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von der Linden, Jens; Sears, Jason; Intrator, Thomas; You, Setthivoine

2017-10-01

Conversions between kinetic and magnetic energy occur over a wide range of plasma scales as exhibited in astrophysical and solar dynamos, and reconnection in the solar corona and laboratory experiments. Canonical flux tubes present the distinct advantage of reconciling all plasma regimes - e.g. kinetic, two-fluid, and MHD - with the topological concept of helicity: twists, writhes, and linkages. This poster presents the first visualization and analysis of the 3D dynamics of canonical flux tubes and their relative helicity evolution from experimental measurements. Ion and electron canonical flux tubes are visualized from Mach, triple, and Ḃ probe measurements at over 10,000 spatial locations of a gyrating kinked plasma column. The flux tubes co-gyrate with the peak density and electron temperature in and out of a measurement volume. The electron and ion canonical flux tubes twist with opposite handedness and the ion flux tube writhes around the electron flux tube. The relative cross helicity between the magnetic and ion flow vorticity flux tubes dominates the relative ion canonical helicity and is anticorrelated with the relative magnetic helicity. The 3D nature of the kink and a reverse eddy current affect the helicity evolution. This work is supported by DOE Grant DE-SC0010340 and the DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program and prepared in part by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-734669.

The Great Solar Active Region NOAA 12192: Helicity Transport, Filament Formation, and Impact on the Polar Field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McMaken, Tyler C.; Petrie, Gordon J. D., E-mail: tmcmaken@gmail.com, E-mail: gpetrie@noao.edu

The solar active region (AR), NOAA 12192, appeared in 2014 October as the largest AR in 24 years. Here we examine the counterintuitive nature of two diffusion-driven processes in the region: the role of helicity buildup in the formation of a major filament, and the relationship between the effects of supergranular diffusion and meridional flow on the AR and on the polar field. Quantitatively, calculations of current helicity and magnetic twist from Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) vector magnetograms indicate that, though AR 12192 emerged with negative helicity, positive helicity from subsequent flux emergence, consistent with the hemispheric sign-preference ofmore » helicity, increased over time within large-scale, weak-field regions such as those near the polarity inversion line (PIL). Morphologically, Atmospheric Imaging Assembly observations of filament barbs, sigmoidal patterns, and bases of Fe xii stalks initially exhibited signatures of negative helicity, and the long filament that subsequently formed had a strong positive helicity consistent with the helicity buildup along the PIL. We find from full-disk HMI magnetograms that AR 12192's leading positive flux was initially closer to the equator but, owing either to the region’s magnetic surroundings or to its asymmetric flux density distribution, was transported poleward more quickly on average than its trailing negative flux, contrary to the canonical pattern of bipole flux transport. This behavior caused the AR to have a smaller effect on the polar fields than expected and enabled the formation of the very long neutral line where the filament formed.« less

Equilibrium fitting analysis and propagation of magnetic fluctuations in the Multi-pulsing HIST plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, K.; Hanano, T.; Ito, K.; Ishihara, M.; Higashi, T.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2011-10-01

The current drive by Multi-pulsing Coaxial Helicity Injection (M-CHI) has been performed on HIST in a wide range of configurations from high-q ST to low-q ST and spheromak generated by the utilization of the toroidal field. It is a key issue to investigate the dynamo mechanism required to maintain each configuration. To identify the detail mechanisms regarding a helicity transport from the edge to the core region, we have investigated the characteristics of magnetic field fluctuations observed in M- CHI experiments. We have fitted internal magnetic field data to a ST configuration calculated by the equilibrium code with a hollow pressure profile in order to find the sustained configurations. Fluctuation frequency is identified as about 80 kHz and it has been found to propagate from the open flux column region toward the core region. The toroidal mode n=0 is dominant in the high TF coil current operation. Alfven wave generation has been identified by evaluating its velocity as a function of plasma density or magnetic field strength. We will discuss the relationship between the Alfven wave and helicity propagation.

Validation of single-fluid and two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic models of the helicity injected torus spheromak experiment with the NIMROD code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akcay, Cihan; Kim, Charlson C.; Victor, Brian S.; Jarboe, Thomas R.

2013-08-01

We present a comparison study of 3-D pressureless resistive MHD (rMHD) and 3-D presureless two-fluid MHD models of the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI). HIT-SI is a current drive experiment that uses two geometrically asymmetric helicity injectors to generate and sustain toroidal plasmas. The comparable size of the collisionless ion skin depth di to the resistive skin depth predicates the importance of the Hall term for HIT-SI. The simulations are run with NIMROD, an initial-value, 3-D extended MHD code. The modeled plasma density and temperature are assumed uniform and constant. The helicity injectors are modeled as oscillating normal magnetic and parallel electric field boundary conditions. The simulations use parameters that closely match those of the experiment. The simulation output is compared to the formation time, plasma current, and internal and surface magnetic fields. Results of the study indicate 2fl-MHD shows quantitative agreement with the experiment while rMHD only captures the qualitative features. The validity of each model is assessed based on how accurately it reproduces the global quantities as well as the temporal and spatial dependence of the measured magnetic fields. 2fl-MHD produces the current amplification Itor/Iinj and formation time τf demonstrated by HIT-SI with similar internal magnetic fields. rMHD underestimates Itor/Iinj and exhibits much a longer τf. Biorthogonal decomposition (BD), a powerful mathematical tool for reducing large data sets, is employed to quantify how well the simulations reproduce the measured surface magnetic fields without resorting to a probe-by-probe comparison. BD shows that 2fl-MHD captures the dominant surface magnetic structures and the temporal behavior of these features better than rMHD.

Cross Helicity and Turbulent Magnetic Diffusivity in the Solar Convection Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rüdiger, G.; Kitchatinov, L. L.; Brandenburg, A.

2011-03-01

In a density-stratified turbulent medium, the cross helicity < u'ṡ B'> is considered as a result of the interaction of the velocity fluctuations and a large-scale magnetic field. By means of a quasilinear theory and by numerical simulations, we find the cross helicity and the mean vertical magnetic field to be anti-correlated. In the high-conductivity limit the ratio of the helicity and the mean magnetic field equals the ratio of the magnetic eddy diffusivity and the (known) density scale height. The result can be used to predict that the cross helicity at the solar surface will exceed the value of 1 gauss km s-1. Its sign is anti-correlated to that of the radial mean magnetic field. Alternatively, we can use our result to determine the value of the turbulent magnetic diffusivity from observations of the cross helicity.

Reduction of plasma density in the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductance experiment by using a helicon pre-ionization source.

PubMed

Hossack, Aaron C; Firman, Taylor; Jarboe, Thomas R; Prager, James R; Victor, Brian S; Wrobel, Jonathan S; Ziemba, Timothy

2013-10-01

A helicon based pre-ionization source has been developed and installed on the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductance (HIT-SI) spheromak. The source initiates plasma breakdown by injecting impurity-free, unmagnetized plasma into the HIT-SI confinement volume. Typical helium spheromaks have electron density reduced from (2-3) × 10(19) m(-3) to 1 × 10(19) m(-3). Deuterium spheromak formation is possible with density as low as 2 × 10(18) m(-3). The source also enables HIT-SI to be operated with only one helicity injector at injector frequencies above 14.5 kHz. A theory explaining the physical mechanism driving the reduction of breakdown density is presented.

Formation and stability of impurity "snakes" in tokamak plasmas.

PubMed

Delgado-Aparicio, L; Sugiyama, L; Granetz, R; Gates, D A; Rice, J E; Reinke, M L; Bitter, M; Fredrickson, E; Gao, C; Greenwald, M; Hill, K; Hubbard, A; Hughes, J W; Marmar, E; Pablant, N; Podpaly, Y; Scott, S; Wilson, R; Wolfe, S; Wukitch, S

2013-02-08

New observations of the formation and dynamics of long-lived impurity-induced helical "snake" modes in tokamak plasmas have recently been carried out on Alcator C-Mod. The snakes form as an asymmetry in the impurity ion density that undergoes a seamless transition from a small helically displaced density to a large crescent-shaped helical structure inside q<1, with a regularly sawtoothing core. The observations show that the conditions for the formation and persistence of a snake cannot be explained by plasma pressure alone. Instead, many features arise naturally from nonlinear interactions in a 3D MHD model that separately evolves the plasma density and temperature.

Magnetic chaos healing in the helical reversed-field pinch: indications from the volume-preserving field line tracing code NEMATO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfiglio, D.; Veranda, M.; Cappello, S.; Chacón, L.; Spizzo, G.

2010-11-01

The emergence of a self-organized reversed-field pinch (RFP) helical regime, first shown by 3D MHD numerical simulations, has been highlighted in the RFX-mod experiment at high current operation (IP above 1 MA). In fact, a quasi-stationary helical configuration spontaneously appears, characterized by strong internal electron transport barriers. In such regime electron temperature and density become, to a very good approximation, functions of the helical flux coordinate related to the dominant helical magnetic component. In addition, this regime is diagnosed to be associated with the topological transition to a single-helical-axis (SHAx) state, achieved after the expulsion of the separatrix of the dominant mode's magnetic island. The SHAx state is theoretically predicted to be resilient to the magnetic chaos induced by secondary modes. In this paper, we present initial results of the volume-preserving field line tracing code NEMATO [Finn J M and Chacón L 2005 Phys. Plasmas 12 054503] applied to study the magnetic topology resulting from 3D MHD simulations of the RFP. First, a successful 2D verification test of the code is shown, then, initial application to a systematic study of chaos healing in the helical RFP is discussed. The separatrix disappearance is confirmed to play an essential role for chaos healing. The triggering effect of a reversed magnetic shear for the formation of ordered surfaces within magnetic chaos is also diagnosed.

Magnetic chaos healing in hte helical reversed-field pinch: indications from the volume-preserving field line tracing code NEMATO

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bonfiglio, Daniele; Veranda, M.; Cappello, Susanna

2010-01-01

The emergence of a self-organized reversed-field pinch (RFP) helical regime, first shown by 3D MHD numerical simulations, has been highlighted in the RFX-mod experiment at high current operation (IP above 1 MA). In fact, a quasi-stationary helical configuration spontaneously appears, characterized by strong internal electron transport barriers. In such regime electron temperature and density become, to a very good approximation, functions of the helical flux coordinate related to the dominant helical magnetic component. In addition, this regime is diagnosed to be associated with the topological transition to a single-helical-axis (SHAx) state, achieved after the expulsion of the separatrix of themore » dominant mode's magnetic island. The SHAx state is theoretically predicted to be resilient to the magnetic chaos induced by secondary modes. In this paper, we present initial results of the volume-preserving field line tracing code nemato [Finn J M and Chacon L 2005 Phys. Plasmas 12 054503] applied to study the magnetic topology resulting from 3D MHD simulations of the RFP. First, a successful 2D verification test of the code is shown, then, initial application to a systematic study of chaos healing in the helical RFP is discussed. The separatrix disappearance is confirmed to play an essential role for chaos healing. The triggering effect of a reversed magnetic shear for the formation of ordered surfaces within magnetic chaos is also diagnosed.« less

Magnetic Helicity and the Solar Dynamo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Canfield, Richard C.

1997-01-01

The objective of this investigation is to open a new window into the solar dynamo, convection, and magnetic reconnection through measurement of the helicity density of magnetic fields in the photosphere and tracing of large-scale patterns of magnetic helicity in the corona.

Experimental investigation of in-cylinder air flow to optimize number of helical guide vanes to enhance DI diesel engine performance using mamey sapote biodiesel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, A. Raj; Janardhana Raju, G.; Hemachandra Reddy, K.

2018-03-01

The current research work investigates the influence of helical guide vanes in to the intake runner of a D.I diesel engine operating by the high viscous Mamey Sapote biodiesel to enhance in-cylinder suction air flow features. Helical guide vanes of different number of vanes are produced from 3D printing and placed in the intake manifold to examine the air flow characteristics. Four different helical guide vane devices namely 3, 4, 5 and 6 vanes of the same dimensions are tested in a D.I diesel engine operating with Mamey Sapote biodiesel blend. As per the experimental results of engine performance and emission characteristics, it is found that 5 vanes helical guide vane swirl device exhibited in addition number of increased improvements such as the brake power and bake thermal efficiency by 2.4% and 8.63% respectively and the HC, NOx, Carbon monoxide and, Smoke densities are reduced by 15.62%, 4.23%, 14.27% and 9.6% at peak load operating conditions as collate with normal engine at the same load. Hence this investigation concluded that Helical Guide Vane Devices successfully enhanced the in-cylinder air flow to improve better addition of Mamey Sapote biodiesel with air leading in better performance of the engine than without vanes.

CURRENT AND KINETIC HELICITY OF LONG-LIVED ACTIVITY COMPLEXES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Komm, Rudolf; Gosain, Sanjay, E-mail: komm@nso.edu

2015-01-01

We study long-lived activity complexes and their current helicity at the solar surface and their kinetic helicity below the surface. The current helicity has been determined from synoptic vector magnetograms from the NSO/SOLIS facility, and the kinetic helicity of subsurface flows has been determined with ring-diagram analysis applied to full-disk Dopplergrams from NSO/GONG and SDO/HMI. Current and kinetic helicity of activity complexes follow the hemispheric helicity rule with mainly positive values (78%; 78%, respectively, with a 95% confidence level of 31%) in the southern hemisphere and negative ones (80%; 93%, respectively, with a 95% confidence level of 22% and 14%,more » respectively) in the northern hemisphere. The locations with the dominant sign of kinetic helicity derived from Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and SDO/HMI data are more organized than those of the secondary sign even if they are not part of an activity complex, while locations with the secondary sign are more fragmented. This is the case for both hemispheres even for the northern one where it is not as obvious visually due to the large amount of magnetic activity present as compared to the southern hemisphere. The current helicity shows a similar behavior. The dominant sign of current helicity is the same as that of kinetic helicity for the majority of the activity complexes (83% with a 95% confidence level of 15%). During the 24 Carrington rotations analyzed here, there is at least one longitude in each hemisphere where activity complexes occur repeatedly throughout the epoch. These ''active'' longitudes are identifiable as locations of strong current and kinetic helicity of the same sign.« less

Ion Heating During Local Helicity Injection Plasma Startup in the Pegasus ST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burke, M. G.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Perry, J. M.; Reusch, J. A.

2015-11-01

Plasmas in the Pegasus ST are initiated either through standard, MHD stable, inductive current drive or non-solenoidal local helicity injection (LHI) current drive with strong reconnection activity, providing a rich environment to study ion dynamics. During LHI discharges, a large amount of impurity ion heating has been observed, with the passively measured impurity Ti as high as 800 eV compared to Ti ~ 60 eV and Te ~ 175 eV during standard inductive current drive discharges. In addition, non-thermal ion velocity distributions are observed and appear to be strongest near the helicity injectors. The ion heating is hypothesized to be a result of large-scale magnetic reconnection activity, as the amount of heating scales with increasing fluctuation amplitude of the dominant, edge localized, n =1 MHD mode. An approximate temporal scaling of the heating with the amplitude of higher frequency magnetic fluctuations has also been observed, with large amounts of power spectral density present at several impurity ion cyclotron frequencies. Recent experiments have focused on investigating the impurity ion heating scaling with the ion charge to mass ratio as well as the reconnecting field strength. The ion charge to mass ratio was modified by observing different impurity charge states in similar LHI plasmas while the reconnecting field strength was modified by changing the amount of injected edge current. Work supported by US DOE grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Propagation dynamics of Helical Hermite-Gaussian beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López-Mariscal, Carlos; Gutiérrez-Vega, Julio C.

2007-09-01

We investigate theoretically and experimentally the propagation characteristics of the Helical Hermite-Gauss beams corresponding to the helical Ince-Gauss beams in the limit of infinite ellipticity. Particular attention is paid to the transverse irradiance structure, the orbital angular momentum density, and the vortex distribution.

Influence of helical external driven current on nonlinear resistive tearing mode evolution and saturation in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, W.; Wang, S.; Ma, Z. W.

2017-06-01

The influences of helical driven currents on nonlinear resistive tearing mode evolution and saturation are studied by using a three-dimensional toroidal resistive magnetohydrodynamic code (CLT). We carried out three types of helical driven currents: stationary, time-dependent amplitude, and thickness. It is found that the helical driven current is much more efficient than the Gaussian driven current used in our previous study [S. Wang et al., Phys. Plasmas 23(5), 052503 (2016)]. The stationary helical driven current cannot persistently control tearing mode instabilities. For the time-dependent helical driven current with f c d = 0.01 and δ c d < 0.04 , the island size can be reduced to its saturated level that is about one third of the initial island size. However, if the total driven current increases to about 7% of the total plasma current, tearing mode instabilities will rebound again due to the excitation of the triple tearing mode. For the helical driven current with time dependent strength and thickness, the reduction speed of the radial perturbation component of the magnetic field increases with an increase in the driven current and then saturates at a quite low level. The tearing mode is always controlled even for a large driven current.

Measurement of ion velocities in the locked Single Helical Axis state in MST RFP plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boguski, J.; Nornberg, M. D.; Chapman, B. E.; Cianciosa, M.; den Hartog, D. J.; Craig, D.; McCollam, K. J.; Nishizawa, T.; Xing, Z. A.

2017-10-01

Charge Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy (CHERS) provides the first core-localized measurements of the 3D ion flow structure in Single Helical Axis (SHAx) plasmas. In high-current and low-density (large Lundquist number) RFP plasmas, the island associated with the innermost resonant tearing mode can grow to large amplitude and envelop the magnetic axis creating a 3D equilibrium. Measurements of the flow profile with various orientations (phases) of the helical structure relative to the CHERS diagnostic were achieved by locking the plasma with resonant magnetic perturbations. The flows persist despite mode locking, and are correlated with the amplitude and phase of the innermost resonant tearing mode. At mid-radius, a dominantly m =2 poloidal flow structure appears relative to the phase of the helical core. Near the core, non-axisymmetric flows become less pronounced, and cannot be distinguished at the innermost radii. These results place more significant constraints on the nature of the flow structure than previous line-integrated spectroscopy measurements and challenge predictions of visco-resistive MHD models of these helical RFP plasmas. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences program under Award No. DE-FC02-05ER54814.

Current drive by spheromak injection into a tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, M.R.; Bellan, P.M.

1990-04-30

We report the first observation of current drive by injection of a spheromak plasma into a tokamak (Caltech ENCORE small reasearch tokamak) due to the process of helicity injection. After an abrupt 30% increase, the tokamak current decays by a factor of 3 due to plasma cooling caused by the merging of the relatively cold spheromak with the tokamak. The tokamak density profile peaks sharply due to the injected spheromak plasma ({ital {bar n}}{sub 3} increases by a factor of 6) then becomes hollow, suggestive of an interchange instability.

Asymmetric supercapacitors with high energy density based on helical hierarchical porous Na x MnO2 and MoO2.

PubMed

Lu, Xue-Feng; Huang, Zhi-Xiang; Tong, Ye-Xiang; Li, Gao-Ren

2016-01-01

Helical hierarchical porous Na x MnO 2 /CC and MoO 2 /CC, which are assembled from nanosheets and nanoparticles, respectively, are fabricated using a simple electrodeposition method. These unique helical porous structures enable electrodes to have a high capacitance and an outstanding cycling performance. Based on the helical Na x MnO 2 /CC as the positive electrodes and helical MoO 2 /CC as the negative electrodes, high performance Na x MnO 2 /CC//MoO 2 /CC asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) are successfully assembled, and they achieve a maximum volume C sp of 2.04 F cm -3 and a maximum energy density of 0.92 mW h cm -3 for the whole device and an excellent cycling stability with 97.22% C sp retention after 6000 cycles.

Electrical manipulation of dynamic magnetic impurity and spin texture of helical Dirac fermions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Rui-Qiang; Zhong, Min; Zheng, Shi-Han; Yang, Mou; Wang, Guang-Hui

2016-05-01

We have theoretically investigated the spin inelastic scattering of helical electrons off a high-spin nanomagnet absorbed on a topological surface. The nanomagnet is treated as a dynamic quantum spin and driven by the spin transfer torque effect. We proposed a mechanism to electrically manipulate the spin texture of helical Dirac fermions rather than by an external magnetic field. By tuning the bias voltage and the direction of impurity magnetization, we present rich patterns of spin texture, from which important fingerprints exclusively associated with the spin helical feature are obtained. Furthermore, it is found that the nonmagnetic potential can create the resonance state in the spin density with different physics as the previously reported resonance of charge density.

A Combined Study of Photospheric Magnetic and Current Helicities and Subsurface Kinetic Helicities of Solar Active Regions during 2006-2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seligman, D.; Petrie, G. J. D.; Komm, R.

2014-11-01

We compare the average photospheric current helicity Hc , photospheric twist parameter α (a well-known proxy for the full relative magnetic helicity), and subsurface kinetic helicity Hk for 194 active regions observed between 2006-2013. We use 2440 Hinode photospheric vector magnetograms, and the corresponding subsurface fluid velocity data derived from GONG (2006-2012) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (2010-2013) dopplergrams. We find a significant hemispheric bias in all three parameters. The subsurface kinetic helicity is preferentially positive in the southern hemisphere and negative in the northern hemisphere. The photospheric current helicity and the α parameter have the same bias for strong fields (|B| > 1000 G) and no significant bias for weak fields (100 G <|B| < 500 G). We find no significant region-by-region correlation between the subsurface kinetic helicity and either the strong-field current helicity or α. Subsurface fluid motions of a given handedness correspond to photospheric helicities of both signs in approximately equal numbers. However, common variations appear in annual averages of these quantities over all regions. Furthermore, in a subset of 77 regions, we find significant correlations between the temporal profiles of the subsurface and photospheric helicities. In these cases, the sign of the linear correlation coefficient matches the sign relationship between the helicities, indicating that the photospheric magnetic field twist is sensitive to the twisting motions below the surface.

Reduction of plasma density in the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductance experiment by using a helicon pre-ionization source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hossack, Aaron C.; Jarboe, Thomas R.; Victor, Brian S.

2013-10-15

A helicon based pre-ionization source has been developed and installed on the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductance (HIT-SI) spheromak. The source initiates plasma breakdown by injecting impurity-free, unmagnetized plasma into the HIT-SI confinement volume. Typical helium spheromaks have electron density reduced from (2–3) × 10{sup 19} m{sup −3} to 1 × 10{sup 19} m{sup −3}. Deuterium spheromak formation is possible with density as low as 2 × 10{sup 18} m{sup −3}. The source also enables HIT-SI to be operated with only one helicity injector at injector frequencies above 14.5 kHz. A theory explaining the physical mechanism driving the reductionmore » of breakdown density is presented.« less

Measurements of the Canonical Helicity Evolution of a Gyrating Kinked Flux Rope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von der Linden, J.; Sears, J.; Intrator, T.; You, S.

2017-12-01

Magnetic structures in the solar corona and planetary magnetospheres are often modelled as magnetic flux ropes governed by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD); however, inside these structures, as exhibited in reconnection, conversions between magnetic and kinetic energies occur over a wide range of scales. Flux ropes based on the flux of canonical momentum circulation extend the flux rope concept to include effects of finite particle momentum and present the distinct advantage of reconciling all plasma regimes - e.g. kinetic, two-fluid, and MHD - with the topological concept of helicity: twists, writhes, and linkages. This presentation shows the first visualization and analysis of the 3D dynamics of canonical flux ropes and their relative helicity evolution from laboratory measurements. Ion and electron canonical flux ropes are visualized from a dataset of Mach, triple, and Ḃ probe measurements at over 10,000 spatial locations of a gyrating kinked flux rope. The flux ropes co-gyrate with the peak density and electron temperature in and out of a measurement volume. The electron and ion canonical flux ropes twist with opposite handedness and the ion flux ropes writhe around the electron flux ropes. The relative cross helicity between the magnetic and ion flow vorticity flux ropes dominates the relative ion canonical helicity and is anti-correlated with the relative magnetic helicity. The 3D nature of the kink and a reverse eddy current affect the helicity evolution. This work is supported by DOE Grant DE-SC0010340 and the DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program and prepared in part by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-735426

Studying the Transfer of Magnetic Helicity in Solar Active Regions with the Connectivity-based Helicity Flux Density Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalmasse, K.; Pariat, É.; Valori, G.; Jing, J.; Démoulin, P.

2018-01-01

In the solar corona, magnetic helicity slowly and continuously accumulates in response to plasma flows tangential to the photosphere and magnetic flux emergence through it. Analyzing this transfer of magnetic helicity is key for identifying its role in the dynamics of active regions (ARs). The connectivity-based helicity flux density method was recently developed for studying the 2D and 3D transfer of magnetic helicity in ARs. The method takes into account the 3D nature of magnetic helicity by explicitly using knowledge of the magnetic field connectivity, which allows it to faithfully track the photospheric flux of magnetic helicity. Because the magnetic field is not measured in the solar corona, modeled 3D solutions obtained from force-free magnetic field extrapolations must be used to derive the magnetic connectivity. Different extrapolation methods can lead to markedly different 3D magnetic field connectivities, thus questioning the reliability of the connectivity-based approach in observational applications. We address these concerns by applying this method to the isolated and internally complex AR 11158 with different magnetic field extrapolation models. We show that the connectivity-based calculations are robust to different extrapolation methods, in particular with regard to identifying regions of opposite magnetic helicity flux. We conclude that the connectivity-based approach can be reliably used in observational analyses and is a promising tool for studying the transfer of magnetic helicity in ARs and relating it to their flaring activity.

Note on the helicity decomposition of spin and orbital optical currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aiello, Andrea; Berry, M. V.

2015-06-01

In the helicity representation, the Poynting vector (current) for a monochromatic optical field, when calculated using either the electric or the magnetic field, separates into right-handed and left-handed contributions, with no cross-helicity contributions. Cross-helicity terms do appear in the orbital and spin contributions to the current. But when the electric and magnetic formulas are averaged (‘electric-magnetic democracy’), these terms cancel, restoring the separation into right-handed and left-handed currents for orbital and spin separately.

Theory of flux cutting and flux transport at the critical current of a type-II superconducting cylindrical wire

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clem, John R

2011-02-17

I introduce a critical-state theory incorporating both flux cutting and flux transport to calculate the magnetic-field and current-density distributions inside a type-II superconducting cylinder at its critical current in a longitudinal applied magnetic field. The theory is an extension of the elliptic critical-state model introduced by Romero-Salazar and Pérez-Rodríguez. The vortex dynamics depend in detail on two nonlinear effective resistivities for flux cutting (ρ{sub ∥}) and flux flow (ρ{sub ⊥}), and their ratio r=ρ{sub ∥}/ρ{sub ⊥}. When r<1, the low relative efficiency of flux cutting in reducing the magnitude of the internal magnetic-flux density leads to a paramagnetic longitudinal magneticmore » moment. As a model for understanding the experimentally observed interrelationship between the critical currents for flux cutting and depinning, I calculate the forces on a helical vortex arc stretched between two pinning centers when the vortex is subjected to a current density of arbitrary angle Φ. Simultaneous initiation of flux cutting and flux transport occurs at the critical current density J{sub c}(Φ) that makes the vortex arc unstable.« less

Theory of flux cutting and flux transport at the critical current of a type-II superconducting cylindrical wire

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clem, John R.

2011-02-17

I introduce a critical-state theory incorporating both flux cutting and flux transport to calculate the magnetic-field and current-density distributions inside a type-II superconducting cylinder at its critical current in a longitudinal applied magnetic field. The theory is an extension of the elliptic critical-state model introduced by Romero-Salazar and Perez-Rodriguez. The vortex dynamics depend in detail on two nonlinear effective resistivities for flux cutting ({rho}{parallel}) and flux flow ({rho}{perpendicular}), and their ratio r = {rho}{parallel}/{rho}{perpendicular}. When r < 1, the low relative efficiency of flux cutting in reducing the magnitude of the internal magnetic-flux density leads to a paramagnetic longitudinal magneticmore » moment. As a model for understanding the experimentally observed interrelationship between the critical currents for flux cutting and depinning, I calculate the forces on a helical vortex arc stretched between two pinning centers when the vortex is subjected to a current density of arbitrary angle {phi}. Simultaneous initiation of flux cutting and flux transport occurs at the critical current density J{sub c}({phi}) that makes the vortex arc unstable.« less

Theory of flux cutting and flux transport at the critical current of a type-II superconducting cylindrical wire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clem, John R.

2011-06-01

I introduce a critical-state theory incorporating both flux cutting and flux transport to calculate the magnetic-field and current-density distributions inside a type-II superconducting cylinder at its critical current in a longitudinal applied magnetic field. The theory is an extension of the elliptic critical-state model introduced by Romero-Salazar and Pérez-Rodríguez. The vortex dynamics depend in detail on two nonlinear effective resistivities for flux cutting (ρ∥) and flux flow (ρ⊥), and their ratio r=ρ∥/ρ⊥. When r<1, the low relative efficiency of flux cutting in reducing the magnitude of the internal magnetic-flux density leads to a paramagnetic longitudinal magnetic moment. As a model for understanding the experimentally observed interrelationship between the critical currents for flux cutting and depinning, I calculate the forces on a helical vortex arc stretched between two pinning centers when the vortex is subjected to a current density of arbitrary angle ϕ. Simultaneous initiation of flux cutting and flux transport occurs at the critical current density Jc(ϕ) that makes the vortex arc unstable.

Validation of single-fluid and two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic models of the helicity injected torus spheromak experiment with the NIMROD code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akcay, Cihan; Victor, Brian S.; Jarboe, Thomas R.

We present a comparison study of 3-D pressureless resistive MHD (rMHD) and 3-D presureless two-fluid MHD models of the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI). HIT-SI is a current drive experiment that uses two geometrically asymmetric helicity injectors to generate and sustain toroidal plasmas. The comparable size of the collisionless ion skin depth d{sub i} to the resistive skin depth predicates the importance of the Hall term for HIT-SI. The simulations are run with NIMROD, an initial-value, 3-D extended MHD code. The modeled plasma density and temperature are assumed uniform and constant. The helicity injectors are modeledmore » as oscillating normal magnetic and parallel electric field boundary conditions. The simulations use parameters that closely match those of the experiment. The simulation output is compared to the formation time, plasma current, and internal and surface magnetic fields. Results of the study indicate 2fl-MHD shows quantitative agreement with the experiment while rMHD only captures the qualitative features. The validity of each model is assessed based on how accurately it reproduces the global quantities as well as the temporal and spatial dependence of the measured magnetic fields. 2fl-MHD produces the current amplification (I{sub tor}/I{sub inj}) and formation time τ{sub f} demonstrated by HIT-SI with similar internal magnetic fields. rMHD underestimates (I{sub tor}/I{sub inj}) and exhibits much a longer τ{sub f}. Biorthogonal decomposition (BD), a powerful mathematical tool for reducing large data sets, is employed to quantify how well the simulations reproduce the measured surface magnetic fields without resorting to a probe-by-probe comparison. BD shows that 2fl-MHD captures the dominant surface magnetic structures and the temporal behavior of these features better than rMHD.« less

The vorticity of Solar photospheric flows on the scale of granulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pevtsov, A. A.

2016-12-01

We employ time sequences of images observed with a G-band filter (λ4305Å) by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board of Hinode spacecraft at different latitude along solar central meridian to study vorticity of granular flows in quiet Sun areas during deep minimum of solar activity. Using a feature correlation tracking (FCT) technique, we calculate the vorticity of granular-scale flows. Assuming the known pattern of vertical flows (upward in granules and downward in intergranular lanes), we infer the sign of kinetic helicity of these flows. We show that the kinetic helicity of granular flows and intergranular vortices exhibits a weak hemispheric preference, which is in agreement with the action of the Coriolis force. This slight hemispheric sign asymmetry, however, is not statistically significant given large scatter in the average vorticity. The sign of the current helicity density of network magnetic fields computed using full disk vector magnetograms from the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) does not show any hemispheric preference. The combination of these two findings suggests that the photospheric dynamo operating on the scale of granular flows is non-helical in nature.

A combined study of photospheric magnetic and current helicities and subsurface kinetic helicities of solar active regions during 2006-2013

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seligman, D.; Petrie, G. J. D.; Komm, R.

2014-11-10

We compare the average photospheric current helicity H{sub c} , photospheric twist parameter α (a well-known proxy for the full relative magnetic helicity), and subsurface kinetic helicity H{sub k} for 194 active regions observed between 2006-2013. We use 2440 Hinode photospheric vector magnetograms, and the corresponding subsurface fluid velocity data derived from GONG (2006-2012) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (2010-2013) dopplergrams. We find a significant hemispheric bias in all three parameters. The subsurface kinetic helicity is preferentially positive in the southern hemisphere and negative in the northern hemisphere. The photospheric current helicity and the α parameter have the same biasmore » for strong fields (|B| > 1000 G) and no significant bias for weak fields (100 G <|B| < 500 G). We find no significant region-by-region correlation between the subsurface kinetic helicity and either the strong-field current helicity or α. Subsurface fluid motions of a given handedness correspond to photospheric helicities of both signs in approximately equal numbers. However, common variations appear in annual averages of these quantities over all regions. Furthermore, in a subset of 77 regions, we find significant correlations between the temporal profiles of the subsurface and photospheric helicities. In these cases, the sign of the linear correlation coefficient matches the sign relationship between the helicities, indicating that the photospheric magnetic field twist is sensitive to the twisting motions below the surface.« less

DNS of helicity-induced stratified turbulent flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandy, Abhilash J.; Rahimi, Abbas

2013-11-01

Helical flows undergoing density stratification have wide applications in meteorological phenomena such as dust devils, tornadoes, and hurricanes due to the complexity and disasters caused by them. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of transition to turbulence in a stably stratified Boussinesq fluid are presented for different rotation and stratification intensities. In order to understand the effect of velocity on the energy cascade, comparisons are made between helicity initiated and non-helical flows. Results show that stratification decelerates the helicity decay and causes velocity and vorticity to align with each other. With respect to the helical and non-helical flow comparisons, the total energy in the presence of stratification decays faster with helicity. In addition, the behavior of length scales were examined by comparing temporal variations of the vertical shearing of velocities. Results showed a growing asymmetry with time in the case of helical flow, while non-helical flow stayed close to begin symmetric.

Helical patterns of magnetization and magnetic charge density in iron whiskers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Templeton, Terry L.; Hanham, Scott D.; Arrott, Anthony S.

2018-05-01

Studies with the (1 1 1) axis along the long axis of an iron whisker, 40 years ago, showed two phenomena that have remained unexplained: 1) In low fields, there are six peaks in the ac susceptibility, separated by 0.2 mT; 2) Bitter patterns showed striped domain patterns. Multipole columns of magnetic charge density distort to form helical patterns of the magnetization, accounting for the peaks in the susceptibility from the propagation of edge solitons along the intersections of the six sides of a (1 1 1) whisker. The stripes follow the helices. We report micromagnetic simulations in cylinders with various geometries for the cross-sections from rectangular, to hexagonal, to circular, with wide ranges of sizes and lengths, and different anisotropies, including (0 0 1) whiskers and the hypothetical case of no anisotropy. The helical patterns have been there in previous studies, but overlooked. The surface swirls and body helices are connected, but have their own individual behaviors. The magnetization patterns are more easily understood when viewed observing the scalar divergences of the magnetization as isosurfaces of magnetic charge density. The plus and minus charge densities form columns that interact with unlike charges attracting, but not annihilating as they are paid for by a decrease in exchange energy. Just as they start to form the helix, the columns are multipoles. If one could stretch the columns, the self-energy of the charges in a column would be diminished while making the attractive interactions of the unlike charges larger. The columns elongate by becoming helical. The visualization of 3-D magnetic charge distributions aids in the understanding of magnetization in soft magnetic materials.

Asymmetric supercapacitors with high energy density based on helical hierarchical porous NaxMnO2 and MoO2 † †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5sc03326h Click here for additional data file.

PubMed Central

Lu, Xue-Feng; Huang, Zhi-Xiang; Tong, Ye-Xiang

2016-01-01

Helical hierarchical porous NaxMnO2/CC and MoO2/CC, which are assembled from nanosheets and nanoparticles, respectively, are fabricated using a simple electrodeposition method. These unique helical porous structures enable electrodes to have a high capacitance and an outstanding cycling performance. Based on the helical NaxMnO2/CC as the positive electrodes and helical MoO2/CC as the negative electrodes, high performance NaxMnO2/CC//MoO2/CC asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) are successfully assembled, and they achieve a maximum volume C sp of 2.04 F cm–3 and a maximum energy density of 0.92 mW h cm–3 for the whole device and an excellent cycling stability with 97.22% C sp retention after 6000 cycles. PMID:28791103

Doppler Velocimetry of Current Driven Spin Helices in a Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Luyi

2013-05-17

Spins in semiconductors provide a pathway towards the development of spin-based electronics. The appeal of spin logic devices lies in the fact that the spin current is even under time reversal symmetry, yielding non-dissipative coupling to the electric field. To exploit the energy-saving potential of spin current it is essential to be able to control it. While recent demonstrations of electrical-gate control in spin-transistor configurations show great promise, operation at room temperature remains elusive. Further progress requires a deeper understanding of the propagation of spin polarization, particularly in the high mobility semiconductors used for devices. This dissertation presents the demonstrationmore » and application of a powerful new optical technique, Doppler spin velocimetry, for probing the motion of spin polarization at the level of 1 nm on a picosecond time scale. We discuss experiments in which this technique is used to measure the motion of spin helices in high mobility n-GaAs quantum wells as a function of temperature, in-plane electric field, and photoinduced spin polarization amplitude. We find that the spin helix velocity changes sign as a function of wave vector and is zero at the wave vector that yields the largest spin lifetime. This observation is quite striking, but can be explained by the random walk model that we have developed. We discover that coherent spin precession within a propagating spin density wave is lost at temperatures near 150 K. This finding is critical to understanding why room temperature operation of devices based on electrical gate control of spin current has so far remained elusive. We report that, at all temperatures, electron spin polarization co-propagates with the high-mobility electron sea, even when this requires an unusual form of separation of spin density from photoinjected electron density. Furthermore, although the spin packet co-propagates with the two-dimensional electron gas, spin diffusion is strongly suppressed by electron-electron interactions, leading to remarkable resistance to diffusive spreading of the drifting pulse of spin polarization. Finally, we show that spin helices continue propagate at the same speed as the Fermi sea even when the electron drift velocity exceeds the Fermi velocity of 107 cm s -1.« less

Extended MHD modeling of tearing-driven magnetic relaxation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sauppe, J. P.; Sovinec, C. R.

2017-05-01

Discrete relaxation events in reversed-field pinch relevant configurations are investigated numerically with nonlinear extended magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling, including the Hall term in Ohm's law and first-order ion finite Larmor radius effects. Results show variability among relaxation events, where the Hall dynamo effect may help or impede the MHD dynamo effect in relaxing the parallel current density profile. The competitive behavior arises from multi-helicity conditions where the dominant magnetic fluctuation is relatively small. The resulting changes in parallel current density and parallel flow are aligned in the core, consistent with experimental observations. The analysis of simulation results also confirms that the force density from fluctuation-induced Reynolds stress arises subsequent to the drive from the fluctuation-induced Lorentz force density. Transport of the momentum density is found to be dominated by the fluctuation-induced Maxwell stress over most of the cross section with viscous and gyroviscous contributions being large in the edge region. The findings resolve a discrepancy with respect to the relative orientation of current density and flow relaxation, which had not been realized or investigated in King et al. [Phys. Plasmas 19, 055905 (2012)], where only the magnitude of flow relaxation is actually consistent with experimental results.

Impedance of an intense plasma-cathode electron source for tokamak startup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinson, E. T.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Perry, J. M.

2016-05-01

An impedance model is formulated and tested for the ˜1 kV , 1 kA/cm2 , arc-plasma cathode electron source used for local helicity injection tokamak startup. A double layer sheath is established between the high-density arc plasma ( narc≈1021 m-3 ) within the electron source, and the less dense external tokamak edge plasma ( nedge≈1018 m-3 ) into which current is injected at the applied injector voltage, Vinj . Experiments on the Pegasus spherical tokamak show that the injected current, Iinj , increases with Vinj according to the standard double layer scaling Iinj˜Vinj3 /2 at low current and transitions to Iinj˜Vinj1 /2 at high currents. In this high current regime, sheath expansion and/or space charge neutralization impose limits on the beam density nb˜Iinj/Vinj1 /2 . For low tokamak edge density nedge and high Iinj , the inferred beam density nb is consistent with the requirement nb≤nedge imposed by space-charge neutralization of the beam in the tokamak edge plasma. At sufficient edge density, nb˜narc is observed, consistent with a limit to nb imposed by expansion of the double layer sheath. These results suggest that narc is a viable control actuator for the source impedance.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

L. Delgado-Aparicio, et. al.

New observations of the formation and dynamics of long-lived impurity-induced helical "snake" modes in tokamak plasmas have recently been carried-out on Alcator C-Mod. The snakes form as an asymmetry in the impurity ion density that undergoes a seamless transition from a small helically displaced density to a large crescent-shaped helical structure inside q < 1, with a regularly sawtoothing core. The observations show that the conditions for the formation and persistence of a snake cannot be explained by plasma pressure alone. Instead, many features arise naturally from nonlinear interactions in a 3D MHD model that separately evolves the plasma densitymore » and temperature« less

Self-similar inverse cascade of magnetic helicity driven by the chiral anomaly

DOE PAGES

Hirono, Yuji; Kharzeev, Dmitri E.; Yin, Yi

2015-12-28

For systems with charged chiral fermions, the imbalance of chirality in the presence of magnetic field generates an electric current—this is the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We study the dynamical real-time evolution of electromagnetic fields coupled by the anomaly to the chiral charge density and the CME current by solving the Maxwell-Chern-Simons equations. We find that the CME induces the inverse cascade of magnetic helicity toward the large distances, and that at late times this cascade becomes self-similar, with universal exponents. We also find that in terms of gauge field topology the inverse cascade represents the transition from linked electricmore » and magnetic fields (Hopfions) to the knotted configuration of magnetic field (Chandrasekhar-Kendall states). The magnetic reconnections are accompanied by the pulses of the CME current directed along the magnetic field lines. In conclusion, we devise an experimental signature of these phenomena in heavy ion collisions, and speculate about implications for condensed matter systems.« less

A unified convention for biological assemblies with helical symmetry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tsai, Chung-Jung, E-mail: tsaic@mail.nih.gov; Nussinov, Ruth; Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978

A new representation of helical structure by four parameters, [n{sub 1}, n{sub 2}, twist, rise], is able to generate an entire helical construct from asymmetric units, including cases of helical assembly with a seam. Assemblies with helical symmetry can be conveniently formulated in many distinct ways. Here, a new convention is presented which unifies the two most commonly used helical systems for generating helical assemblies from asymmetric units determined by X-ray fibre diffraction and EM imaging. A helical assembly is viewed as being composed of identical repetitive units in a one- or two-dimensional lattice, named 1-D and 2-D helical systems,more » respectively. The unification suggests that a new helical description with only four parameters [n{sub 1}, n{sub 2}, twist, rise], which is called the augmented 1-D helical system, can generate the complete set of helical arrangements, including coverage of helical discontinuities (seams). A unified four-parameter characterization implies similar parameters for similar assemblies, can eliminate errors in reproducing structures of helical assemblies and facilitates the generation of polymorphic ensembles from helical atomic models or EM density maps. Further, guidelines are provided for such a unique description that reflects the structural signature of an assembly, as well as rules for manipulating the helical symmetry presentation.« less

Reversible near-infrared light directed reflection in a self-organized helical superstructure loaded with upconversion nanoparticles.

PubMed

Wang, Ling; Dong, Hao; Li, Yannian; Xue, Chenming; Sun, Ling-Dong; Yan, Chun-Hua; Li, Quan

2014-03-26

Adding external, dynamic control to self-organized superstructures with desired functionalities is an important leap necessary in leveraging the fascinating molecular systems for applications. Here, the new light-driven chiral molecular switch and upconversion nanoparticles, doped in a liquid crystal media, were able to self-organize into an optically tunable helical superstructure. The resulting nanoparticle impregnated helical superstructure was found to exhibit unprecedented reversible near-infrared (NIR) light-guided tunable behavior only by modulating the excitation power density of a continuous-wave NIR laser (980 nm). Upon irradiation by the NIR laser at the high power density, the reflection wavelength of the photonic superstructure red-shifted, whereas its reverse process occurred upon irradiation by the same laser but with the lower power density. Furthermore, reversible dynamic NIR-light-driven red, green, and blue reflections in a single thin film, achieved only by varying the power density of the NIR light, were for the first time demonstrated.

Experimental study of a linear/non-linear flux rope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeHaas, Timothy; Gekelman, Walter; Van Compernolle, Bart

2015-08-01

Flux ropes are magnetic structures of helical field lines, accompanied by spiraling currents. Commonly observed on the solar surface extending into the solar atmosphere, flux ropes are naturally occurring and have been observed by satellites in the near earth and in laboratory environments. In this experiment, a single flux rope (r = 2.5 cm, L = 1100 cm) was formed in the cylindrical, magnetized plasma of the Large Plasma Device (LaPD, L = 2200 cm, rplasma = 30 cm, no = 1012 cm-3, Te = 4 eV, He). The flux rope was generated by a DC discharge between an electron emitting cathode and anode. This fixes the rope at its source while allowing it to freely move about the anode. At large currents (I > πr2B0c/2 L), the flux rope becomes helical in structure and oscillates about a central axis. Under varying Alfven speeds and injection current, the transition of the flux rope from stable to kink-unstable was examined. As it becomes non-linear, oscillations in the magnetic signals shift from sinusoidal to Sawtooth-like, associated with elliptical motion of the flux rope; or the signal becomes intermittent as its current density increases.

Generation of large-scale vorticity in rotating stratified turbulence with inhomogeneous helicity: mean-field theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleeorin, N.

2018-06-01

We discuss a mean-field theory of the generation of large-scale vorticity in a rotating density stratified developed turbulence with inhomogeneous kinetic helicity. We show that the large-scale non-uniform flow is produced due to either a combined action of a density stratified rotating turbulence and uniform kinetic helicity or a combined effect of a rotating incompressible turbulence and inhomogeneous kinetic helicity. These effects result in the formation of a large-scale shear, and in turn its interaction with the small-scale turbulence causes an excitation of the large-scale instability (known as a vorticity dynamo) due to a combined effect of the large-scale shear and Reynolds stress-induced generation of the mean vorticity. The latter is due to the effect of large-scale shear on the Reynolds stress. A fast rotation suppresses this large-scale instability.

Modeling the Structure of Helical Assemblies with Experimental Constraints in Rosetta.

PubMed

André, Ingemar

2018-01-01

Determining high-resolution structures of proteins with helical symmetry can be challenging due to limitations in experimental data. In such instances, structure-based protein simulations driven by experimental data can provide a valuable approach for building models of helical assemblies. This chapter describes how the Rosetta macromolecular package can be used to model homomeric protein assemblies with helical symmetry in a range of modeling scenarios including energy refinement, symmetrical docking, comparative modeling, and de novo structure prediction. Data-guided structure modeling of helical assemblies with experimental information from electron density, X-ray fiber diffraction, solid-state NMR, and chemical cross-linking mass spectrometry is also described.

Concerning neutral flux shielding in the U-3M torsatron

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dreval, N. B., E-mail: mdreval@kipt.kharkov.ua

2015-03-15

The volume of the torsatron U-3M vacuum chamber is about 70 m{sup 3}, whereas the plasma volume is about 0.3 m{sup 3}. The large buffer volume of the chamber serves as a source of a substantial neutral flux into the U-3M plasma. A fraction of this flux falls onto the torsatron helical coils located in front of the plasma, due to which the dynamics of neutral influx into the plasma modifies. The shielding of the molecular flux from the buffer volume into the plasma is estimated using numerical calculations. Only about 10% of the incident flux reaches the plasma volume.more » Estimates show that about 20% of atoms escape beyond the helical coils without colliding with them. Under these conditions, the helical coils substantially affect the neutral flux. A discharge regime with a hot low-density plasma produced by a frame antenna is considered. The spatial distribution of the molecular density produced in this regime by the molecular flux from the chamber buffer volume after it has passed between the helical coils is calculated. The contributions of the fluxes emerging from the side and inner surfaces of the helical coils are considered. The calculations show that the shape of the spatial distribution of the molecular density differs substantially from the shape of the magnetic surfaces.« less

Helical Spin Order from Topological Dirac and Weyl Semimetals

DOE PAGES

Sun, Xiao-Qi; Zhang, Shou-Cheng; Wang, Zhong

2015-08-14

In this paper, we study dynamical mass generation and the resultant helical spin orders in topological Dirac and Weyl semimetals, including the edge states of quantum spin Hall insulators, the surface states of weak topological insulators, and the bulk materials of Weyl semimetals. In particular, the helical spin textures of Weyl semimetals manifest the spin-momentum locking of Weyl fermions in a visible manner. Finally, the spin-wave fluctuations of the helical order carry electric charge density; therefore, the spin textures can be electrically controlled in a simple and predictable manner.

Selective binding of choline by a phosphate-coordination-based triple helicate featuring an aromatic box.

PubMed

Jia, Chuandong; Zuo, Wei; Yang, Dong; Chen, Yanming; Cao, Liping; Custelcean, Radu; Hostaš, Jiří; Hobza, Pavel; Glaser, Robert; Wang, Yao-Yu; Yang, Xiao-Juan; Wu, Biao

2017-10-16

In nature, proteins have evolved sophisticated cavities tailored for capturing target guests selectively among competitors of similar size, shape, and charge. The fundamental principles guiding the molecular recognition, such as self-assembly and complementarity, have inspired the development of biomimetic receptors. In the current work, we report a self-assembled triple anion helicate (host 2) featuring a cavity resembling that of the choline-binding protein ChoX, as revealed by crystal and density functional theory (DFT)-optimized structures, which binds choline in a unique dual-site-binding mode. This similarity in structure leads to a similarly high selectivity of host 2 for choline over its derivatives, as demonstrated by the NMR and fluorescence competition experiments. Furthermore, host 2 is able to act as a fluorescence displacement sensor for discriminating choline, acetylcholine, L-carnitine, and glycine betaine effectively.The choline-binding protein ChoX exhibits a synergistic dual-site binding mode that allows it to discriminate choline over structural analogues. Here, the authors design a biomimetic triple anion helicate receptor whose selectivity for choline arises from a similar binding mechanism.

Macromolecular ab initio phasing enforcing secondary and tertiary structure.

PubMed

Millán, Claudia; Sammito, Massimo; Usón, Isabel

2015-01-01

Ab initio phasing of macromolecular structures, from the native intensities alone with no experimental phase information or previous particular structural knowledge, has been the object of a long quest, limited by two main barriers: structure size and resolution of the data. Current approaches to extend the scope of ab initio phasing include use of the Patterson function, density modification and data extrapolation. The authors' approach relies on the combination of locating model fragments such as polyalanine α-helices with the program PHASER and density modification with the program SHELXE. Given the difficulties in discriminating correct small substructures, many putative groups of fragments have to be tested in parallel; thus calculations are performed in a grid or supercomputer. The method has been named after the Italian painter Arcimboldo, who used to compose portraits out of fruit and vegetables. With ARCIMBOLDO, most collections of fragments remain a 'still-life', but some are correct enough for density modification and main-chain tracing to reveal the protein's true portrait. Beyond α-helices, other fragments can be exploited in an analogous way: libraries of helices with modelled side chains, β-strands, predictable fragments such as DNA-binding folds or fragments selected from distant homologues up to libraries of small local folds that are used to enforce nonspecific tertiary structure; thus restoring the ab initio nature of the method. Using these methods, a number of unknown macromolecules with a few thousand atoms and resolutions around 2 Å have been solved. In the 2014 release, use of the program has been simplified. The software mediates the use of massive computing to automate the grid access required in difficult cases but may also run on a single multicore workstation (http://chango.ibmb.csic.es/ARCIMBOLDO_LITE) to solve straightforward cases.

Analytic, High-beta Solutions of the Helical Grad-Shafranov Equation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

D.R. Smith; A.H. Reiman

We present analytic, high-beta ({beta} {approx} O(1)), helical equilibrium solutions for a class of helical axis configurations having large helical aspect ratio, with the helix assumed to be tightly wound. The solutions develop a narrow boundary layer of strongly compressed flux, similar to that previously found in high beta tokamak equilibrium solutions. The boundary layer is associated with a strong localized current which prevents the equilibrium from having zero net current.

A condition for small bootstrap current in three-dimensional toroidal configurations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mikhailov, M. I., E-mail: mikhaylov-mi@nrcki.ru; Nührenberg, J.; Zille, R.

2016-11-15

It is shown that, if the maximum of the magnetic field strength on a magnetic surface in a threedimensional magnetic confinement configuration with stellarator symmetry constitutes a line that is orthogonal to the field lines and crosses the symmetry line, then the bootstrap current density is smaller compared to that in quasi-axisymmetric (qa) [J. Nührenberg et al., in Proc. of Joint Varenna−Lausanne Int. Workshop on Theory of Fusion Plasmas, Varenna, 1994, p. 3] and quasi-helically (qh) symmetric [J. Nührenberg and R. Zille, Phys. Lett. A 129, 113 (1988)] configurations.

Laser singular Theta-pinch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okulov, A. Yu.

2010-10-01

The interaction of the two counter-propagating ultrashort laser pulses with singular wavefronts in the thin slice of the underdense plasma is considered. It is shown that ion-acoustic wave is excited via Brillouin three-wave resonance by corkscrew interference pattern of paraxial singular laser beams. The orbital angular momentum carried by light is transferred to plasma ion-acoustic vortex. The rotation of the density perturbations of electron fluid is the cause of helical current which produces the kilogauss axial quasi-static magnetic field. The exact analytical configurations are presented for an ion-acoustic current field and magnetic induction. The range of experimentally accessible parameters is evaluated.

Competing spin density wave, collinear, and helical magnetism in Fe 1 + x Te

DOE PAGES

Stock, C.; Rodriguez, E. E.; Bourges, P.; ...

2017-04-07

The Fe 1+xTe phase diagram consists of two distinct magnetic structures with collinear order present at low interstitial iron concentrations and a helical phase at large values of x with these phases separated by a Lifshitz point. In this paper, we use unpolarized single-crystal diffraction to confirm the helical phase for large interstitial iron concentrations and polarized single-crystal diffraction to demonstrate the collinear order for the iron-deficient side of the Fe 1+xTe phase diagram. Polarized neutron inelastic scattering shows that the fluctuations associated with this collinear order are predominately transverse at low-energy transfers, consistent with a localized magnetic moment picture.more » We then apply neutron inelastic scattering and polarization analysis to investigate the dynamics and structure near the boundary between collinear and helical orders in the Fe 1+xTe phase diagram. We first show that the phase separating collinear and helical orders is characterized by a spin density wave with a single propagation wave vector of (~0.45, 0, 0.5). We do not observe harmonics or the presence of a charge density wave. The magnetic fluctuations associated with this wave vector are different from the collinear phase, being strongly longitudinal in nature and correlated anisotropically in the (H,K) plane. The excitations preserve the C 4 symmetry of the lattice but display different widths in momentum along the two tetragonal directions at low-energy transfers. Finally, while the low-energy excitations and minimal magnetic phase diagram can be understood in terms of localized interactions, we suggest that the presence of the density wave phase implies the importance of electronic and orbital properties.« less

Competing spin density wave, collinear, and helical magnetism in Fe 1 + x Te

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stock, C.; Rodriguez, E. E.; Bourges, P.

The Fe 1+xTe phase diagram consists of two distinct magnetic structures with collinear order present at low interstitial iron concentrations and a helical phase at large values of x with these phases separated by a Lifshitz point. In this paper, we use unpolarized single-crystal diffraction to confirm the helical phase for large interstitial iron concentrations and polarized single-crystal diffraction to demonstrate the collinear order for the iron-deficient side of the Fe 1+xTe phase diagram. Polarized neutron inelastic scattering shows that the fluctuations associated with this collinear order are predominately transverse at low-energy transfers, consistent with a localized magnetic moment picture.more » We then apply neutron inelastic scattering and polarization analysis to investigate the dynamics and structure near the boundary between collinear and helical orders in the Fe 1+xTe phase diagram. We first show that the phase separating collinear and helical orders is characterized by a spin density wave with a single propagation wave vector of (~0.45, 0, 0.5). We do not observe harmonics or the presence of a charge density wave. The magnetic fluctuations associated with this wave vector are different from the collinear phase, being strongly longitudinal in nature and correlated anisotropically in the (H,K) plane. The excitations preserve the C 4 symmetry of the lattice but display different widths in momentum along the two tetragonal directions at low-energy transfers. Finally, while the low-energy excitations and minimal magnetic phase diagram can be understood in terms of localized interactions, we suggest that the presence of the density wave phase implies the importance of electronic and orbital properties.« less

Competing spin density wave, collinear, and helical magnetism in Fe1 +xTe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stock, C.; Rodriguez, E. E.; Bourges, P.; Ewings, R. A.; Cao, H.; Chi, S.; Rodriguez-Rivera, J. A.; Green, M. A.

2017-04-01

The Fe1 +xTe phase diagram consists of two distinct magnetic structures with collinear order present at low interstitial iron concentrations and a helical phase at large values of x with these phases separated by a Lifshitz point. We use unpolarized single-crystal diffraction to confirm the helical phase for large interstitial iron concentrations and polarized single-crystal diffraction to demonstrate the collinear order for the iron-deficient side of the Fe1 +xTe phase diagram. Polarized neutron inelastic scattering shows that the fluctuations associated with this collinear order are predominately transverse at low-energy transfers, consistent with a localized magnetic moment picture. We then apply neutron inelastic scattering and polarization analysis to investigate the dynamics and structure near the boundary between collinear and helical orders in the Fe1 +xTe phase diagram. We first show that the phase separating collinear and helical orders is characterized by a spin density wave with a single propagation wave vector of (˜0.45 , 0, 0.5). We do not observe harmonics or the presence of a charge density wave. The magnetic fluctuations associated with this wave vector are different from the collinear phase, being strongly longitudinal in nature and correlated anisotropically in the (H ,K ) plane. The excitations preserve the C4 symmetry of the lattice but display different widths in momentum along the two tetragonal directions at low-energy transfers. While the low-energy excitations and minimal magnetic phase diagram can be understood in terms of localized interactions, we suggest that the presence of the density wave phase implies the importance of electronic and orbital properties.

Probing magnetic helicity with synchrotron radiation and Faraday rotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oppermann, N.; Junklewitz, H.; Robbers, G.; Enßlin, T. A.

2011-06-01

We present a first application of the recently proposed LITMUS test for magnetic helicity, as well as a thorough study of its applicability under different circumstances. In order to apply this test to the galactic magnetic field, the newly developed critical filter formalism is used to produce an all-sky map of the Faraday depth. The test does not detect helicity in the galactic magnetic field. To understand the significance of this finding, we made an applicability study, showing that a definite conclusion about the absence of magnetic helicity in the galactic field has not yet been reached. This study is conducted by applying the test to simulated observational data. We consider simulations in a flat sky approximation and all-sky simulations, both with assumptions of constant electron densities and realistic distributions of thermal and cosmic ray electrons. Our results suggest that the LITMUS test does indeed perform very well in cases where constant electron densities can be assumed, both in the flat-sky limit and in the galactic setting. Non-trivial distributions of thermal and cosmic ray electrons, however, may complicate the scenario to the point where helicity in the magnetic field can escape detection.

Effects of multi-pulsed coaxial helicity injection on dynamics of spherical torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, T.; Nagata, M.; Kagei, Y.

2012-10-01

The mechanism to rebuild the magnetic fields and to amplify the currents in the high-q spherical torus (ST) by the multi-pulsed coaxial helicity injection is investigated using the resistive nonlinear 3D-MHD simulations. During the driven phase, the dynamics is almost axisymmetric because the magnetic fluctuation level of n=0 mode compared with other higher modes is much larger. The toroidal current It is effectively amplified due to the merging of plasmoid ejected from the gun region with the pre-existing ST in the confinement region. The poloidal flux is not significantly amplified because the current sheet generated by the merging process does not rapidly decay. The negative toroidal flow vt is then induced in the direction of It around the central open flux column (OFC) region by inductive toroidal electric field Et (=-vzBr) because of the plasmoid ejection. The strong poloidal flow vz (=ErBt) is also driven from the gun to confinement region due to the Lorentz force. As the result of vz, the flow vortices associated with the dynamo effect are caused around the upper confinement region. During the decay phase, the closed field lines are regenerated due to the dissipation of magnetic fluctuations. The helical distortion of the OFC becomes small, and then ordered magnetic field structures without flows are built. Just after turning off the external electric field, the poloidal flow from the confinement to gun region is caused by the pressure gradients. The parallel current density λ concentrated in the OFC diffuses to the core region, but does not relax in the direction of the Taylor state due to the pressure gradients.

Two-photon LIF on the HIT-SI3 experiment: Absolute density and temperature measurements of deuterium neutrals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, Drew; Sutherland, Derek; Siddiqui, Umair; Scime, Earl; Everson, Chris; Morgan, Kyle; Hossack, Aaron; Nelson, Brian; Jarboe, Tom

2016-11-01

Two-photon laser-induced fluorescence measurements were performed on the helicity injected torus (HIT-SI3) device to determine the density and temperature of the background neutral deuterium population. Measurements were taken in 2 ms long pulsed plasmas after the inductive helicity injectors were turned off. Attempts to measure neutrals during the main phase of the plasma were unsuccessful, likely due to the density of neutrals being below the detection threshold of the diagnostic. An unexpectedly low density of atomic deuterium was measured in the afterglow; roughly 100 times lower than the theoretical prediction of 1017 m-3. The neutral temperatures measured were on the order of 1 eV. Temporally and spatially resolved neutral density and temperature data are presented.

Design of the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (HIT-SI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieck, P. E.; Gu, P.; Hamp, W. T.; Izzo, V. A.; McCollam, K. J.; Jarboe, T. R.; Nelson, B. A.; Redd, A. J.; Rogers, J. A.; Shumlak, U.

2000-10-01

Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI) is an inductive current drive method that injects helicity at a nearly constant rate, without open field lines, and without removing any helicity or magnetic energy from the plasma(T.R. Jarboe, Fusion Technology 36), p. 85, 1999. SIHI directly produces a rotating magnetic field structure, and the current profile is nearly time independent in the frame of the rotating field. The Helicity Injected Torus with SIHI (HIT-SI) is a ``bow tie'' spheromak designed to implement SIHI so that the current profile in the rotating frame is optimized. SIHI is accomplished using two inductive helicity injectors that operate 90^o out of phase with each other. Each helicity injector is a 180^o segment of a ZT-P size (a ≈ 8cm, R ≈ 32cm) RFP. The presence of a spheromak equilibrium will be readily apparent on several diagnostics, including the surface magnetic probes. The design of HIT-SI is presented, including the manufacturing techniques and metallurgical processes being used in the construction of the one-meter diameter close-fitting flux conserver. Several small prototype tests have been performed to prove the vacuum seal and electrical insulation capabilities of the design, and a finite element stress analysis of the flux conserver will be presented.

Non-solenoidal Startup via Local Helicity Injection on Pegasus: Progress and Plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reusch, J. A.; Barr, J. L.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Lewicki, B. T.; Perry, J. M.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2015-11-01

Non-solenoidal plasma startup via local helicity injection (LHI) at the Pegasus toroidal experiment now provides routine operation at Ip ~ 0.17MA with Iinj ~ 5kA and Vinj ~ 1kV from four active arc injectors. Experiments in the past year have advanced the understanding of the governing physics of LHI and its supporting technology. Injector impedance scales as Vinj3/ 2 and is governed by two effects: a quasineutrality constraint on electron beam propagation, related to the tokamak edge density, and double-layer sheath expansion, related to narc. Injector design improvements permit operation at Vinj >= 1 kV without deleterious PMI or impurity generation. Discharges with varied shape, Ip(t), and helicity input test a predictive 0D power-balance model for LHI startup. Anomalous, reconnection-driven Ti >800 eV and strong MHD activity localized near the injectors are observed during LHI. Preliminary core Thomson scattering measurements indicate surprisingly high Te >300 eV, which if verified may indicate the dominance of high-energy electron fueling from the injector current streams. A new divertor injector system has been designed to substantially increase the available helicity input rate and support critical studies of confinement during LHI and reconnection activity at high Ip. A proposed upgrade to the Pegasus experiment will extend these studies to NSTX-U relevant parameters. Support: US DOE grants DE-FG02-96ER54375; and DE-SC0006928.

Multilayer DNA origami packed on hexagonal and hybrid lattices.

PubMed

Ke, Yonggang; Voigt, Niels V; Gothelf, Kurt V; Shih, William M

2012-01-25

"Scaffolded DNA origami" has been proven to be a powerful and efficient approach to construct two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects with great complexity. Multilayer DNA origami has been demonstrated with helices packing along either honeycomb-lattice geometry or square-lattice geometry. Here we report successful folding of multilayer DNA origami with helices arranged on a close-packed hexagonal lattice. This arrangement yields a higher density of helical packing and therefore higher resolution of spatial addressing than has been shown previously. We also demonstrate hybrid multilayer DNA origami with honeycomb-lattice, square-lattice, and hexagonal-lattice packing of helices all in one design. The availability of hexagonal close-packing of helices extends our ability to build complex structures using DNA nanotechnology. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Plasma characteristics of long-pulse discharges heated by neutral beam injection in the Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeiri, Y.; Nakamura, Y.; Noda, N.; Osakabe, M.; Kawahata, K.; Oka, Y.; Kaneko, O.; Tsumori, K.; Sato, M.; Mutoh, T.; Shimozuma, T.; Goto, M.; Ida, K.; Inagaki, S.; Kado, S.; Masuzaki, S.; Morita, S.; Nagayama, Y.; Narihara, K.; Peterson, B. J.; Sakakibara, S.; Sato, K.; Shoji, M.; Tanaka, K.; de Vries, P. C.; Sudo, S.; Ohyabu, N.; Motojima, O.

2000-02-01

Long-pulse neutral beam injection heating has been achieved in the large helical device (LHD). Two different confinement states are observed for different averaged densities in the long-pulse plasmas. A quasi-steady-state plasma was sustained for 21 s with an injection power of 0.6 MW, where the central plasma temperature was around 1 keV with a line-averaged electron density of 0.3 × 1019 m-3 . The discharge duration can be so extended as to keep the plasma properties in the short-pulse discharge. The energy confinement time is nearly the same as that of the short-pulse discharge, which is 1.3 times as long as the international stellarator scaling ISS95. At higher densities, a relaxation oscillation phenomenon, observed as if the plasma would breathe, lasted for 20 s with a period of 1-2 s. The phenomenon is characterized with profile expansion and contraction of the electron temperature. The density oscillation is out of phase with the temperature oscillation and is related to the density clamping phenomenon. The observed plasma properties are shown in detail for the `breathing' oscillation phenomenon. Possible mechanisms for the breathing oscillation are also discussed, with a view of the screening effect near the last closed magnetic surface and the power balance between the heating and the radiation powers. The long-pulse heating results indicate unique characteristics of the LHD where no special feedback stabilization is required due to absence of disruption and no need for current drive.

Three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical simulation of expanding magnetic flux ropes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arnold, L.; Dreher, J.; Grauer, R.

Three-dimensional, time-dependent numerical simulations of the dynamics of magnetic flux ropes are presented. The simulations are targeted towards an experiment previously conducted at California Institute of Technology [P. M. Bellan and J. F. Hansen, Phys. Plasmas 5, 1991 (1998)] which aimed at simulating solar prominence eruptions in the laboratory. The plasma dynamics is described by ideal magnetohydrodynamics using different models for the evolution of the mass density. The initial current distribution represents the situation at the plasma creation phase, while it is not increased during the simulation. Key features of the reported experimental observations like pinching of the current loop,more » its expansion and distortion into helical shape are reproduced in the numerical simulations. Details of the final structure depend on the choice of a specific model for the mass density.« less

SIGN SINGULARITY AND FLARES IN SOLAR ACTIVE REGION NOAA 11158

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sorriso-Valvo, L.; De Vita, G.; Kazachenko, M. D.

Solar Active Region NOAA 11158 has hosted a number of strong flares, including one X2.2 event. The complexity of current density and current helicity are studied through cancellation analysis of their sign-singular measure, which features power-law scaling. Spectral analysis is also performed, revealing the presence of two separate scaling ranges with different spectral index. The time evolution of parameters is discussed. Sudden changes of the cancellation exponents at the time of large flares and the presence of correlation with Extreme-Ultra-Violet and X-ray flux suggest that eruption of large flares can be linked to the small-scale properties of the current structures.

Selective binding of choline by a phosphate-coordination-based triple helicate featuring an aromatic box

DOE PAGES

Jia, Chuandong; Zuo, Wei; Yang, Dong; ...

2017-10-16

In nature, proteins have evolved sophisticated cavities tailored for capturing target guests selectively among competitors of similar size, shape, and charge. The fundamental principles guiding the molecular recognition, such as self-assembly and complementarity, have inspired the development of biomimetic receptors. In the current work, we report a self-assembled triple anion helicate (host 2) featuring a cavity resembling that of the choline-binding protein ChoX, as revealed by crystal and density functional theory (DFT)-optimized structures, which binds choline in a unique dual-site-binding mode. Here, this similarity in structure leads to a similarly high selectivity of host 2 for choline over its derivatives,more » as demonstrated by the NMR and fluorescence competition experiments. Furthermore, host 2 is able to act as a fluorescence displacement sensor for discriminating choline, acetylcholine, l-carnitine, and glycine betaine effectively.« less

Statistical properties of edge plasma turbulence in the Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewhurst, J. M.; Hnat, B.; Ohno, N.; Dendy, R. O.; Masuzaki, S.; Morisaki, T.; Komori, A.

2008-09-01

Ion saturation current (Isat) measurements made by three tips of a Langmuir probe array in the Large Helical Device are analysed for two plasma discharges. Absolute moment analysis is used to quantify properties on different temporal scales of the measured signals, which are bursty and intermittent. Strong coherent modes in some datasets are found to distort this analysis and are consequently removed from the time series by applying bandstop filters. Absolute moment analysis of the filtered data reveals two regions of power-law scaling, with the temporal scale τ ≈ 40 µs separating the two regimes. A comparison is made with similar results from the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak. The probability density function is studied and a monotonic relationship between connection length and skewness is found. Conditional averaging is used to characterize the average temporal shape of the largest intermittent bursts.

Helical flow couplets in submarine gravity underflows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imran, Jasim; Ashraful Islam, Mohammad; Huang, Heqing; Kassem, Ahmed; Dickerson, John; Pirmez, Carlos; Parker, Gary

2007-07-01

Active and relic meandering channels are common on the seafloor adjacent to continental margins. These channels and their associated submarine fan deposits are products of the density-driven gravity flows known as turbidity currents. The tie between channel curvature and its effects on these gravity flows has been an enigma. This paper records the results of both large-scale laboratory measurements and a numerical simulation that captures the three-dimensional flow field of a gravity underflow at a channel bend. These findings reveal that channel curvature drives two helical flow cells, one stacked upon the other. The lower cell forms near the channel bed surface and has a circulation pattern similar to that observed in fluvial channels, i.e., with a near-bed flow directed inward. The other circulation cell forms in the upper part of the gravity flow and has a streamwise vorticity with the opposite sense of the lower cell.

Alternating phenylene and furan/pyrrole/thiophene units-based oligomers: A computational study of the structures and optoelectronic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahu, Harikrishna; Shukla, Rishabh; Goswami, Juri; Gaur, Priyank; Panda, Aditya N.

2018-01-01

Structural and optoelectronic properties of phenylene-furan, phenylene-pyrrole and phenylene-thiophene oligomers are reported using density functional theory methods. Studies reveal that stabilities of conformers change with increasing chain length, and helical conformers are energetically feasible for large oligomers of the studied systems, due to stacking interactions between adjacent helical turns. Absorption spectra of helices are dominated by multiple number of electronic transitions other than the S0 →S1 , involving orbitals other than the HOMO/LUMO. All studied helices are optically active having similar pattern of negative and positive peaks in the CD spectra.

Impedance of an intense plasma-cathode electron source for tokamak startup

DOE PAGES

Hinson, Edward Thomas; Barr, Jayson L.; Bongard, Michael W.; ...

2016-05-31

In this study, an impedance model is formulated and tested for the ~1kV, ~1kA/cm 2, arc-plasma cathode electron source used for local helicity injection tokamak startup. A double layer sheath is established between the high-density arc plasma (n arc ≈ 10 21 m -3) within the electron source, and the less dense external tokamak edge plasma (n edge ≈ 10 18 m -3) into which current is injected at the applied injector voltage, V inj. Experiments on the Pegasus spherical tokamak show the injected current, I inj, increases with V inj according to the standard double layer scaling I injmore » ~ V inj 3/2 at low current and transitions to I inj ~ V inj 1/2 at high currents. In this high current regime, sheath expansion and/or space charge neutralization impose limits on the beam density n b ~ I inj/V inj 1/2. For low tokamak edge density n edge and high I inj, the inferred beam density n b is consistent with the requirement n b ≤ n edge imposed by space-charge neutralization of the beam in the tokamak edge plasma. At sufficient edge density, n b ~ n arc is observed, consistent with a limit to n b imposed by expansion of the double layer sheath. These results suggest that n arc is a viable control actuator for the source impedance.« less

Characterizing optical chirality

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bliokh, Konstantin Y.; Advanced Science Institute, RIKEN, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198; Nori, Franco

We examine the recently introduced measure of chirality of a monochromatic optical field [Y. Tang and A. E. Cohen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 163901 (2010)] using the momentum (plane-wave) representation and helicity basis. Our analysis clarifies the physical meaning of the measure of chirality and unveils its close relation to the polarization helicity, spin angular momentum, energy density, and Poynting energy flow. We derive the operators of the optical chirality and of the corresponding chiral momentum, which acquire remarkably simple forms in the helicity representation.

Godbillon Vey Helicity and Magnetic Helicity in Magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webb, G. M.; Hu, Q.; Anco, S.; Zank, G. P.

2017-12-01

The Godbillon-Vey invariant arises in homology theory, and algebraic topology, where conditions for a layered family of 2D surfaces forms a 3D manifold were elucidated. The magnetic Godbillon-Vey helicity invariant in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is a helicity invariant that occurs for flows, in which the magnetic helicity density hm= A\\cdotB=0 where A is the magnetic vector potential and B is the magnetic induction. Our purpose is to elucidate the evolution of the magnetic Godbillon-Vey field η =A×B/|A|2 and the Godbillon-Vey helicity hgv}= η \\cdot∇ × η in general MHD flows in which the magnetic helicity hm≠q 0. It is shown that hm acts as a source term in the Godbillon-Vey helicity transport equation, in which hm is coupled to hgv via the shear tensor of the background flow. The transport equation for hgv depends on the electric field potential ψ , which is related to the gauge for A, which takes its simplest form for the advected A gauge in which ψ =A\\cdot u where u is the fluid velocity.

Establishment of a low recycling state with full density control by active pumping of the closed helical divertor at LHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motojima, G.; Masuzaki, S.; Tanaka, H.; Morisaki, T.; Sakamoto, R.; Murase, T.; Tsuchibushi, Y.; Kobayashi, M.; Schmitz, O.; Shoji, M.; Tokitani, M.; Yamada, H.; Takeiri, Y.; The LHD Experiment Group

2018-01-01

Superior control of particle recycling and hence full governance of plasma density has been established in the Large Helical Device (LHD) using largely enhanced active pumping of the closed helical divertor (CHD). In-vessel cryo-sorption pumping systems inside the CHD in five out of ten inner toroidal divertor sections have been developed and installed step by step in the LHD. The total effective pumping speed obtained was 67  ±  5 m3 s-1 in hydrogen, which is approximately seven times larger than previously obtained. As a result, a low recycling state was observed with CHD pumping for the first time in LHD featuring excellent density control even under intense pellet fueling conditions. A global particle confinement time (τ p* ) is used for comparison of operation with and without the CHD pumping. The τ p* was evaluated from the density decay after the fueling of hydrogen pellet injection or gas puffing in NBI plasmas. A reliably low base density before the fueling and short τ p* after the fueling were obtained during the CHD pumping, demonstrating for the first time full control of the particle balance with active pumping in the CHD.

Stabilizing effect of helical current drive on tearing modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Y.; Lu, X. Q.; Dong, J. Q.; Gong, X. Y.; Zhang, R. B.

2018-01-01

The effect of helical driven current on the m = 2/n = 1 tearing mode is studied numerically in a cylindrical geometry using the method of reduced magneto-hydro-dynamic simulation. The results show that the local persistent helical current drive from the beginning time can be applied to control the tearing modes, and will cause a rebound effect called flip instability when the driven current reaches a certain value. The current intensity threshold value for the occurrence of flip instability is about 0.00087I0. The method of controlling the development of tearing mode with comparative economy is given. If the local helical driven current is discontinuous, the magnetic island can be controlled within a certain range, and then, the tearing modes stop growing; thus, the flip instability can be avoided. We also find that the flip instability will become impatient with delay injection of the driven current because the high order harmonics have been developed in the original O-point. The tearing mode instability can be controlled by using the electron cyclotron current drive to reduce the gradient of the current intensity on the rational surfaces.

Magnetic Helicity Estimations in Models and Observations of the Solar Magnetic Field. III. Twist Number Method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Y.; Pariat, E.; Moraitis, K.

We study the writhe, twist, and magnetic helicity of different magnetic flux ropes, based on models of the solar coronal magnetic field structure. These include an analytical force-free Titov–Démoulin equilibrium solution, non-force-free magnetohydrodynamic simulations, and nonlinear force-free magnetic field models. The geometrical boundary of the magnetic flux rope is determined by the quasi-separatrix layer and the bottom surface, and the axis curve of the flux rope is determined by its overall orientation. The twist is computed by the Berger–Prior formula, which is suitable for arbitrary geometry and both force-free and non-force-free models. The magnetic helicity is estimated by the twistmore » multiplied by the square of the axial magnetic flux. We compare the obtained values with those derived by a finite volume helicity estimation method. We find that the magnetic helicity obtained with the twist method agrees with the helicity carried by the purely current-carrying part of the field within uncertainties for most test cases. It is also found that the current-carrying part of the model field is relatively significant at the very location of the magnetic flux rope. This qualitatively explains the agreement between the magnetic helicity computed by the twist method and the helicity contributed purely by the current-carrying magnetic field.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Hongqi; Brandenburg, Axel; Sokoloff, D. D., E-mail: hzhang@bao.ac.cn

We adopt an isotropic representation of the Fourier-transformed two-point correlation tensor of the magnetic field to estimate the magnetic energy and helicity spectra as well as current helicity spectra of two individual active regions (NOAA 11158 and NOAA 11515) and the change of the spectral indices during their development as well as during the solar cycle. The departure of the spectral indices of magnetic energy and current helicity from 5/3 are analyzed, and it is found that it is lower than the spectral index of the magnetic energy spectrum. Furthermore, the fractional magnetic helicity tends to increase when the scale of themore » energy-carrying magnetic structures increases. The magnetic helicity of NOAA 11515 violates the expected hemispheric sign rule, which is interpreted as an effect of enhanced field strengths at scales larger than 30–60 Mm with opposite signs of helicity. This is consistent with the general cycle dependence, which shows that around the solar maximum the magnetic energy and helicity spectra are steeper, emphasizing the large-scale field.« less

Time-dependent behavior in a transport-barrier model for the quasi-single helcity state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terry, P. W.; Whelan, G. G.

2014-09-01

Time-dependent behavior that follows from a recent theory of the quasi-single-helicity (QSH) state of the reversed field pinch is considered. The theory (Kim and Terry 2012 Phys. Plasmas 19 122304) treats QSH as a core fluctuation structure tied to a tearing mode of the same helicity, and shows that strong magnetic and velocity shears in the structure suppress the nonlinear interaction with other fluctuations. By summing the multiple helicity fluctuation energies over wavenumber, we reduce the theory to a predator-prey model. The suppression of the nonlinear interaction is governed by the single helicity energy, which, for fixed radial structure, controls the magnetic and velocity shearing rates. It is also controlled by plasma current which, in the theory, sets the shearing threshold for suppression. The model shows a limit cycle oscillation in which the system toggles between QSH and multiple helicity states, with the single helicity phase becoming increasingly long-lived relative to the multiple helicity phase as plasma current increases.

Interaction of rotating helical magnetic field with the HIST spherical torus plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kikuchi, Yusuke; Sugahara, Masato; Yamada, Satoshi; Yoshikawa, Tatsuya; Fukumoto, Naoyuki; Nagata, Masayoshi

2006-10-01

The physical mechanism of current drive by co-axial helicity injection (CHI) has been experimentally investigated on both spheromak and spherical torus (ST) configurations on the HIST device [1]. It has been observed that the n = 1 kink mode rotates toroidally with a frequency of 10-20 kHz in the ExB direction. It seems that the induced toroidal current by CHI strongly relates with the observed rotating kink mode. On the other hand, it is well known that MHD instabilities can be controlled or even suppressed by an externally applied helical magnetic field in tokamak devices. Therefore, we have started to install two sets of external helical coils in order to produce a rotating helical magnetic field on HIST. Mode structures of the generated rotating helical magnetic field and preliminary experimental results of the interaction of the rotating helical magnetic field with the HIST plasmas will be shown in the conference. [1] M. Nagata, et al., Physics of Plasmas 10, 2932 (2003)

Non-Solenoidal Tokamak Startup via Inboard Local Helicity Injection on the Pegasus ST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, J. M.; Barr, J. L.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Pachicano, J. L.; Reusch, J. A.; Rodriguez Sanchez, C.; Richner, N. J.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2016-10-01

Local helicity injection (LHI) is a non-solenoidal startup technique utilizing small injectors at the plasma edge to source current along helical magnetic field lines. Unstable injected current streams relax to a tokamak-like configuration with high toroidal current multiplication. Flexible placement of injectors permits tradeoffs between helicity injection rate, poloidal field induction, and magnetic geometry requirements for initial relaxation. Experiments using a new set of large-area injectors in the lower divertor explore the efficacy of high-field-side (HFS) injection. The increased area (4 cm2) current source is functional up to full Pegasus toroidal field (BT , inj = 0.23 T). However, relaxation to a tokamak state is increasingly frustrated for BT , inj > 0.15 T with uniform vacuum vertical field. Paths to relaxation at increased field include: manipulation of vacuum poloidal field geometry; increased injector current; and plasma initiation with outboard injectors, subsequently transitioning to divertor injector drive. During initial tests of HFS injectors, achieved Vinj was limited to 600 V by plasma-material interactions on the divertor plate, which may be mitigated by increasing injector elevation. In experiments with helicity injection as the dominant current drive Ip 0.13 MA has been attained, with T̲e > 100 eV and ne 1019 m-3. Extrapolation to full BT, longer pulse length, and Vinj 1 kV suggest Ip > 0.25 MA should be attainable in a plasma dominated by helicity drive. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Flexible long-chain-linker constructed Ni-based metal-organic frameworks with 1D helical channel and their pseudo-capacitor behavior studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Kuaibing; Wang, Zikai; Wang, Xin; Zhou, Xueqin; Tao, Yuehong; Wu, Hua

2018-02-01

Two novel and isostructural Ni-based MOFs with topological symbol of 422·54·62, namely [Ni2(TATB)2(L)2(H2O)], have successfully synthesized, where L is the flexibly N-donor bid (1,10-bisimidazoledecane) or btd (1,10-bistriazoledecane) linker and TATB is the deprotonation mode from 4,4‧,4″-s-triazine-2,4,6-triyl-tribenzoic acid (H3TATB). Two types of left- and right-handed helical channels with mean diameter of 11 Å results in large void space in 3D network. When directly use as electrode materials, the as-synthesized Ni-MOFs single-crystal electrodes behave as pseudo-capacitor and deliver high gravimetric capacitance with superior energy deliverable ability and cycling stability. For example, the maximum gravimetric capacitance is 705 F g-1 with the energy density of 29.6 Wh kg-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1. Even after 5000 continuous cycles, the capacitance retention maintains at 92.1%. The good electrochemical performance should be ascribed to the 1D helical channels facilitating the diffusion of OH-. Furthermore, the low bulk solution (0.46 and 0.50 Ω) and charge-transfer resistances accelerate the contact between OH- and active species in the electrode, and consequently result in efficiency Faradaic reaction. This work opens a new way for the directly application of 3D topological MOFs single-crystal with novel interior structures especially porous and channel-like architectures in electronic energy storage field.

Local Helicity Injection Systems for Non-solenoidal Startup in the PEGASUS Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, J. M.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Lewicki, B. T.; Redd, A. J.

2013-10-01

Local helicity injection is being developed in the PEGASUS Toroidal Experiment for non-solenoidal startup in spherical tokamaks. The effective loop voltage due to helicity injection scales with the area of the injectors, requiring the development of electron current injectors with areas much larger than the 2 cm2 plasma arc injectors used to date. Solid and gas-effused metallic electrodes were found to be unusable due to reduced injector area utilization from localized cathode spots and narrow operational regimes. An integrated array of 8 compact plasma arc sources is thus being developed for high current startup. It employs two monolithic power systems, for the plasma arc sources and the bias current extraction system. The array effectively eliminates impurity fueling from plasma-material interaction by incorporating a local scraper-limiter and conical-frustum bias electrodes to mitigate the effects of cathode spots. An energy balance model of helicity injection indicates that the resulting 20 cm2 of total injection area should provide sufficient current drive to reach 0.3 MA. At that level, helicity injection drive exceeds that from poloidal induction, which is the relevant operational regime for large-scale spherical tokamaks. Future placement of the injector array near an expanded boundary divertor region will test simultaneous optimization of helicity drive and the Taylor relaxation current limit. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Two-fluid and finite Larmor radius effects on helicity evolution in a plasma pinch

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sauppe, J. P., E-mail: jpsauppe@gmail.com; Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; Sovinec, C. R., E-mail: csovinec@wisc.edu

2016-03-15

The evolution of magnetic energy, helicity, and hybrid helicity during nonlinear relaxation of a driven-damped plasma pinch is compared in visco-resistive magnetohydrodynamics and two-fluid models with and without the ion gyroviscous stress tensor. Magnetic energy and helicity are supplied via a boundary electric field which initially balances the resistive dissipation, and the plasma undergoes multiple relaxation events during the nonlinear evolution. The magnetic helicity is well conserved relative to the magnetic energy over each event, which is short compared with the global resistive diffusion time. The magnetic energy decreases by roughly 1.5% of its initial value over a relaxation event,more » while the magnetic helicity changes by at most 0.2% of the initial value. The hybrid helicity is dominated by magnetic helicity in low-β pinch conditions and is also well conserved. Differences of less than 1% between magnetic helicity and hybrid helicity are observed with two-fluid modeling and result from cross helicity evolution. The cross helicity is found to change appreciably due to the first-order finite Larmor radius effects which have not been included in contemporary relaxation theories. The plasma current evolves towards the flat parallel current state predicted by Taylor relaxation theory but does not achieve it. Plasma flow develops significant structure for two-fluid models, and the flow perpendicular to the magnetic field is much more substantial than the flow along it.« less

Experimental and density functional theory (DFT) studies on the interactions of Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes with the RAN triplex poly(U)˙poly(A)*poly(U).

PubMed

Zhang, Hong; Liu, Xuewen; He, Xiaojun; Liu, Ying; Tan, Lifeng

2014-11-01

There is renewed interest in investigating triple helices because these novel structures have been implicated as a possible means of controlling cellular processes by endogenous or exogenous mechanisms. Due to the Hoogsteen base pairing, triple helices are, however, thermodynamically less stable than the corresponding duplexes. The poor stability of triple helices limits their practical applications under physiological conditions. In contrast to DNA triple helices, small molecules stabilizing RNA triple helices at present are less well established. Furthermore, most of these studies are limited to organic compounds and, to a far lesser extent, to metal complexes. In this work, two Ru(II) complexes, [Ru(bpy)2(btip)](2+) (Ru1) and [Ru(phen)2(btip)](2+) (Ru2), have been synthesized and characterized. The binding properties of the two metal complexes with the triple RNA poly(U)˙poly(A)*poly(U) were studied by various biophysical and density functional theory methods. The main results obtained here suggest that the slight binding difference in Ru1 and Ru2 may be attributed to the planarity of the intercalative ligand and the LUMO level of Ru(II) complexes. This study further advances our knowledge on the triplex RNA-binding by metal complexes, particularly Ru(II) complexes.

Chirality and orbital order in charge density waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Wezel, Jasper

2011-12-01

Helical arrangements of spins are common among magnetic materials. The first material to harbor a corkscrew pattern of charge density, on the other hand, was discovered only very recently. The nature of the order parameter is of key relevance, since rotating a magnetic vector around any propagation vector trivially yields a helical pattern. In contrast, the purely scalar charge density cannot straightforwardly support a chiral state. Here we use a Landau order parameter analysis to resolve this paradox, and show that the chiral charge order may be understood as a form of orbital ordering. We discuss the microscopic mechanism driving the transition and show it to be of a general form, thus allowing for a broad class of materials to display this novel type of orbital-ordered chiral charge density wave.

Expanding Non-solenoidal Startup with Local Helicity Injection to Increased Toroidal Field and Helicity Injection Rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, J. M.; Barr, J. L.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Lewicki, B. T.; Reusch, J. A.; Schlossberg, D. J.; Winz, G. R.

2015-11-01

Local helicity injection (LHI) is a non-solenoidal startup technique under development on the Pegasus ST. Plasma currents up to 0.18 MA have been initiated by LHI in conjunction with poloidal field induction. A 0-D power balance model has been developed to predict plasma current evolution by balancing helicity input against resistive dissipation. The model is being validated against a set of experimental measurements and magnetic reconstructions with radically varied plasma geometric evolutions. Outstanding physics issues with LHI startup are the scalings of confinement and MHD activity with helicity injection rate and toroidal field strength, as well as injector behavior at high field. Preliminary results from the newly-installed Thomson scattering system suggest core temperatures of a few hundred eV during LHI startup. Measurements are being expanded to multiple spatial points for ongoing confinement studies. A set of larger-area injectors is being installed in the lower divertor region, where increased toroidal field will provide a helicity injection rate over 3 times that of outboard injectors. In this regime helicity injection will be the dominant current drive. Experiments with divertor injectors will permit experimental differentiation of several possible confinement models, and demonstrate the feasibility of LHI startup at high field. Work supported by US DOE grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

The Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarboe, T. R.; Gu, P.; Hamp, W.; Izzo, V.; Jewell, P.; Liptac, J.; McCollam, K. J.; Nelson, B. A.; Raman, R.; Redd, A. J.; Shumlak, U.; Sieck, P. E.; Smith, R. J.; Jain, K. K.; Nagata, M.; Uyama, T.

2000-10-01

The purpose of the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) program is to develop current drive techniques for low-aspect-ratio toroidal plasmas. The present HIT-II spherical tokamak experiment is capable of both Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) and transformer action current drive. The HIT-II device itself is modestly sized (major radius R = 0.3 m, minor radius a = 0.2 m, with an on-axis magnetic field of up to Bo = 0.5 T), but has demonstrated toroidal plasma currents of up to 200 kA, using either CHI or transformer drive. An overview of ongoing research on HIT-II plasmas, including recent results, will be presented. An electron-locking model has been developed for helicity injection current drive; a description of this model will be presented, as well as comparisons to experimental results from the HIT and HIT-II devices. Empirical results from both the HIT program and past spheromak research, buttressed by theoretical developments, have led to the design of the upcoming HIT-SI (Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection) device (T.R. Jarboe, Fusion Technology 36, p. 85, 1999). HIT-SI will be able to form a high-beta spheromak, a low aspect ratio RFP or a spherical tokamak using constant inductive helicity injection. The HIT-SI design and construction progress will be presented.

The influence of the Hall term on the development of magnetized laser-produced plasma jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamlin, N. D.; Seyler, C. E.; Khiar, B.

2018-04-01

We present 2D axisymmetric simulation results describing the influence of the Hall term on laser-produced plasma jets and their interaction with an applied magnetic field parallel to the laser axis. Bending of the poloidal B-field lines produces an MHD shock structure surrounding a conical cavity, and a jet is produced from the convergence of the shock envelope. Both the jet and the conical cavity underneath it are bound by fast MHD shocks. We compare the MHD results generated using the extended-MHD code Physics as an Extended-MHD Relaxation System with an Efficient Upwind Scheme (PERSEUS) with MHD results generated using GORGON and find reasonable agreement. We then present extended-MHD results generated using PERSEUS, which show that the Hall term has several effects on the plasma jet evolution. A hot low-density current-carrying layer of plasma develops just outside the plume, which results in a helical rather than a purely poloidal B-field, and reduces magnetic stresses, resulting in delayed flow convergence and jet formation. The flow is partially frozen into the helical field, resulting in azimuthal rotation of the jet. The Hall term also produces field-aligned current in strongly magnetized regions. In particular, we find the influence of Hall physics on this problem to be scale-dependent. This points to the importance of mitigating the Hall effect in a laboratory setup, by increasing the jet density and system dimensions, in order to avoid inaccurate extrapolation to astrophysical scales.

Brickworx builds recurrent RNA and DNA structural motifs into medium- and low-resolution electron-density maps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chojnowski, Grzegorz, E-mail: gchojnowski@genesilico.pl; Waleń, Tomasz; University of Warsaw, Banacha 2, 02-097 Warsaw

2015-03-01

A computer program that builds crystal structure models of nucleic acid molecules is presented. Brickworx is a computer program that builds crystal structure models of nucleic acid molecules using recurrent motifs including double-stranded helices. In a first step, the program searches for electron-density peaks that may correspond to phosphate groups; it may also take into account phosphate-group positions provided by the user. Subsequently, comparing the three-dimensional patterns of the P atoms with a database of nucleic acid fragments, it finds the matching positions of the double-stranded helical motifs (A-RNA or B-DNA) in the unit cell. If the target structure ismore » RNA, the helical fragments are further extended with recurrent RNA motifs from a fragment library that contains single-stranded segments. Finally, the matched motifs are merged and refined in real space to find the most likely conformations, including a fit of the sequence to the electron-density map. The Brickworx program is available for download and as a web server at http://iimcb.genesilico.pl/brickworx.« less

Experimental study of a linear/non-linear flux rope

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

DeHaas, Timothy; Gekelman, Walter; Van Compernolle, Bart

2015-08-15

Flux ropes are magnetic structures of helical field lines, accompanied by spiraling currents. Commonly observed on the solar surface extending into the solar atmosphere, flux ropes are naturally occurring and have been observed by satellites in the near earth and in laboratory environments. In this experiment, a single flux rope (r = 2.5 cm, L = 1100 cm) was formed in the cylindrical, magnetized plasma of the Large Plasma Device (LaPD, L = 2200 cm, r{sub plasma} = 30 cm, n{sub o} = 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −3}, T{sub e} = 4 eV, He). The flux rope was generated by a DC discharge between an electron emitting cathode and anode. This fixes the rope at its source while allowingmore » it to freely move about the anode. At large currents (I > πr{sup 2}B{sub 0}c/2 L), the flux rope becomes helical in structure and oscillates about a central axis. Under varying Alfven speeds and injection current, the transition of the flux rope from stable to kink-unstable was examined. As it becomes non-linear, oscillations in the magnetic signals shift from sinusoidal to Sawtooth-like, associated with elliptical motion of the flux rope; or the signal becomes intermittent as its current density increases.« less

Multi-scale analysis of compressible fluctuations in the solar wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, Owen W.; Narita, Yasuhito; Escoubet, C.-Philippe

2018-01-01

Compressible plasma turbulence is investigated in the fast solar wind at proton kinetic scales by the combined use of electron density and magnetic field measurements. Both the scale-dependent cross-correlation (CC) and the reduced magnetic helicity (σm) are used in tandem to determine the properties of the compressible fluctuations at proton kinetic scales. At inertial scales the turbulence is hypothesised to contain a mixture of Alfvénic and slow waves, characterised by weak magnetic helicity and anti-correlation between magnetic field strength B and electron density ne. At proton kinetic scales the observations suggest that the fluctuations have stronger positive magnetic helicities as well as strong anti-correlations within the frequency range studied. These results are interpreted as being characteristic of either counter-propagating kinetic Alfvén wave packets or a mixture of anti-sunward kinetic Alfvén waves along with a component of kinetic slow waves.

On the energy density of helical proteins.

PubMed

Barros, Manuel; Ferrández, Angel

2014-12-01

We solve the problem of determining the energy actions whose moduli space of extremals contains the class of Lancret helices with a prescribed slope. We first see that the energy density should be linear both in the total bending and in the total twisting, such that the ratio between the weights of them is the prescribed slope. This will give an affirmative answer to the conjecture stated in Barros and Ferrández (J Math Phys 50:103529, 2009). Then, we normalize to get the best choice for the helical energy. It allows us to show that the energy, for instance of a protein chain, does not depend on the slope and is invariant under homotopic changes of the cross section which determines the cylinder where the helix is lying. In particular, the energy of a helix is not arbitrary, but it is given as natural multiples of some basic quantity of energy.

Objective Molecular Dynamics with Self-consistent Charge Density Functional Tight-Binding (SCC-DFTB) Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumitrica, Traian; Hourahine, Ben; Aradi, Balint; Frauenheim, Thomas

We discus the coupling of the objective boundary conditions into the SCC density functional-based tight binding code DFTB+. The implementation is enabled by a generalization to the helical case of the classical Ewald method, specifically by Ewald-like formulas that do not rely on a unit cell with translational symmetry. The robustness of the method in addressing complex hetero-nuclear nano- and bio-fibrous systems is demonstrated with illustrative simulations on a helical boron nitride nanotube, a screw dislocated zinc oxide nanowire, and an ideal double-strand DNA. Work supported by NSF CMMI 1332228.

Linking Regions between Helices in Bacteriorhodopsin Revealed

PubMed Central

Agard, David A.; Stroud, Robert M.

1982-01-01

Three-dimensional electron-microscopic structural analysis requires the combination of many different tilted views of the same specimen. The relative difficulty of tilting the sample to high angles >60° without introducing severe distortion due to different focal distances across the specimen entails that the observable range of electron diffraction data is often limited to this range of angles. Thus, it is generally not possible to observe the diffraction maxima that lie within the conical region of reciprocal space around the direction perpendicular to the electron microscope grid. The absence of data in this region leads to a predictable distortion in the object, and for ±60° tilting makes the resolution essentially twice as bad in the direction perpendicular to the grid as it is for the in-plane image. Constrained density map modification and refinement methods can significantly reduce these effects. A method has been developed, tested on model cases, and applied to the electron-microscopic structure determination of bacteriorhodopsin in order to visualize the location of linking regions between helices. Electron-microscopic structural analysis of bacteriorhodopsin (Henderson and Unwin. 1975 Nature [Lond.] 257:28-32.) showed that the molecule consists of seven rods of density each nearly spanning the lipid bilayer. Owing to the distortion introduced by the missing conical region of reciprocal space data, no density was visible for the polypeptide segments linking the α-helices. Density in the refined maps indicates the location of at least five of the extrahelical segments of the polypeptide. The total number of possible ways of interconnecting the helices is reduced from 7! (5,040) to the five most consistent possibilities without recourse to other considerations. In addition, the density for the helical regions is more uniform and cylindrical throughout their length, and the length of the helices increases from 35 to 45 Å, close to the membrane thickness of 49 Å obtained for membranes dried in vacuo. Only three of the five structures consistent with the location of observed linkers place the seventh helix, onto which the chromophore can be attached by reduction in the light, at a position consistent with the main peak for deuterated retinal in the structure, as derived from neutron diffraction analysis. Two of these models are also consistent with the possible location of some of the reduced chromophore on helix B, at lys 40/41 after reduction in the dark, as well as lys 216 on helix G. ImagesFIGURE 8 PMID:7074187

Measurements of dynamo electric field and momentum transport induced by fluctuations on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirono, H.; Hanao, T.; Hyobu, T.; Ito, K.; Matsumoto, K.; Nakayama, T.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2012-10-01

Coaxial Helicity injection (CHI) is an efficient current-drive method used in spheromak and spherical torus (ST) experiments. It is an important issue to investigate dynamo effect to explore CHI current drive mechanisms. To establish the dynamo model with two-fluid Hall effects, we verify the parallel mean-field Ohm's law balance. The spatial profiles of the MHD/Hall dynamo electric fields are measured by using Mach probe and Hall probe involving 3-axis magnetic pick-up coils. The MHD/Hall fluctuation-induced electromotive forces are large enough to sustain the mean toroidal current against the resistive decay. We have measured the electron temperature and the density with great accuracy by using a new electrostatic probe with voltage sweeping. The result shows that the electron temperature is high in the core region and low in the central open flux column (OFC), and the electron density is highest in the OFC region. The Hall dynamo becomes more dominant in a lower density region compared to the MHD dynamo. In addition, the fluctuation-induced Maxwell and Reynolds stresses are calculated to examine the fast radial transport of momentum from the OFC to the core region during the dynamo drive.

Quantized Chiral Magnetic Current from Reconnections of Magnetic Flux.

PubMed

Hirono, Yuji; Kharzeev, Dmitri E; Yin, Yi

2016-10-21

We introduce a new mechanism for the chiral magnetic effect that does not require an initial chirality imbalance. The chiral magnetic current is generated by reconnections of magnetic flux that change the magnetic helicity of the system. The resulting current is entirely determined by the change of magnetic helicity, and it is quantized.

Quantized Chiral Magnetic Current from Reconnections of Magnetic Flux

DOE PAGES

Hirono, Yuji; Kharzeev, Dmitri E.; Yin, Yi

2016-10-20

We introduce a new mechanism for the chiral magnetic e ect that does not require an initial chirality imbalance. The chiral magnetic current is generated by reconnections of magnetic ux that change the magnetic helicity of the system. The resulting current is entirely determined by the change of magnetic helicity, and it is quantized.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gordienko, V.A.; Dubinov, A.E.; Zhuravlev, S.S.

A new type of magnetic confinement system--a Galathea with a myxine in the shape of a convex polyhedron--is proposed. The system was modeled experimentally by passing an RF current through the myxine. On the one hand, the myxine acts as an inductor whose electric field ionizes the gas and, on the other, it acts as an RF magnetic confinement system. A steady-state plasma produced and confined in this system is almost spherical in shape. The electron density and specific (per unit volume) glow intensity of the plasma produced are found to be higher than those in conventional helical inductors.

Magnetic fields and chiral asymmetry in the early hot universe

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sydorenko, Maksym; Shtanov, Yuri; Tomalak, Oleksandr, E-mail: maxsydorenko@gmail.com, E-mail: tomalak@uni-mainz.de, E-mail: shtanov@bitp.kiev.ua

In this paper, we study analytically the process of external generation and subsequent free evolution of the lepton chiral asymmetry and helical magnetic fields in the early hot universe. This process is known to be affected by the Abelian anomaly of the electroweak gauge interactions. As a consequence, chiral asymmetry in the fermion distribution generates magnetic fields of non-zero helicity, and vice versa. We take into account the presence of thermal bath, which serves as a seed for the development of instability in magnetic field in the presence of externally generated lepton chiral asymmetry. The developed helical magnetic field andmore » lepton chiral asymmetry support each other, considerably prolonging their mutual existence, in the process of 'inverse cascade' transferring magnetic-field power from small to large spatial scales. For cosmologically interesting initial conditions, the chiral asymmetry and the energy density of helical magnetic field are shown to evolve by scaling laws, effectively depending on a single combined variable. In this case, the late-time asymptotics of the conformal chiral chemical potential reproduces the universal scaling law previously found in the literature for the system under consideration. This regime is terminated at lower temperatures because of scattering of electrons with chirality change, which exponentially washes out chiral asymmetry. We derive an expression for the termination temperature as a function of the chiral asymmetry and energy density of helical magnetic field.« less

Magnetic fields and chiral asymmetry in the early hot universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sydorenko, Maksym; Tomalak, Oleksandr; Shtanov, Yuri

2016-10-01

In this paper, we study analytically the process of external generation and subsequent free evolution of the lepton chiral asymmetry and helical magnetic fields in the early hot universe. This process is known to be affected by the Abelian anomaly of the electroweak gauge interactions. As a consequence, chiral asymmetry in the fermion distribution generates magnetic fields of non-zero helicity, and vice versa. We take into account the presence of thermal bath, which serves as a seed for the development of instability in magnetic field in the presence of externally generated lepton chiral asymmetry. The developed helical magnetic field and lepton chiral asymmetry support each other, considerably prolonging their mutual existence, in the process of `inverse cascade' transferring magnetic-field power from small to large spatial scales. For cosmologically interesting initial conditions, the chiral asymmetry and the energy density of helical magnetic field are shown to evolve by scaling laws, effectively depending on a single combined variable. In this case, the late-time asymptotics of the conformal chiral chemical potential reproduces the universal scaling law previously found in the literature for the system under consideration. This regime is terminated at lower temperatures because of scattering of electrons with chirality change, which exponentially washes out chiral asymmetry. We derive an expression for the termination temperature as a function of the chiral asymmetry and energy density of helical magnetic field.

Observation of enhanced radial transport of energetic ion due to energetic particle mode destabilized by helically-trapped energetic ion in the Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogawa, K.; Isobe, M.; Kawase, H.; Nishitani, T.; Seki, R.; Osakabe, M.; LHD Experiment Group

2018-04-01

A deuterium experiment was initiated to achieve higher-temperature and higher-density plasmas in March 2017 in the Large Helical Device (LHD). The central ion temperature notably increases compared with that in hydrogen experiments. However, an energetic particle mode called the helically-trapped energetic-ion-driven resistive interchange (EIC) mode is often excited by intensive perpendicular neutral beam injections on high ion-temperature discharges. The mode leads to significant decrease of the ion temperature or to limiting the sustainment of the high ion-temperature state. To understand the effect of EIC on the energetic ion confinement, the radial transport of energetic ions is studied by means of the neutron flux monitor and vertical neutron camera newly installed on the LHD. Decreases of the line-integrated neutron profile in core channels show that helically-trapped energetic ions are lost from the plasma.

On the Conservation of Cross Helicity and Wave Action in Solar-wind Models with Non-WKB Alfvén Wave Reflection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandran, Benjamin D. G.; Perez, Jean C.; Verscharen, Daniel; Klein, Kristopher G.; Mallet, Alfred

2015-09-01

The interaction between Alfvén-wave turbulence and the background solar wind affects the cross helicity (\\int {d}3x {\\boldsymbol{v}}\\cdot {\\boldsymbol{B}}) in two ways. Non-WKB reflection converts outward-propagating Alfvén waves into inward-propagating Alfvén waves and vice versa, and the turbulence transfers momentum to the background flow. When both effects are accounted for, the total cross helicity is conserved. In the special case that the background density and flow speed are independent of time, the equations of cross-helicity conservation and total-energy conservation can be combined to recover a well-known equation derived by Heinemann and Olbert that has been interpreted as a non-WKB generalization of wave-action conservation. This latter equation (in contrast to cross-helicity and energy conservation) does not hold when the background varies in time.

Electron acceleration by turbulent plasmoid reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, X.; Büchner, J.; Widmer, F.; Muñoz, P. A.

2018-04-01

In space and astrophysical plasmas, like in planetary magnetospheres, as that of Mercury, energetic electrons are often found near current sheets, which hint at electron acceleration by magnetic reconnection. Unfortunately, electron acceleration by reconnection is not well understood yet, in particular, acceleration by turbulent plasmoid reconnection. We have investigated electron acceleration by turbulent plasmoid reconnection, described by MHD simulations, via test particle calculations. In order to avoid resolving all relevant turbulence scales down to the dissipation scales, a mean-field turbulence model is used to describe the turbulence of sub-grid scales and their effects via a turbulent electromotive force (EMF). The mean-field model describes the turbulent EMF as a function of the mean values of current density, vorticity, magnetic field as well as of the energy, cross-helicity, and residual helicity of the turbulence. We found that, mainly around X-points of turbulent reconnection, strongly enhanced localized EMFs most efficiently accelerated electrons and caused the formation of power-law spectra. Magnetic-field-aligned EMFs, caused by the turbulence, dominate the electron acceleration process. Scaling the acceleration processes to parameters of the Hermean magnetotail, electron energies up to 60 keV can be reached by turbulent plasmoid reconnection through the thermal plasma.

Continuous, edge localized ion heating during non-solenoidal plasma startup and sustainment in a low aspect ratio tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burke, M. G.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Perry, J. M.; Reusch, J. A.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2017-07-01

Plasmas in the Pegasus spherical tokamak are initiated and grown by the non-solenoidal local helicity injection (LHI) current drive technique. The LHI system consists of three adjacent electron current sources that inject multiple helical current filaments that can reconnect with each other. Anomalously high impurity ion temperatures are observed during LHI with T i,OV  ⩽  650 eV, which is in contrast to T i,OV  ⩽  70 eV from Ohmic heating alone. Spatial profiles of T i,OV indicate an edge localized heating source, with T i,OV ~ 650 eV near the outboard major radius of the injectors and dropping to ~150 eV near the plasma magnetic axis. Experiments without a background tokamak plasma indicate the ion heating results from magnetic reconnection between adjacent injected current filaments. In these experiments, the HeII T i perpendicular to the magnetic field is found to scale with the reconnecting field strength, local density, and guide field, while {{T}\\text{i,\\parallel}} experiences little change, in agreement with two-fluid reconnection theory. This ion heating is not expected to significantly impact the LHI plasma performance in Pegasus, as it does not contribute significantly to the electron heating. However, estimates of the power transfer to the bulk ion are quite large, and thus LHI current drive provides an auxiliary ion heating mechanism to the tokamak plasma.

Continuous, edge localized ion heating during non-solenoidal plasma startup and sustainment in a low aspect ratio tokamak

DOE PAGES

Burke, Marcus G.; Barr, Jayson L.; Bongard, Michael W.; ...

2017-05-16

Plasmas in the Pegasus spherical tokamak are initiated and grown by the non-solenoidal local helicity injection (LHI) current drive technique. The LHI system consists of three adjacent electron current sources that inject multiple helical current filaments that can reconnect with each other. Anomalously high impurity ion temperatures are observed during LHI with T i,OV ≤ 650 eV, which is in contrast to T i,OV ≤ 70 eV from Ohmic heating alone. Spatial profiles of T i,OV indicate an edge localized heating source, with T i,OV ~ 650 eV near the outboard major radius of the injectors and dropping to ~150 eV near the plasma magnetic axis. Experiments without a background tokamak plasma indicate the ion heating results from magnetic reconnection between adjacent injected current filaments. In these experiments, the HeII T i perpendicular to the magnetic field is found to scale with the reconnecting field strength, local density, and guide field, whilemore » $${{T}_{\\text{i},\\parallel}}$$ experiences little change, in agreement with two-fluid reconnection theory. In conclusion, this ion heating is not expected to significantly impact the LHI plasma performance in Pegasus, as it does not contribute significantly to the electron heating. However, estimates of the power transfer to the bulk ion are quite large, and thus LHI current drive provides an auxiliary ion heating mechanism to the tokamak plasma.« less

Inner Structure of CME Shock Fronts Revealed by the Electromotive Force and Turbulent Transport Coefficients in Helios-2 Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourdin, Philippe-A.; Hofer, Bernhard; Narita, Yasuhito

2018-03-01

Electromotive force is an essential quantity in dynamo theory. During a coronal mass ejection (CME), magnetic helicity gets decoupled from the Sun and advected into the heliosphere with the solar wind. Eventually, a heliospheric magnetic transient event might pass by a spacecraft, such as the Helios space observatories. Our aim is to investigate the electromotive force, the kinetic helicity effect (α term), the turbulent diffusion (β term), and the cross-helicity effect (γ term) in the inner heliosphere below 1 au. We set up a one-dimensional model of the solar wind velocity and magnetic field for a hypothetic interplanetary CME. Because turbulent structures within the solar wind evolve much slower than this structure needs to pass by the spacecraft, we use a reduced curl operator to compute the current density and vorticity. We test our CME shock-front model against an observed magnetic transient that passes by the Helios-2 spacecraft. At the peak of the fluctuations in this event we find strongly enhanced α, β, and γ terms, as well as a strong peak in the total electromotive force. Our method allows us to automatically identify magnetic transient events from any in situ spacecraft observations that contain magnetic field and plasma velocity data of the solar wind.

Physics of Intense Electron Current Sources for Helicity Injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinson, E. T.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Lewicki, B. T.; Perry, J. M.; Redd, A. J.; Winz, G. R.

2014-10-01

DC helicity injection (HI) for non-solenoidal ST startup requires sources of current at the tokamak edge. Since the rate of HI scales with injection voltage, understanding of the physics setting injector impedance is necessary for a predictive model of the HI rate and subsequent growth of Ip. In Pegasus, arc plasma sources are used for current injection. They operate immersed in tokamak edge plasma, and are biased at ~1-2 kV with respect to the vessel to draw current densities J ~ 1 kA/cm2 from an arc plasma cathode. Prior to tokamak formation, impedance data manifests two regimes, one at low current (< 1 kA) with I ~V 3 / 2 , and a higher current mode where I ~V 1 / 2 holds. The impedance in the I ~V 3 / 2 regime is consistent with an electrostatic double layer. Current in the I ~V 1 / 2 regime is linear in arc gas fueling rate, suggesting a space-charge limit set by nedge. In the presence of tokamak plasmas, voltage oscillations of the order 100s of volts are measured during MHD relaxation activity. These fluctuations occur at the characteristic frequencies of the n = 1 and n = 0 MHD activity observed on magnetic probes, and are suggestive of dynamic activity found in LHI simulations in NIMROD. Advanced injector design techniques have allowed higher voltage operation. These include staged shielding to prevent external arcing, and shaped cathodes, which minimize the onset and material damage due to cathode spot formation. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Helical instability in film blowing process: Analogy to buckling instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Joo Sung; Kwon, Ilyoung; Jung, Hyun Wook; Hyun, Jae Chun

2017-12-01

The film blowing process is one of the most important polymer processing operations, widely used for producing bi-axially oriented film products in a single-step process. Among the instabilities observed in this film blowing process, i.e., draw resonance and helical motion occurring on the inflated film bubble, the helical instability is a unique phenomenon portraying the snake-like undulation motion of the bubble, having the period on the order of few seconds. This helical instability in the film blowing process is commonly found at the process conditions of a high blow-up ratio with too low a freezeline position and/or too high extrusion temperature. In this study, employing an analogy to the buckling instability for falling viscous threads, the compressive force caused by the pressure difference between inside and outside of the film bubble is introduced into the simulation model along with the scaling law derived from the force balance between viscous force and centripetal force of the film bubble. The simulation using this model reveals a close agreement with the experimental results of the film blowing process of polyethylene polymers such as low density polyethylene and linear low density polyethylene.

Chiral self-assembly of helical particles.

PubMed

Kolli, Hima Bindu; Cinacchi, Giorgio; Ferrarini, Alberta; Giacometti, Achille

2016-01-01

The shape of the building blocks plays a crucial role in directing self-assembly towards desired architectures. Out of the many different shapes, the helix has a unique position. Helical structures are ubiquitous in nature and a helical shape is exhibited by the most important biopolymers like polynucleotides, polypeptides and polysaccharides as well as by cellular organelles like flagella. Helical particles can self-assemble into chiral superstructures, which may have a variety of applications, e.g. as photonic (meta)materials. However, a clear and definite understanding of these structures has not been entirely achieved yet. We have recently undertaken an extensive investigation on the phase behaviour of hard helical particles, using numerical simulations and classical density functional theory. Here we present a detailed study of the phase diagram of hard helices as a function of their morphology. This includes a variety of liquid-crystal phases, with different degrees of orientational and positional ordering. We show how, by tuning the helix parameters, it is possible to control the organization of the system. Starting from slender helices, whose phase behaviour is similar to that of rodlike particles, an increase in curliness leads to the onset of azimuthal correlations between the particles and the formation of phases specific to helices. These phases feature a new kind of screw order, of which there is experimental evidence in colloidal suspensions of helical flagella.

Effect of helicity on the correlation time of large scales in turbulent flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cameron, Alexandre; Alexakis, Alexandros; Brachet, Marc-Étienne

2017-11-01

Solutions of the forced Navier-Stokes equation have been conjectured to thermalize at scales larger than the forcing scale, similar to an absolute equilibrium obtained for the spectrally truncated Euler equation. Using direct numeric simulations of Taylor-Green flows and general-periodic helical flows, we present results on the probability density function, energy spectrum, autocorrelation function, and correlation time that compare the two systems. In the case of highly helical flows, we derive an analytic expression describing the correlation time for the absolute equilibrium of helical flows that is different from the E-1 /2k-1 scaling law of weakly helical flows. This model predicts a new helicity-based scaling law for the correlation time as τ (k ) ˜H-1 /2k-1 /2 . This scaling law is verified in simulations of the truncated Euler equation. In simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations the large-scale modes of forced Taylor-Green symmetric flows (with zero total helicity and large separation of scales) follow the same properties as absolute equilibrium including a τ (k ) ˜E-1 /2k-1 scaling for the correlation time. General-periodic helical flows also show similarities between the two systems; however, the largest scales of the forced flows deviate from the absolute equilibrium solutions.

Measurement of the W boson helicity in t$$\\bar{t}$$ decays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schmitt, Christian

2005-06-01

The subject of this thesis is the measurement of the helicity of the W boson produced in the decay of the top quark. The standard model predicts the helicity of these W bosons to be either negative or zero, but not positive. In case the top quark sector is already influenced by effects from new physics, the weak charged current, responsible for the decay of the top quark, can be altered from a pure V=A charged current interaction to a pure V+A interaction or a mixture between these two scenarios. This would decrease the fraction of W bosons with negativemore » helicity and W bosons with positive helicity would appear. A change would then be visible in the distribution of the decay angle θ between the lepton and the (negative) b quark direction in the rest frame of the W boson.« less

Non-solenoidal startup and low-β operations in Pegasus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlossberg, D. J.; Battaglia, D. J.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Redd, A. J.

2009-11-01

Non-solenoidal startup using point-source DC helicity injectors (plasma guns) has been achieved in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment for plasmas with Ip in excess of 100 kA using Iinj<4,A. The maximum achieved Ip tentatively scales as √ITFIinj/w, where w is the radial thickness of the gun-driven edge. The Ip limits appear to conform to a simple stationary model involving helicity conservation and Taylor relaxation. However, observed MHD activity reveals the additional dynamics of the relaxation process, evidenced by intermittent bursts of n=1 activity correlated with rapid redistribution of the current channel. Recent upgrades to the gun system provide higher helicity injection rates, smaller w, a more constrained gun current path, and more precise diagnostics. Experimental goals include extending parametric scaling studies, determining the conditions where parallel conduction losses dominate the helicity dissipation, and building the physics understanding of helicity injection to confidently design gun systems for larger, future tokamaks.

Overview of the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redd, A. J.; Jarboe, T. R.; Hamp, W. T.; Nelson, B. A.; O'Neill, R. G.; Sieck, P. E.; Smith, R. J.; Sutphin, G. L.; Wrobel, J. S.

2007-06-01

The Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (HIT-SI) consists of a "bowtie"-shaped axisymmetric confinement region, with two half-torus helicity injectors mounted on each side of the axisymmetric flux conserver [Sieck et al, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., v.33, p.723 (2005); Jarboe, Fusion Technology, v.36, p.85 (1999)]. Current and flux are driven sinusoidally with time in each injector, with the goal of generating and sustaining an axisymmetric spheromak in the main confinement region. Improvements in machine conditioning have enabled systematic study of HIT-SI discharges with significant toroidal current ITOR, including cases in which this current ITOR switches sign one or more times during the discharge. Statistical studies of all HIT-SI discharges to date demonstrate a minimum injected power to form significant ITOR, and that the maximum ITOR scales approximately linearly with the total injected power.

Two-phase pressure drop in a helical coil flow boiling system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardik, B. K.; Prabhu, S. V.

2018-05-01

The objective of the present work is to study the two-phase pressure drop in helical coils. Literature on the two-phase pressure drop in a helical coil suggests the complexity in flow boiling inside a helical coil due to secondary flow. Most of correlations reported in the literature on the two-phase pressure drop in a helical coil are limited to a specific operating range. No general correlation is available for a helical coil which is applicable for all fluids. In the present study, an experimental databank collected containing a total of 832 data points includes the data from the present study and from the literature. The data includes diabatic pressure drop of two fluids namely water and R123. Data covers a range of parameters namely a mass flux of 120-2058 kg/m2 s, a heat flux of 18-2831 kW/m2, an exit quality of 0.03-1, a density ratio of 32-1404 and a coil to tube diameter ratio of 14-58. The databank is compared with eighteen empirical correlations which include well referred correlations of straight tubes and the available correlations of helical coils. The straight tube correlations are not working well for the present data set. The helical coil correlations work reasonably well for the present databank. A correlation is suggested to predict the two-phase pressure drop in helical coils. The present study suggests that the influence of a helical coil is completely included in the single phase pressure drop correlation for helical coils.

The Influence of the Hall Term on the Development of Magnetized Laser-Produced Plasma Jets

DOE PAGES

Hamlin, N.D.; Seyler, C. E.; Khiar, B.

2018-04-29

We present 2D axisymmetric simulation results describing the influence of the Hall term on laser-produced plasma jets and their interaction with an applied magnetic field parallel to the laser axis. Bending of the poloidal B-field lines produces an MHD shock structure surrounding a conical cavity, and a jet is produced from the convergence of the shock envelope. Both the jet and the conical cavity underneath it are bound by fast MHD shocks. We compare the MHD results generated using the extended-MHD code Physics as an Extended-MHD Relaxation System with an Efficient Upwind Scheme (PERSEUS) with MHD results generated using GORGONmore » and find reasonable agreement. We then present extended-MHD results generated using PERSEUS, which show that the Hall term has several effects on the plasma jet evolution. A hot low-density current-carrying layer of plasma develops just outside the plume, which results in a helical rather than a purely poloidal B-field, and reduces magnetic stresses, resulting in delayed flow convergence and jet formation. The flow is partially frozen into the helical field, resulting in azimuthal rotation of the jet. The Hall term also produces field-aligned current in strongly magnetized regions. In particular, we find the influence of Hall physics on this problem to be scale-dependent. In conclusion, this points to the importance of mitigating the Hall effect in a laboratory setup, by increasing the jet density and system dimensions, in order to avoid inaccurate extrapolation to astrophysical scales.« less

The Influence of the Hall Term on the Development of Magnetized Laser-Produced Plasma Jets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamlin, N.D.; Seyler, C. E.; Khiar, B.

We present 2D axisymmetric simulation results describing the influence of the Hall term on laser-produced plasma jets and their interaction with an applied magnetic field parallel to the laser axis. Bending of the poloidal B-field lines produces an MHD shock structure surrounding a conical cavity, and a jet is produced from the convergence of the shock envelope. Both the jet and the conical cavity underneath it are bound by fast MHD shocks. We compare the MHD results generated using the extended-MHD code Physics as an Extended-MHD Relaxation System with an Efficient Upwind Scheme (PERSEUS) with MHD results generated using GORGONmore » and find reasonable agreement. We then present extended-MHD results generated using PERSEUS, which show that the Hall term has several effects on the plasma jet evolution. A hot low-density current-carrying layer of plasma develops just outside the plume, which results in a helical rather than a purely poloidal B-field, and reduces magnetic stresses, resulting in delayed flow convergence and jet formation. The flow is partially frozen into the helical field, resulting in azimuthal rotation of the jet. The Hall term also produces field-aligned current in strongly magnetized regions. In particular, we find the influence of Hall physics on this problem to be scale-dependent. In conclusion, this points to the importance of mitigating the Hall effect in a laboratory setup, by increasing the jet density and system dimensions, in order to avoid inaccurate extrapolation to astrophysical scales.« less

Plasma density injection and flow during coaxial helicity injection in a tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hooper, E. B.

2018-02-01

Whole device, resistive MHD simulations of spheromaks and tokamaks have used a large diffusion coefficient that maintains a nearly constant density throughout the device. In the present work, helicity and plasma are coinjected into a low-density plasma in a tokamak with a small diffusion coefficient. As in previous simulations [Hooper et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 092510 (2013)], a flux bubble is formed, which expands to fill the tokamak volume. The injected plasma is non-uniform inside the bubble. The flow pattern is analyzed; when the simulation is not axisymmetric, an n = 1 mode on the surface of the bubble generates leakage of plasma into the low-density volume. Closed flux is generated following injection, as in experiments and previous simulations. The result provides a more detailed physics analysis of the injection, including density non-uniformities in the plasma that may affect its use as a startup plasma [Raman et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 175002 (2006)].

Collective backscattering of gyrotron radiation by small-scale plasma density fluctuations in large helical device

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kharchev, Nikolay; Batanov, German; Petrov, Alexandr

2008-10-15

A version of the collective backscattering diagnostic using gyrotron radiation for small-scale turbulence is described. The diagnostic is used to measure small-scale (k{sub s}{approx_equal}34 cm{sup -1}) plasma density fluctuations in large helical device experiments on the electron cyclotron heating of plasma with the use of 200 kW 82.7 GHz heating gyrotron. A good signal to noise ratio during plasma production phase was obtained, while contamination of stray light increased during plasma build-up phase. The effect of the stray radiation was investigated. The available quasioptical system of the heating system was utilized for this purpose.

MHD and Reconnection Activity During Local Helicity Injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Reusch, J. A.; Richner, N. J.

2016-10-01

Scaling local helicity injection (LHI) to larger devices requires a validated, predictive model of its current drive mechanism. NIMROD simulations predict the injected helical current streams persist in the edge and periodically reconnect to form axisymmetric current rings that travel into the bulk plasma to grow Ip and poloidal flux. In simulation, these events result in discrete bursts of Alfvénic-frequency MHD activity and jumps in Ip of order ΔIp Iinj , in qualitative agreement with large n = 1 activity found in experiment. Fast imaging prior to tokamak formation supports the instability of, and apparent reconnection between, adjacent helical streams. The bursts exhibit toroidal amplitude asymmetries consistent with a kink structure singly line-tied to the injectors. Internal measurements localize this activity to the injector radial location. Pairwise correlations of poloidal Mirnov coil amplitude and phase match expectations of an edge-localized current stream carrying Iinj. Prior to tokamak formation, reconnection from both adjacent helical windings and co-injected current streams are shown to strongly heat impurity ions. After tokamak formation, strong anomalous ion heating in the plasma edge is attributed to continuous reconnection between colinear streams. The n = 1 bursts occur less frequently as Ip rises, likely caused by increased stream stability as Bv rises and qedge drops. This evidence supports the general NIMROD model of LHI, confirms the persistence and role of the edge current streams, and motivates experiments at higher Iinj and BT. Supported by US DOE Grants DE-FG02-96ER54375, DE-SC0006928.

MHD Simulation of the HIT-SI Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marklin, George

2003-10-01

The Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) experiment at the University of Washington has been reconfigured into a high beta spheromak with steady state AC current drive [1]. Helicity is injected by two half torus Reversed Field Pinches (RFP's) connected to the ends of the cylindrically symmetric flux conserver, rotated by 90 degrees from each other. The RFP's are driven with sinusoidally varying voltage and flux. Each side has its voltage and flux in phase, but is 90 degrees out of phase from the other side. The helicity injection rate, which is proportional to the voltage times the flux, goes like sin(wt)^2 on one side and cos(wt)^2 on the other, making the total injection rate constant in time. The complex multiply connected 3-dimensional geometry of this device make it difficult to simulate with existing codes that typically use a structured mesh. This poster will describe a new 3D MHD simulation code and a new 3D Taylor state code which both use an unstructured finite element mesh. The mesh is generated from a CAD-like description of an arbitrary arrangement of 3D geometrical objects. Taylor states in the HIT-SI geometry will be shown for different combinations of fluxes in the two injectors. MHD simulation results will be shown starting from a Taylor state with uniform density and temperature and continuing through several cycles of time dependent helicity injection. Field line tracing plots will show the quality of the flux surfaces at various stages in the injection cycle. [1] T. R. Jarboe, Fusion Technology, vol. 36, p. 85, 1999

Variation in the Helical Structure of Native Collagen

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-24

unsampled molecular transform of the sample (non-crystalline diffraction arising from the helical symmetry), these patterns also contain Bragg peaks...tissues may be treated as analogous to that from a single macromolecular crystal. Except that it arises from many fibrils within the sample , giving rise...density maps, constructed from experimentally determined phases and observed amplitudes, showed good agreement. The observed diffraction and the simulated

Dynamo transition in low-dimensional models.

PubMed

Verma, Mahendra K; Lessinnes, Thomas; Carati, Daniele; Sarris, Ioannis; Kumar, Krishna; Singh, Meenakshi

2008-09-01

Two low-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic models containing three velocity and three magnetic modes are described. One of them (nonhelical model) has zero kinetic and current helicity, while the other model (helical) has nonzero kinetic and current helicity. The velocity modes are forced in both these models. These low-dimensional models exhibit a dynamo transition at a critical forcing amplitude that depends on the Prandtl number. In the nonhelical model, dynamo exists only for magnetic Prandtl number beyond 1, while the helical model exhibits dynamo for all magnetic Prandtl number. Although the model is far from reproducing all the possible features of dynamo mechanisms, its simplicity allows a very detailed study and the observed dynamo transition is shown to bear similarities with recent numerical and experimental results.

High-Resolution Crystal Structures of Protein Helices Reconciled with Three-Centered Hydrogen Bonds and Multipole Electrostatics

PubMed Central

Kuster, Daniel J.; Liu, Chengyu; Fang, Zheng; Ponder, Jay W.; Marshall, Garland R.

2015-01-01

Theoretical and experimental evidence for non-linear hydrogen bonds in protein helices is ubiquitous. In particular, amide three-centered hydrogen bonds are common features of helices in high-resolution crystal structures of proteins. These high-resolution structures (1.0 to 1.5 Å nominal crystallographic resolution) position backbone atoms without significant bias from modeling constraints and identify Φ = -62°, ψ = -43 as the consensus backbone torsional angles of protein helices. These torsional angles preserve the atomic positions of α-β carbons of the classic Pauling α-helix while allowing the amide carbonyls to form bifurcated hydrogen bonds as first suggested by Némethy et al. in 1967. Molecular dynamics simulations of a capped 12-residue oligoalanine in water with AMOEBA (Atomic Multipole Optimized Energetics for Biomolecular Applications), a second-generation force field that includes multipole electrostatics and polarizability, reproduces the experimentally observed high-resolution helical conformation and correctly reorients the amide-bond carbonyls into bifurcated hydrogen bonds. This simple modification of backbone torsional angles reconciles experimental and theoretical views to provide a unified view of amide three-centered hydrogen bonds as crucial components of protein helices. The reason why they have been overlooked by structural biologists depends on the small crankshaft-like changes in orientation of the amide bond that allows maintenance of the overall helical parameters (helix pitch (p) and residues per turn (n)). The Pauling 3.613 α-helix fits the high-resolution experimental data with the minor exception of the amide-carbonyl electron density, but the previously associated backbone torsional angles (Φ, Ψ) needed slight modification to be reconciled with three-atom centered H-bonds and multipole electrostatics. Thus, a new standard helix, the 3.613/10-, Némethy- or N-helix, is proposed. Due to the use of constraints from monopole force fields and assumed secondary structures used in low-resolution refinement of electron density of proteins, such structures in the PDB often show linear hydrogen bonding. PMID:25894612

High-resolution crystal structures of protein helices reconciled with three-centered hydrogen bonds and multipole electrostatics.

PubMed

Kuster, Daniel J; Liu, Chengyu; Fang, Zheng; Ponder, Jay W; Marshall, Garland R

2015-01-01

Theoretical and experimental evidence for non-linear hydrogen bonds in protein helices is ubiquitous. In particular, amide three-centered hydrogen bonds are common features of helices in high-resolution crystal structures of proteins. These high-resolution structures (1.0 to 1.5 Å nominal crystallographic resolution) position backbone atoms without significant bias from modeling constraints and identify Φ = -62°, ψ = -43 as the consensus backbone torsional angles of protein helices. These torsional angles preserve the atomic positions of α-β carbons of the classic Pauling α-helix while allowing the amide carbonyls to form bifurcated hydrogen bonds as first suggested by Némethy et al. in 1967. Molecular dynamics simulations of a capped 12-residue oligoalanine in water with AMOEBA (Atomic Multipole Optimized Energetics for Biomolecular Applications), a second-generation force field that includes multipole electrostatics and polarizability, reproduces the experimentally observed high-resolution helical conformation and correctly reorients the amide-bond carbonyls into bifurcated hydrogen bonds. This simple modification of backbone torsional angles reconciles experimental and theoretical views to provide a unified view of amide three-centered hydrogen bonds as crucial components of protein helices. The reason why they have been overlooked by structural biologists depends on the small crankshaft-like changes in orientation of the amide bond that allows maintenance of the overall helical parameters (helix pitch (p) and residues per turn (n)). The Pauling 3.6(13) α-helix fits the high-resolution experimental data with the minor exception of the amide-carbonyl electron density, but the previously associated backbone torsional angles (Φ, Ψ) needed slight modification to be reconciled with three-atom centered H-bonds and multipole electrostatics. Thus, a new standard helix, the 3.6(13/10)-, Némethy- or N-helix, is proposed. Due to the use of constraints from monopole force fields and assumed secondary structures used in low-resolution refinement of electron density of proteins, such structures in the PDB often show linear hydrogen bonding.

Lung Motion Model Validation Experiments, Free-Breathing Tissue Densitometry, and Ventilation Mapping using Fast Helical CT Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dou, Hsiang-Tai

The uncertainties due to respiratory motion present significant challenges to accurate characterization of cancerous tissues both in terms of imaging and treatment. Currently available clinical lung imaging techniques are subject to inferior image quality and incorrect motion estimation, with consequences that can systematically impact the downstream treatment delivery and outcome. The main objective of this thesis is the development of the techniques of fast helical computed tomography (CT) imaging and deformable image registration for the radiotherapy applications in accurate breathing motion modeling, lung tissue density modeling and ventilation imaging. Fast helical CT scanning was performed on 64-slice CT scanner using the shortest available gantry rotation time and largest pitch value such that scanning of the thorax region amounts to just two seconds, which is less than typical breathing cycle in humans. The scanning was conducted under free breathing condition. Any portion of the lung anatomy undergoing such scanning protocol would be irradiated for only a quarter second, effectively removing any motion induced image artifacts. The resulting CT data were pristine volumetric images that record the lung tissue position and density in a fraction of the breathing cycle. Following our developed protocol, multiple fast helical CT scans were acquired to sample the tissue positions in different breathing states. To measure the tissue displacement, deformable image registration was performed that registers the non-reference images to the reference one. In modeling breathing motion, external breathing surrogate signal was recorded synchronously with the CT image slices. This allowed for the tissue-specific displacement to be modeled as parametrization of the recorded breathing signal using the 5D lung motion model. To assess the accuracy of the motion model in describing tissue position change, the model was used to simulate the original high-pitch helical CT scan geometries, employed as ground truth data. Image similarity between the simulated and ground truth scans was evaluated. The model validation experiments were conducted in a patient cohort of seventeen patients to assess the model robustness and inter-patient variation. The model error averaged over multiple tracked positions from several breathing cycles was found to be on the order of one millimeter. In modeling the density change under free breathing condition, the determinant of Jacobian matrix from the registration-derived deformation vector field yielded volume change information of the lung tissues. Correlation of the Jacobian values to the corresponding voxel Housfield units (HU) reveals that the density variation for the majority of lung tissues can be very well described by mass conservation relationship. Different tissue types were identified and separately modeled. Large trials of validation experiments were performed. The averaged deviation between the modeled and the reference lung density was 30 HU, which was estimated to be the background CT noise level. In characterizing the lung ventilation function, a novel method was developed to determine the extent of lung tissue volume change. Information on volume change was derived from the deformable image registration of the fast helical CT images in terms of Jacobian values with respect to a reference image. Assuming the multiple volume change measurements are independently and identically distributed, statistical formulation was derived to model ventilation distribution of each lung voxels and empirical minimum and maximum probability distribution of the Jacobian values was computed. Ventilation characteristic was evaluated as the difference of the expectation value from these extremal distributions. The resulting ventilation map was compared with an independently obtained ventilation image derived directly from the lung intensities and good correlation was found using statistical test. In addition, dynamic ventilation characterization was investigated by estimating the voxel-specific ventilation distribution. Ventilation maps were generated at different percentile levels using the tissue volume expansion metrics.

Megagauss-level magnetic field production in cm-scale auto-magnetizing helical liners pulsed to 500 kA in 125 ns

DOE PAGES

Shipley, Gabriel A.; Awe, Thomas James; Hutsel, Brian Thomas; ...

2018-05-03

We present Auto-magnetizing (AutoMag) liners [Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 012704 (2017)] are designed to generate up to 100 T of axial magnetic field in the fuel for Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion [Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] without the need for external field coils. AutoMag liners (cylindrical tubes) are composed of discrete metallic helical conduction paths separated by electrically insulating material. Initially, helical current in the AutoMag liner produces internal axial magnetic field during a long (100 to 300 ns) current prepulse with an average current rise rate dI/dt=5 kA/ns. After the cold fuel is magnetized,more » a rapidly rising current (200 kA/ns) generates a calculated electric field of 64 MV/m between the helices. Such field is sufficient to force dielectric breakdown of the insulating material after which liner current is reoriented from helical to predominantly axial which ceases the AutoMag axial magnetic field production mechanism and the z-pinch liner implodes. Proof of concept experiments have been executed on the Mykonos linear transformer driver to measure the axial field produced by a variety of AutoMag liners and to evaluate what physical processes drive dielectric breakdown. Lastly, a range of field strengths have been generated in various cm-scale liners in agreement with magnetic transient simulations including a measured field above 90 T at I = 350 kA. By varying the helical pitch angle, insulator material, and insulator geometry, favorable liner designs have been identified for which breakdown occurs under predictable and reproducible field conditions.« less

Megagauss-level magnetic field production in cm-scale auto-magnetizing helical liners pulsed to 500 kA in 125 ns

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shipley, Gabriel A.; Awe, Thomas James; Hutsel, Brian Thomas

We present Auto-magnetizing (AutoMag) liners [Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 012704 (2017)] are designed to generate up to 100 T of axial magnetic field in the fuel for Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion [Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] without the need for external field coils. AutoMag liners (cylindrical tubes) are composed of discrete metallic helical conduction paths separated by electrically insulating material. Initially, helical current in the AutoMag liner produces internal axial magnetic field during a long (100 to 300 ns) current prepulse with an average current rise rate dI/dt=5 kA/ns. After the cold fuel is magnetized,more » a rapidly rising current (200 kA/ns) generates a calculated electric field of 64 MV/m between the helices. Such field is sufficient to force dielectric breakdown of the insulating material after which liner current is reoriented from helical to predominantly axial which ceases the AutoMag axial magnetic field production mechanism and the z-pinch liner implodes. Proof of concept experiments have been executed on the Mykonos linear transformer driver to measure the axial field produced by a variety of AutoMag liners and to evaluate what physical processes drive dielectric breakdown. Lastly, a range of field strengths have been generated in various cm-scale liners in agreement with magnetic transient simulations including a measured field above 90 T at I = 350 kA. By varying the helical pitch angle, insulator material, and insulator geometry, favorable liner designs have been identified for which breakdown occurs under predictable and reproducible field conditions.« less

Megagauss-level magnetic field production in cm-scale auto-magnetizing helical liners pulsed to 500 kA in 125 ns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipley, G. A.; Awe, T. J.; Hutsel, B. T.; Slutz, S. A.; Lamppa, D. C.; Greenly, J. B.; Hutchinson, T. M.

2018-05-01

Auto-magnetizing (AutoMag) liners [Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 012704 (2017)] are designed to generate up to 100 T of axial magnetic field in the fuel for Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion [Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] without the need for external field coils. AutoMag liners (cylindrical tubes) are composed of discrete metallic helical conduction paths separated by electrically insulating material. Initially, helical current in the AutoMag liner produces internal axial magnetic field during a long (100 to 300 ns) current prepulse with an average current rise rate d I / d t = 5 k A / n s . After the cold fuel is magnetized, a rapidly rising current ( 200 k A / n s ) generates a calculated electric field of 64 M V / m between the helices. Such field is sufficient to force dielectric breakdown of the insulating material after which liner current is reoriented from helical to predominantly axial which ceases the AutoMag axial magnetic field production mechanism and the z-pinch liner implodes. Proof of concept experiments have been executed on the Mykonos linear transformer driver to measure the axial field produced by a variety of AutoMag liners and to evaluate what physical processes drive dielectric breakdown. A range of field strengths have been generated in various cm-scale liners in agreement with magnetic transient simulations including a measured field above 90 T at I = 350 kA. By varying the helical pitch angle, insulator material, and insulator geometry, favorable liner designs have been identified for which breakdown occurs under predictable and reproducible field conditions.

Two-fluid flowing equilibria of spherical torus sustained by coaxial helicity injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, Takashi; Steinhauer, Loren; Nagata, Masayoshi

2007-11-01

Two-dimensional equilibria in helicity-driven systems using two-fluid model were previously computed, showing the existence of an ultra-low-q spherical torus (ST) configuration with diamagnetism and higher beta. However, this computation assumed purely toroidal ion flow and uniform density. The purpose of the present study is to apply the two-fluid model to the two-dimensional equilibria of helicity-driven ST with non-uniform density and both toroidal and poloidal flows for each species by means of the nearby-fluids procedure, and to explore their properties. We focus our attention on the equilibria relevant to the HIST device, which are characterized by either driven or decaying λ profiles. The equilibrium for the driven λ profile has a diamagnetic toroidal field, high-β (βt = 32%), and centrally broad density. By contrast, the decaying equilibrium has a paramagnetic toroidal field, low-β (βt = 10%), and centrally peaked density with a steep gradient in the outer edge region. In the driven case, the toroidal ion and electron flows are in the same direction, and two-fluid effects are less important since the ExB drift is dominant. In the decaying case, the toroidal ion and electron flows are opposite in the outer edge region, and two-fluid effects are significant locally in the edge due to the ion diamagnetic drift.

Suppressing magnetic island growth by resonant magnetic perturbation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Q.; Günter, S.; Lackner, K.

2018-05-01

The effect of externally applied resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) on the growth of magnetic islands is investigated based on two-fluid equations. It is found that if the local bi-normal electron fluid velocity at the resonant surface is sufficiently large, static RMPs of the same helicity and of moderate amplitude can suppress the growth of magnetic islands in high-temperature plasmas. These islands will otherwise grow, driven by an unfavorable plasma current density profile and bootstrap current perturbation. These results indicate that the error field can stabilize island growth, if the error field amplitude is not too large and the local bi-normal electron fluid velocity is not too low. They also indicate that applied rotating RMPs with an appropriate frequency can be utilized to suppress island growth in high-temperature plasmas, even for a low bi-normal electron fluid velocity. A significant change in the local equilibrium plasma current density gradient by small amplitude RMPs is found for realistic plasma parameters, which are important for the island stability and are expected to be more important for fusion reactors with low plasma resistivity.

Interplay of Chiral and Helical States in a Quantum Spin Hall Insulator Lateral Junction

DOE PAGES

Calvo, M. R.; de Juan, F.; Ilan, R.; ...

2017-11-29

Here, we study the electronic transport across an electrostatically-gated lateral junction in a HgTe quantum well, a canonical 2D topological insulator, with and without applied magnetic field. We control carrier density inside and outside a junction region independently and hence tune the number and nature of 1D edge modes propagating in each of those regions. Outside the 2D gap, magnetic field drives the system to the quantum Hall regime, and chiral states propagate at the edge. In this regime, we observe fractional plateaus which reflect the equilibration between 1D chiral modes across the junction. As carrier density approaches zero inmore » the central region and at moderate fields, we observe oscillations in resistance that we attribute to Fabry-Perot interference in the helical states, enabled by the broken time reversal symmetry. At higher fields, those oscillations disappear, in agreement with the expected absence of helical states when band inversion is lifted.« less

Interplay of Chiral and Helical States in a Quantum Spin Hall Insulator Lateral Junction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Calvo, M. R.; de Juan, F.; Ilan, R.

Here, we study the electronic transport across an electrostatically-gated lateral junction in a HgTe quantum well, a canonical 2D topological insulator, with and without applied magnetic field. We control carrier density inside and outside a junction region independently and hence tune the number and nature of 1D edge modes propagating in each of those regions. Outside the 2D gap, magnetic field drives the system to the quantum Hall regime, and chiral states propagate at the edge. In this regime, we observe fractional plateaus which reflect the equilibration between 1D chiral modes across the junction. As carrier density approaches zero inmore » the central region and at moderate fields, we observe oscillations in resistance that we attribute to Fabry-Perot interference in the helical states, enabled by the broken time reversal symmetry. At higher fields, those oscillations disappear, in agreement with the expected absence of helical states when band inversion is lifted.« less

Flow and dynamo measurements during the coaxial helicity injection on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ando, K.; Higashi, T.; Nakatsuka, M.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2009-11-01

The current drive by Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI-CD) was performed on HIST in a wide range of configurations from high-q ST to low-q ST and spheromak generated by the utilization of the toroidal field. It is a key issue to investigate the dynamo mechanism required to maintain each configuration. To identify the detail mechanisms, it is needed to manifest a role of plasma flows in the CHI-CD. For this purpose, we have measured the ion flow and the dynamo electric field using an ion Doppler spectrometer (IDS) system, a Mach probe and a dynamo probe. The new dynamo probe consists of 3-axis Mach probes and magnetic pick-up coils. The flow measurements have shown that the intermittent generation of the flow is correlated to the fluctuation seen on the electron density and current signals during the driven phase. At this time, the toroidal direction of the ion flow in the central open flux column is opposite to that of the toroidal current there, i.e. the same direction as electrons. After the plasma enters to the resistive decay phase, the toroidal flow tends to reverse to the same direction as the toroidal current. The results are consistent with the model of the repetitive plasmoid ejection and coalescence proposed for CHI-CD. The plasma jet emanating from the gun source and magnetic field generations through reconnection during the driven phase is well reflected in the 3D MHD simulation.

A Combined Study of Photospheric Magnetic and Current Helicities and Subsurface Kinetic Helicities of Solar Active Regions during 2006-2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seligman, Darryl; Petrie, G.; Komm, R.

2014-01-01

We compare the average photospheric current helicity H_c, photospheric twist parameter α (a well-known proxy for the full relative magnetic helicity), and subsurface kinetic helicity K_h for 128 active regions observed between 2006-2012. We use 1436 Hinode photospheric vector magnetograms and subsurface fluid velocity data from GONG Dopplergrams. We find a significant hemispheric bias in all three parameters. The K_h parameter is preferentially positive/negative in the southern/northern hemisphere. The H_c and α parameters have the same bias for strong fields |{B}|>1000 G). We examine the temporal variability of each parameter for each active region and identify a significant subset of regions whose three helicity parameters all exhibit clear increasing or decreasing trends. The temporal profiles of these regions have the same bias: positive/negative helicity in the northern/southern hemisphere. The results are consistent with Longcope et al.'s Σ-effect. This work is carried out through the National Solar Observatory Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) site program, which is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU Program. The National Solar Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

Engineering and Design of the Steady Inductive Helicity Injected Torus (HIT--SI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieck, P. E.; Jarboe, T. R.; Nelson, B. A.; Rogers, J. A.; Shumlak, U.

1999-11-01

Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI) is an inductive helicity injection method that injects helicity at a nearly constant rate, without open field lines, and without removing any helicity or magnetic energy from the plasma.(T.R. Jarboe, Fusion Technology, 36) (1), p. 85, 1999 SIHI directly produces a rotating magnetic field structure, and in the frame of the rotating field the current profile is nearly time independent. The Steady Inductive Helicity Injected Torus (HIT--SI) is a spheromak designed to implement SIHI so that the current profile in the rotating frame is optimized. The geometry of HIT--SI will be presented, including the manufacturing techniques and metallurgical processes planned for construction of the close-fitting flux conserver. The flux conserver is made of aged chromium copper with 80% the conductivity of pure copper. The detailed electrical insulation requirements in the helicity injector design lead to a complex o-ring seal and a plasma-sprayed alumina insulation coating. This has prompted the construction of an o-ring prototype test fixture having the main features of the o-ring design and the alumina coating. The design and evaluation of this fixture will also be presented with vacuum and voltage test results.

Public Data Set: Initiation and Sustainment of Tokamak Plasmas with Local Helicity Injection as the Majority Current Drive

DOE Data Explorer

Perry, Justin M. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000171228609); Bodner, Grant M. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000324979172); Bongard, Michael W. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000231609746); Burke, Marcus G. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000176193724); Fonck, Raymond J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000294386762); Pachicano, Jessica L. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000207255693); Pierren, Christopher [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000228289825); Reusch, Joshua A. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000284249422); Rhodes, Alexander T. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000280735714); Richner, Nathan J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000155443915); Rodriguez Sanchez, Cuauhtemoc [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000334712586); Schaefer, Carolyn E. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000248848727); Weberski, Justin D. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000256267914)

2018-05-22

This public data set contains openly-documented, machine readable digital research data corresponding to figures published in J.M. Perry et al., 'Initiation and Sustainment of Tokamak Plasmas with Local Helicity Injection as the Majority Current Drive,' accepted for publication in Nuclear Fusion.

Helical quantum states in HgTe quantum dots with inverted band structures.

PubMed

Chang, Kai; Lou, Wen-Kai

2011-05-20

We investigate theoretically the electron states in HgTe quantum dots (QDs) with inverted band structures. In sharp contrast to conventional semiconductor quantum dots, the quantum states in the gap of the HgTe QD are fully spin-polarized and show ringlike density distributions near the boundary of the QD and spin-angular momentum locking. The persistent charge currents and magnetic moments, i.e., the Aharonov-Bohm effect, can be observed in such a QD structure. This feature offers us a practical way to detect these exotic ringlike edge states by using the SQUID technique.

Structure evolution and electrical transport property of Si nanowire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Li, Q. Q.; Dong, J. C.; He, Y. Z.; Li, H.

2015-02-01

Various optimized Si and its alloy nanowires, from a monoatomic chain to helical and multishell coaxial cylinder, have been obtained. Results reveal that the structure of the Si nanowires transforms as the radii of the carbon nanotubes increase, despite of the chirality of the CNTs. We also calculate the physical properties, such as density of states, transmission functions, current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, and conductance spectra (G-V) of optimized nanowires and alloy nanowires sandwiched between two gold contacts. Interestingly, compared with the pure Si nanowires, the conductance of the alloy nanowires is even lower.

Nonlinear calculation of the m=1 internal kink instability in current carrying stellarators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wakatani, M.

1978-02-01

Nonlinear properties of the m=1 internal kink mode are shown in a low beta current carrying stellarator. The effects of the external helical magnetic fields are considered through a rotational transform and the magnetic surface is assumed to be circular. Magnetic surfaces inside the iota sub eta + iota sub sigma = 1 surface shift and deform non-circularly, while magnetic surfaces outside the iota sub eta + iota sub sigma = 1 are not disturbed, where iota sub eta is a rotational transform due to helical magnetic fields and iota sub sigma is due to a plasma current. Many highermore » harmonics are excited after the fundamental mode saturates. When the external helical magnetic fields are lowered, the m=1 tearing mode similar to that in a low beta Tokamak grows and magnetic islands appear near the iota sub eta + iota sub sigma = 1 surface. For adequate helical magnetic fields, the current carrying stellarator becomes stable against both the m=1 internal kink mode and the m=1 internal kink mode and the m=1 tearing mode, without lowering the rotational transform.« less

Acceleration and Pickup Ring of Energetic Electrons Observed in Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ping, Y. L.; Zhong, J. Y.; Wang, X. G.; Sheng, Z. M.; Zhao, G.

2017-11-01

Pickup ring of energetic electrons found in relativistic magnetic reconnection (MR) driven by two relativistic intense femtosecond laser pulses is investigated by particle simulation in 3D geometry. Magnetic reconnection processes and configurations are characterized by plasma current density distributions at different axial positions. Two helical structures associated with the circular polarization of laser pulses break down in the reconnection processes to form a current sheet between them, where energetic electrons are found to pile up and the outflow relativistic electron jets are observed. In the field line diffusion region, electrons are accelerated to multi-MeV with a flatter power-law spectrum due to MR. The development of the pickup ring of energetic electrons is strongly dependent upon laser peak intensities.

Passive runaway electron suppression in tokamak disruptions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, H. M.; Helander, P.; Boozer, A. H.

2013-07-15

Runaway electrons created in disruptions pose a serious problem for tokamaks with large current. It would be desirable to have a runaway electron suppression method which is passive, i.e., a method that does not rely on an uncertain disruption prediction system. One option is to let the large electric field inherent in the disruption drive helical currents in the wall. This would create ergodic regions in the plasma and increase the runaway losses. Whether these regions appear at a suitable time and place to affect the formation of the runaway beam depends on disruption parameters, such as electron temperature andmore » density. We find that it is difficult to ergodize the central plasma before a beam of runaway current has formed. However, the ergodic outer region will make the Ohmic current profile contract, which can lead to instabilities that yield large runaway electron losses.« less

Mean-field dynamo in a turbulence with shear and kinetic helicity fluctuations.

PubMed

Kleeorin, Nathan; Rogachevskii, Igor

2008-03-01

We study the effects of kinetic helicity fluctuations in a turbulence with large-scale shear using two different approaches: the spectral tau approximation and the second-order correlation approximation (or first-order smoothing approximation). These two approaches demonstrate that homogeneous kinetic helicity fluctuations alone with zero mean value in a sheared homogeneous turbulence cannot cause a large-scale dynamo. A mean-field dynamo is possible when the kinetic helicity fluctuations are inhomogeneous, which causes a nonzero mean alpha effect in a sheared turbulence. On the other hand, the shear-current effect can generate a large-scale magnetic field even in a homogeneous nonhelical turbulence with large-scale shear. This effect was investigated previously for large hydrodynamic and magnetic Reynolds numbers. In this study we examine the threshold required for the shear-current dynamo versus Reynolds number. We demonstrate that there is no need for a developed inertial range in order to maintain the shear-current dynamo (e.g., the threshold in the Reynolds number is of the order of 1).

The alpha dynamo parameter and measurability of helicities in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matthaeus, W. H.; Goldstein, M. L.; Lantz, S. R.

1986-01-01

Alpha, an important parameter in dynamo theory, is shown to be proportional to either the kinetic, current, magnetic, or velocity helicities of the fluctuating magnetic field and fluctuating velocity field. The particular helicity to which alpha is proportional depends on the assumptions used in deriving the first-order smoothed equations that describe the alpha effect. In two cases, viz., when alpha is proportional to either the magnetic helicity or velocity helicity, alpha can be determined experimentally from two-point measurements of the fluctuating fields in incompressible, homogeneous turbulence with arbitrary rotational symmetry. For the other two possibilities, alpha can be determined if the turbulence is isotropic.

Four dimensional imaging of E. coli nucleoid organization and dynamics in living cells

PubMed Central

Fisher, J. K.; Bourniquel, A.; Witz, G.; Weiner, B.; Prentiss, M.; Kleckner, N.

2013-01-01

Visualization of living E. coli nucleoids, defined by HupA-mCherry, reveals a discrete, dynamic helical ellipsoid. Three basic features emerge. (i) Nucleoid density efficiently coalesces into longitudinal bundles, giving a stiff, low DNA density ellipsoid. (ii) This ellipsoid is radially confined within the cell cylinder. Radial confinement gives helical shape and drives and directs global nucleoid dynamics, including sister segregation. (iii) Longitudinal density waves flux back and forth along the nucleoid, with 5–10% of density shifting within 5s, enhancing internal nucleoid mobility. Furthermore, sisters separate end-to-end in sequential discontinuous pulses, each elongating the nucleoid by 5–15%. Pulses occur at 20min intervals, at defined cell cycle times. This progression is mediated by sequential installation and release of programmed tethers, implying cyclic accumulation and relief of intra-nucleoid mechanical stress. These effects could comprise a chromosome-based cell cycle engine. Overall, the presented results suggest a general conceptual framework for bacterial nucleoid morphogenesis and dynamics. PMID:23623305

Non-solenoidal Plasma Startup in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sontag, Aaron

2008-11-01

Non-solenoidal (NS) startup will simplify the design of future tokamaks by eliminating need for a central solenoid and is required for an ST based CTF. In Pegasus, washer-stack current sources (plasma guns) are used to initiate NS discharges via point-source DC helicity injection. Current injected parallel to the helical vacuum field can relax into a tokamak-like configuration with toroidally-averaged closed flux and tokamak-like confinement. This requires no modification of the vacuum vessel and is scalable to fusion grade systems with proper geometry. Guns in the divertor region create discharges with Ip up to 50 kA, 3 times the vacuum windup. Nonlinear 3D simulation with NIMROD shows excitation of a line-tied kink, producing poloidal flux amplification. Evidence of flux amplification includes: reversal of edge poloidal magnetic flux; Ip increase over vacuum geometric windup; plasma position subject to radial force balance; and persistence of Ip after gun shut-off. Equilibria show high edge current (li = 0.2) and elevated q (qmin> 6), allowing access to high IN (IN> 12). Guns at the outboard midplane produce Ip up to 7 times the vacuum windup with large n=1 activity when edge q passes through rational surfaces. Line averaged density up to 2x10^19 m-3 after relaxation shows an increase in particle confinement over non-relaxed cases. Maximum Ip is determined by helicity and radial force balance, tokamak stability, and Taylor relaxation. Coupling midplane gun discharges to other CD is straightforward due to Ip decay times >3 ms. Poloidal field induction has been used to create NS discharges up to 80 kA and gun plasmas with Ip of 60 kA have been ramped to over 100 kA by including OH drive. Present research is aimed at understanding the physics of this technique in order to form NS targets in excess of 200 kA and design NS startup systems for larger devices.

Current trends in α-helical membrane protein crystallization: An update

PubMed Central

Parker, Joanne L; Newstead, Simon

2012-01-01

α-Helical membrane proteins (MPs) are the targets for many pharmaceutical drugs and play important roles in human physiology. In recent years, significant progress has been made in determining their atomic structure using X-ray crystallography. However, a major bottleneck in MP crystallography still remains, namely, the identification of conditions that give crystals that are suitable for structural determination. In 2008, we undertook an analysis of the crystallization conditions for 121 α-helical MPs to design a rationalized sparse matrix crystallization screen, MemGold. We now report an updated analysis that includes a further 133 conditions. The results reveal the current trends in α-helical MP crystallization with notable differences since 2008. The updated information has been used to design new crystallization and additive screens that should prove useful for both initial crystallization scouting and subsequent crystal optimization. PMID:22811290

Derivation of dynamo current drive in a closed-current volume and stable current sustainment in the HIT-SI experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossack, A. C.; Sutherland, D. A.; Jarboe, T. R.

2017-02-01

A derivation is given showing that the current inside a closed-current volume can be sustained against resistive dissipation by appropriately phased magnetic perturbations. Imposed-dynamo current drive theory is used to predict the toroidal current evolution in the helicity injected torus with steady inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI) experiment as a function of magnetic fluctuations at the edge. Analysis of magnetic fields from a HIT-SI discharge shows that the injector-imposed fluctuations are sufficient to sustain the measured toroidal current without instabilities whereas the small, plasma-generated magnetic fluctuations are not sufficiently large to sustain the current.

Polarization-dependent plasmonic photocurrents in two-dimensional electron systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Popov, V. V., E-mail: popov-slava@yahoo.co.uk; Saratov State University, Saratov 410012; Saratov Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saratov 410028

2016-06-27

Plasmonic polarization dependent photocurrents in a homogeneous two-dimensional electron system are studied. Those effects are completely different from the photon drag and electronic photogalvanic effects as well as from the plasmonic ratchet effect in a density modulated two-dimensional electron system. Linear and helicity-dependent contributions to the photocurrent are found. The linear contribution can be interpreted as caused by the longitudinal and transverse plasmon drag effect. The helicity-dependent contribution originates from the non-linear electron convection and changes its sign with reversing the plasmonic field helicity. It is shown that the helicity-dependent component of the photocurrent can exceed the linear one bymore » several orders of magnitude in high-mobility two-dimensional electron systems. The results open possibilities for all-electronic detection of the radiation polarization states by exciting the plasmonic photocurrents in two-dimensional electron systems.« less

Synthesis of Norbornene Derived Helical Copolymer by Simple Molecular Marriage Approach to Produce Smart Nanocarrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mane, Shivshankar R.; Sathyan, Ashlin; Shunmugam, Raja

2017-03-01

A novel library of norbornene derived helical copolymer has been synthesized through the coupling of two homopolymers via Molecular Marriage Approach. The helicity is governed by the non-covalent interactions like hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking and the influence of hydrophobic and hydrophilic motifs. The detailed characterization of the copolymer (Copoly 1) has been provided and the super structures are confirmed through dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The observed size of the aggregates was about 200 nm. The density functional theory (DFT) is favorably supported for the formation of proposed structure of Copoly 1. Circular dichroism (CD) measurement has confirmed the one handed helical structure of the copolymer. Reservoir capability of this pH responsive polymer (Copoly 1) to encapsulate anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) warrants its potential applications in the field of bio-medical sciences.

A field theory approach to the evolution of canonical helicity and energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

You, S.

A redefinition of the Lagrangian of a multi-particle system in fields reformulates the single-particle, kinetic, and fluid equations governing fluid and plasma dynamics as a single set of generalized Maxwell's equations and Ohm's law for canonical force-fields. The Lagrangian includes new terms representing the coupling between the motion of particle distributions, between distributions and electromagnetic fields, with relativistic contributions. The formulation shows that the concepts of self-organization and canonical helicity transport are applicable across single-particle, kinetic, and fluid regimes, at classical and relativistic scales. The theory gives the basis for comparing canonical helicity change to energy change in general systems.more » For example, in a fixed, isolated system subject to non-conservative forces, a species' canonical helicity changes less than total energy only if gradients in density or distribution function are shallow.« less

Cooperative polymerization of α-helices induced by macromolecular architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumgartner, Ryan; Fu, Hailin; Song, Ziyuan; Lin, Yao; Cheng, Jianjun

2017-07-01

Catalysis observed in enzymatic processes and protein polymerizations often relies on the use of supramolecular interactions and the organization of functional elements in order to gain control over the spatial and temporal elements of fundamental cellular processes. Harnessing these cooperative interactions to catalyse reactions in synthetic systems, however, remains challenging due to the difficulty in creating structurally controlled macromolecules. Here, we report a polypeptide-based macromolecule with spatially organized α-helices that can catalyse its own formation. The system consists of a linear polymeric scaffold containing a high density of initiating groups from which polypeptides are grown, forming a brush polymer. The folding of polypeptide side chains into α-helices dramatically enhances the polymerization rate due to cooperative interactions of macrodipoles between neighbouring α-helices. The parameters that affect the rate are elucidated by a two-stage kinetic model using principles from nucleation-controlled protein polymerizations; the key difference being the irreversible nature of this polymerization.

Synthesis of Norbornene Derived Helical Copolymer by Simple Molecular Marriage Approach to Produce Smart Nanocarrier.

PubMed

Mane, Shivshankar R; Sathyan, Ashlin; Shunmugam, Raja

2017-03-22

A novel library of norbornene derived helical copolymer has been synthesized through the coupling of two homopolymers via Molecular Marriage Approach. The helicity is governed by the non-covalent interactions like hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking and the influence of hydrophobic and hydrophilic motifs. The detailed characterization of the copolymer (Copoly 1) has been provided and the super structures are confirmed through dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The observed size of the aggregates was about 200 nm. The density functional theory (DFT) is favorably supported for the formation of proposed structure of Copoly 1. Circular dichroism (CD) measurement has confirmed the one handed helical structure of the copolymer. Reservoir capability of this pH responsive polymer (Copoly 1) to encapsulate anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) warrants its potential applications in the field of bio-medical sciences.

Theory of current-driven skyrmions in disordered magnets.

PubMed

Koshibae, Wataru; Nagaosa, Naoto

2018-04-20

An emergent topological particle in magnets, skyrmion, has several unique features distinct from the other magnetic textures such as domain wall, helical structure, and vortex. It is characterized by a topological integer called skyrmion number N sk , which counts how many times the directions of the magnetic moments wrap the unit sphere. This N sk gives the chiral nature of the skyrmion dynamics, and leads to the extremely small critical current density j c for the current-driven motion in terms of spin transfer torque effect. The finite j c indicates the pinning effect due to the disorder such as impurities and defects, and the behaviors of skyrmions under disorder have not been explored well theoretically although it is always relevant in real systems. Here we reveal by a numerical simulation of Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation that there are four different skyrmion phases with the strong disorder, i.e., (A) pinned state, (B) depinned state, (C) skyrmion multiplication/annihilation, and (D) segregation of skyrmions, as the current density increases, while only two phases (A) and (B) appear in the weak disorder case. The microscopic mechanisms of the new phases (C) and (D) are analyzed theoretically. These results offer a coherent understanding of the skyrmion dynamics under current with disorder.

Current drive by helicon waves

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paul, Manash Kumar; Bora, Dhiraj; ITER Organization, Cadarache Centre-building 519, 131008 St. Paul-Lez-Durance

2009-01-01

Helicity in the dynamo field components of helicon wave is examined during the novel study of wave induced helicity current drive. Strong poloidal asymmetry in the wave magnetic field components is observed during helicon discharges formed in a toroidal vacuum chamber of small aspect ratio. High frequency regime is chosen to increase the phase velocity of helicon waves which in turn minimizes the resonant wave-particle interactions and enhances the contribution of the nonresonant current drive mechanisms. Owing to the strong poloidal asymmetry in the wave magnetic field structures, plasma current is driven mostly by the dynamo-electric-field, which arise due tomore » the wave helicity injection by helicon waves. Small, yet finite contribution from the suppressed wave-particle resonance cannot be ruled out in the operational regime examined. A brief discussion on the parametric dependence of plasma current along with numerical estimations of nonresonant components is presented. A close agreement between the numerical estimation and measured plasma current magnitude is obtained during the present investigation.« less

The Helicity Injected Torus Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarboe, T. R.; Nelson, B. A.; Jewell, P. D.; Liptac, J. E.; McCollam, K. J.; Raman, R.; Redd, A. J.; Rogers, J. A.; Sieck, P. E.; Shumlak, U.; Smith, R. J.; Nagata, M.; Uyama, T.

1999-11-01

The Helicity Injected Torus--II (HIT--II) spherical torus is capable of both Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) and transformer action current drive. HIT--II has a major radius R = 0.3, minor radius a = 0.2, aspect ratio A = R/a = 1.5, with an on axis magnetic field of up to Bo = 0.67 T. HIT--II provides equilibrium control, CHI flux boundary conditions, and transformer action using 28 poloidal field coils, using active flux feedback control. HIT--II has driven up to 200 kA of plasma current, using either CHI or transformer drive. An overview and recent results of the HIT--II program will be presented. The development of a locked-electron current drive model for HIT and HIT--II has led to the design of a constant inductive helicity injection method for spherical torii. This method is incorporated in the design of the Helicity Injected Torus -- Steady Inductive (HIT-- SI)(T.R. Jarboe, Fusion Technology, 36) (1), p. 85, 1999 experiment. HIT--SI can form a high-beta spheromak, a low aspect ratio RFP, or a spherical tokamak in a steady-state manner without using electrodes. The HIT--SI design and methodology will be presented.

NIMROD simulations and physics assessment of possible designs for a next generation Steady Inductive Helicity Injection HIT device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penna, James; Morgan, Kyle; Grubb, Isaac; Jarboe, Thomas

2017-10-01

The Helicity Injected Torus - Steady Inductive 3 (HIT-SI3) experiment forms and maintains spheromaks via Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI) using discrete injectors that inject magnetic helicity via a non-axisymmetric perturbation and drive toroidally symmetric current. Newer designs for larger SIHI-driven spheromaks incorporate a set of injectors connected to a single external manifold to allow more freedom for the toroidal structure of the applied perturbation. Simulations have been carried out using the NIMROD code to assess the effectiveness of various imposed mode structures and injector schema in driving current via Imposed Dynamo Current Drive (IDCD). The results are presented here for varying flux conserver shapes on a device approximately 1.5 times larger than the current HIT-SI3 experiment. The imposed mode structures and spectra of simulated spheromaks are analyzed in order to examine magnetic structure and stability and determine an optimal regime for IDCD sustainment in a large device. The development of scaling laws for manifold operation is also presented, and simulation results are analyzed and assessed as part of the development path for the large scale device.

Method and apparatus for maintaining equilibrium in a helical axis stellarator

DOEpatents

Reiman, Allan; Boozer, Allen

1987-01-01

Apparatus for maintaining three-dimensional MHD equilibrium in a plasma contained in a helical axis stellerator includes a resonant coil system, having a configuration such that current therethrough generates a magnetic field cancelling the resonant magnetic field produced by currents driven by the plasma pressure on any given flux surface resonating with the rotational transform of another flux surface in the plasma. Current through the resonant coil system is adjusted as a function of plasma beta.

Method and apparatus for maintaining equilibrium in a helical axis stellarator

DOEpatents

Reiman, A.; Boozer, A.

1984-10-31

Apparatus for maintaining three-dimensional MHD equilibrium in a plasma contained in a helical axis stellarator includes a resonant coil system, having a configuration such that current therethrough generates a magnetic field cancelling the resonant magnetic field produced by currents driven by the plasma pressure on any given flux surface resonating with the rotational transform of another flux surface in the plasma. Current through the resonant coil system is adjusted as a function of plasma beta.

Plasma response to sustainment with imposed-dynamo current drive in HIT-SI and HIT-SI3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossack, A. C.; Jarboe, T. R.; Chandra, R. N.; Morgan, K. D.; Sutherland, D. A.; Penna, J. M.; Everson, C. J.; Nelson, B. A.

2017-07-01

The helicity injected torus—steady inductive (HIT-SI) program studies efficient, steady-state current drive for magnetic confinement plasmas using a novel experimental method. Stable, high-beta spheromaks have been sustained using steady, inductive current drive. Externally induced loop voltage and magnetic flux are oscillated together so that helicity and power injection are always positive, sustaining the edge plasma current indefinitely. Imposed-dynamo current drive (IDCD) theory further shows that the entire plasma current is sustained. The method is ideal for low aspect ratio, toroidal geometries with closed flux surfaces. Experimental studies of spheromak plasmas sustained with IDCD have shown stable magnetic profiles with evidence of pressure confinement. New measurements show coherent motion of a stable spheromak in response to the imposed perturbations. On the original device two helicity injectors were mounted on either side of the spheromak and the injected mode spectrum was predominantly n  =  1. Coherent, rigid motion indicates that the spheromak is stable and a lack of plasma-generated n  =  1 energy indicates that the maximum q is maintained below 1 during sustainment. Results from the HIT-SI3 device are also presented. Three inductive helicity injectors are mounted on one side of the spheromak flux conserver. Varying the relative injector phasing changes the injected mode spectrum which includes n  =  2, 3, and higher modes.

Hierarchical Helical Order in the Twisted Growth of Plant Organs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wada, Hirofumi

2012-09-01

The molecular and cellular basis of left-right asymmetry in plant morphogenesis is a fundamental issue in biology. A rapidly elongating root or hypocotyl of twisting mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana exhibits a helical growth with a handedness opposite to that of the underlying cortical microtubule arrays in epidermal cells. However, how such a hierarchical helical order emerges is currently unknown. We propose a model for investigating macroscopic chiral asymmetry in Arabidopsis mutants. Our elastic model suggests that the helical pattern observed is a direct consequence of the simultaneous presence of anisotropic growth and tilting of cortical microtubule arrays. We predict that the root helical pitch angle is a function of the microtubule helical angle and elastic moduli of the tissues. The proposed model is versatile and is potentially important for other biological systems ranging from protein fibrous structures to tree trunks.

A mechanism for the dynamo terms to sustain closed-flux current, including helicity balance, by driving current which crosses the magnetic field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jarboe, T. R.; Nelson, B. A.; Sutherland, D. A.

2015-07-15

An analysis of imposed dynamo current drive (IDCD) [T.R. Jarboe et al., Nucl. Fusion 52 083017 (2012)] reveals: (a) current drive on closed flux surfaces seems possible without relaxation, reconnection, or other flux-surface-breaking large events; (b) the scale size of the key physics may be smaller than is often computationally resolved; (c) helicity can be sustained across closed flux; and (d) IDCD current drive is parallel to the current which crosses the magnetic field to produce the current driving force. In addition to agreeing with spheromak data, IDCD agrees with selected tokamak data.

Helical variation of density profiles and fluctuations in the tokamak pedestal with applied 3D fields and implications for confinement

DOE PAGES

Wilcox, R. S.; Rhodes, T. L.; Shafer, M. W.; ...

2018-04-19

Smore » mall 3D perturbations to the magnetic field in DIII-D ( δ B / B ~ 2 × 10 - 4 ) result in large modulations of density fluctuation amplitudes in the pedestal, which are shown using Doppler backscattering measurements to vary by a factor of 2. Helical perturbations of equilibrium density within flux surfaces have previously been observed in the pedestal of DIII-D plasmas when 3D fields are applied and were correlated with density fluctuation asymmetries in the pedestal. These intra-surface density and pressure variations are shown through two fluid MHD modeling studies using the M3D-C1 code to be due to the misalignment of the density and temperature equilibrium iso-surfaces in the pedestal region. This modeling demonstrates that the phase shift between the two iso-surfaces corresponds to the diamagnetic direction of the two species, with the mass density surfaces shifted in the ion diamagnetic direction relative to the temperature and magnetic flux iso-surfaces. Finally, the resulting pedestal density, potential, and turbulence asymmetries within flux surfaces near the separatrix may be at least partially responsible for several poorly understood phenomena that occur with the application of 3D fields in tokamaks, including density pump out and the increase in power required to transition from L- to H-mode.« less

Helical variation of density profiles and fluctuations in the tokamak pedestal with applied 3D fields and implications for confinement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilcox, R. S.; Rhodes, T. L.; Shafer, M. W.

Smore » mall 3D perturbations to the magnetic field in DIII-D ( δ B / B ~ 2 × 10 - 4 ) result in large modulations of density fluctuation amplitudes in the pedestal, which are shown using Doppler backscattering measurements to vary by a factor of 2. Helical perturbations of equilibrium density within flux surfaces have previously been observed in the pedestal of DIII-D plasmas when 3D fields are applied and were correlated with density fluctuation asymmetries in the pedestal. These intra-surface density and pressure variations are shown through two fluid MHD modeling studies using the M3D-C1 code to be due to the misalignment of the density and temperature equilibrium iso-surfaces in the pedestal region. This modeling demonstrates that the phase shift between the two iso-surfaces corresponds to the diamagnetic direction of the two species, with the mass density surfaces shifted in the ion diamagnetic direction relative to the temperature and magnetic flux iso-surfaces. Finally, the resulting pedestal density, potential, and turbulence asymmetries within flux surfaces near the separatrix may be at least partially responsible for several poorly understood phenomena that occur with the application of 3D fields in tokamaks, including density pump out and the increase in power required to transition from L- to H-mode.« less

Helical variation of density profiles and fluctuations in the tokamak pedestal with applied 3D fields and implications for confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilcox, R. S.; Rhodes, T. L.; Shafer, M. W.; Sugiyama, L. E.; Ferraro, N. M.; Lyons, B. C.; McKee, G. R.; Paz-Soldan, C.; Wingen, A.; Zeng, L.

2018-05-01

Small 3D perturbations to the magnetic field in DIII-D ( δB /B ˜2 ×10-4 ) result in large modulations of density fluctuation amplitudes in the pedestal, which are shown using Doppler backscattering measurements to vary by a factor of 2. Helical perturbations of equilibrium density within flux surfaces have previously been observed in the pedestal of DIII-D plasmas when 3D fields are applied and were correlated with density fluctuation asymmetries in the pedestal. These intra-surface density and pressure variations are shown through two fluid MHD modeling studies using the M3D-C1 code to be due to the misalignment of the density and temperature equilibrium iso-surfaces in the pedestal region. This modeling demonstrates that the phase shift between the two iso-surfaces corresponds to the diamagnetic direction of the two species, with the mass density surfaces shifted in the ion diamagnetic direction relative to the temperature and magnetic flux iso-surfaces. The resulting pedestal density, potential, and turbulence asymmetries within flux surfaces near the separatrix may be at least partially responsible for several poorly understood phenomena that occur with the application of 3D fields in tokamaks, including density pump out and the increase in power required to transition from L- to H-mode.

New mode of operating a magnetized coaxial plasma gun for injecting magnetic helicity into a spheromak.

PubMed

Woodruff, S; Hill, D N; Stallard, B W; Bulmer, R; Cohen, B; Holcomb, C T; Hooper, E B; McLean, H S; Moller, J; Wood, R D

2003-03-07

By operating a magnetized coaxial plasma gun continuously with just sufficient current to enable plasma ejection, large gun-voltage spikes (approximately 1 kV) are produced, giving the highest sustained voltage approximately 500 V and highest sustained helicity injection rate observed in the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment. The spheromak magnetic field increases monotonically with time, exhibiting the lowest fluctuation levels observed during formation of any spheromak (B/B>/=2%). The results suggest an important mechanism for field generation by helicity injection, namely, the merging of helicity-carrying filaments.

Helicity transformation under the collision and merging of two magnetic flux ropes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeHaas, Timothy; Gekelman, Walter

2017-07-01

Magnetic helicity has become a useful tool in the analysis of astrophysical plasmas. Its conservation in the magnetohydrodynamic limit (and other fluid approaches) constrains the global behavior of large plasma structures. One such astrophysical structure is a magnetic flux rope: a tube-like, current-carrying plasma embedded in an external magnetic field. Bundles of these ropes are commonly observed in the near-earth environment and solar atmosphere. In this well-diagnosed experiment (three-dimensional measurements of ne, Te, Vp, B, J, E, and uflow), two magnetic flux ropes are generated in the Large Plasma Device at UCLA. These ropes are driven kink-unstable to trigger complex motion. As they interact, helicity conservation is examined in regions of reconnection. We examine (1) the transport of helicity and (2) the dissipation of the helicity. As the ropes move and the topology of the field lines diverge, a quasi-separatrix layer (QSL) is formed. As the QSL forms, magnetic helicity is dissipated within this region. At the same time, there is an influx of canonical helicity into the region such that the temporal derivative of magnetic helicity is zero.

Morphology of blazar-induced gamma ray halos due to a helical intergalactic magnetic field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Long, Andrew J.; Vachaspati, Tanmay, E-mail: andrewjlong@asu.edu, E-mail: tvachasp@asu.edu

We study the characteristic size and shape of idealized blazar-induced cascade halos in the 1–100,GeV energy range assuming various non-helical and helical configurations for the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF). While the magnetic field creates an extended halo, the helicity provides the halo with a twist. Under simplifying assumptions, we assess the parameter regimes for which it is possible to measure the size and shape of the halo from a single source and then to deduce properties of the IGMF. We find that blazar halo measurements with an experiment similar to Fermi-LAT are best suited to probe a helical magnetic fieldmore » with strength and coherence length today in the ranges 10{sup −17} ∼< B{sub 0} / Gauss ∼< 10{sup −13} and 10 Mpc ∼< λ ∼< 10 Gpc where H ∼ B{sub 0}{sup 2} / λ is the magnetic helicity density. Stronger magnetic fields or smaller coherence scales can still potentially be investigated, but the connection between the halo morphology and the magnetic field properties is more involved. Weaker magnetic fields or longer coherence scales require high photon statistics or superior angular resolution.« less

Spin formalism and applications to new physics searches

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haber, H.E.

1994-12-01

An introduction to spin techniques in particle physics is given. Among the topics covered are: helicity formalism and its applications to the decay and scattering of spin-1/2 and spin-1 particles, techniques for evaluating helicity amplitudes (including projection operator methods and the spinor helicity method), and density matrix techniques. The utility of polarization and spin correlations for untangling new physics beyond the Standard Model at future colliders such as the LHC and a high energy e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} linear collider is then considered. A number of detailed examples are explored including the search for low-energy supersymmetry, a non-minimal Higgs boson sector,more » and new gauge bosons beyond the W{sup {+-}} and Z.« less

Estimating loop length from CryoEM images at medium resolutions.

PubMed

McKnight, Andrew; Si, Dong; Al Nasr, Kamal; Chernikov, Andrey; Chrisochoides, Nikos; He, Jing

2013-01-01

De novo protein modeling approaches utilize 3-dimensional (3D) images derived from electron cryomicroscopy (CryoEM) experiments. The skeleton connecting two secondary structures such as α-helices represent the loop in the 3D image. The accuracy of the skeleton and of the detected secondary structures are critical in De novo modeling. It is important to measure the length along the skeleton accurately since the length can be used as a constraint in modeling the protein. We have developed a novel computational geometric approach to derive a simplified curve in order to estimate the loop length along the skeleton. The method was tested using fifty simulated density images of helix-loop-helix segments of atomic structures and eighteen experimentally derived density data from Electron Microscopy Data Bank (EMDB). The test using simulated density maps shows that it is possible to estimate within 0.5 Å of the expected length for 48 of the 50 cases. The experiments, involving eighteen experimentally derived CryoEM images, show that twelve cases have error within 2 Å. The tests using both simulated and experimentally derived images show that it is possible for our proposed method to estimate the loop length along the skeleton if the secondary structure elements, such as α-helices, can be detected accurately, and there is a continuous skeleton linking the α-helices.

Magnetic Helicity Injection and Thermal Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moses, Ronald; Gerwin, Richard; Schoenberg, Kurt

1999-11-01

In magnetic helicity injection, a current is driven between electrodes, parallel to the magnetic field in the edge plasma of a machine.^1 Plasma instabilities distribute current throughout the plasma. To model the injection of magnetic helicity, K, into an arbitrary closed surface, K is defined as the volume integral of A^.B. To make K unique, a gauge is chosen where the tangential surface components of A are purely solenoidal. If magnetic fields within a plasma are time varying, yet undergo no macroscopic changes over an extended period, and if the plasma is subject to an Ohm’s law with Hall terms, then it is shown that no closed magnetic surfaces with sustained internal currents can exist continuously within the plasma.^2 It is also shown that parallel thermal transport connects all parts of the plasma to the helicity injection electrodes and requires the electrode voltage difference to be at least 2.5 to 3 times the peak plasma temperature. This ratio is almost independent of the length of the electron mean-free path. If magnetic helicity injection is to be used for fusion-grade plasmas, then high-voltage, high-impedance injection techniques must be developed. ^1T. R. Jarboe, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, V36, 945-990 (June 1994). ^2R. W. Moses, 1991 Sherwood International Fusion Theory Conference, Seattle, WA (April 22-24, 1991).

Twenty barrel in situ pipe gun type solid hydrogen pellet injector for the Large Helical Device.

PubMed

Sakamoto, Ryuichi; Motojima, Gen; Hayashi, Hiromi; Inoue, Tomoyuki; Ito, Yasuhiko; Ogawa, Hideki; Takami, Shigeyuki; Yokota, Mitsuhiro; Yamada, Hiroshi

2013-08-01

A 20 barrel solid hydrogen pellet injector, which is able to inject 20 cylindrical pellets with a diameter and length of between 3.0 and 3.8 mm at the velocity of 1200 m/s, has been developed for the purpose of direct core fueling in LHD (Large Helical Device). The in situ pipe gun concept with the use of compact cryo-coolers enables stable operation as a fundamental facility in plasma experiments. The combination of the two types of pellet injection timing control modes, i.e., pre-programing mode and real-time control mode, allows the build-up and sustainment of high density plasma around the density limit. The pellet injector has demonstrated stable operation characteristics during the past three years of LHD experiments.

Physical requirements and milestones for the HIT-PoP Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarboe, Thomas

2011-10-01

Recent success with HIT-SI demonstrates the viability of steady inductive helicity injection (SIHI) as a spheromak formation and sustainment method. Results include the sustainment of toroidal current of over 50 kA, up to 40 kA of plasma current that is separate from the injectors, toroidal flux up to 6 times the peak injected flux, and j/n > 1014Am. All were achieved with 10MW or less applied power. This paper explores the requirements for a confinement test of the concept using a larger proof of principle experiment. The confinement experiment must not exceed the beta limit, the drift parameter limit, or the wall loading limit, where the drift parameter is (drift of electrons relative to ions to produce current)/(ion thermal speed). It must also exceed a minimum j/n, a minimum n a, and a minimum electron temperature, where a is the minor radius. The drift parameter limit and beta limit appear to play defining roles in spheromak performance leading to a very favorable scaling of wall loading with size. The milestones sequence suggested is the following: 1. Startup at drift parameter and beta limit minimum density. 2. Raise current until j/n exceeds 10-14Am. 3. Raise the current and temperature until T ~ 50 eV for good ionization. 4. Raise the current and density until n a > 2x1019 m-2 for neutral screening. 5. Raise current and temperature until T > 200eV so magnetic confinement can be studied.

Specific arrangement of alpha-helical coiled coils in the core domain of the bacterial flagellar hook for the universal joint function.

PubMed

Fujii, Takashi; Kato, Takayuki; Namba, Keiichi

2009-11-11

The bacterial flagellar hook is a short, highly curved tubular structure connecting the rotary motor to the filament acting as a helical propeller. The bending flexibility of the hook allows it to work as a universal joint. A partial atomic model of the hook revealed a sliding intersubunit domain interaction along the protofilament to produce bending flexibility. However, it remained unclear how the tightly packed inner core domains can still permit axial extension and compression. We report advances in cryoEM image analysis for high-resolution, high-throughput structural analysis and a density map of the hook that reveals most of the secondary structures, including the terminal alpha helices forming a coiled coil. The orientations and axial packing interactions of these two alpha helices are distinctly different from those of the filament, allowing them to have a room for axial compression and extension for bending flexibility without impairing the mechanical stability of the hook.

Quantum correlations of helicity entangled states in non-inertial frames beyond single mode approximation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harsij, Zeynab; Mirza, Behrouz

2014-12-01

A helicity entangled tripartite state is considered in which the degree of entanglement is preserved in non-inertial frames. It is shown that Quantum Entanglement remains observer independent. As another measure of quantum correlation, Quantum Discord has been investigated. It is explicitly shown that acceleration has no effect on the degree of quantum correlation for the bipartite and tripartite helicity entangled states. Geometric Quantum Discord as a Hilbert-Schmidt distance is computed for helicity entangled states. It is shown that living in non-inertial frames does not make any influence on this distance, either. In addition, the analysis has been extended beyond single mode approximation to show that acceleration does not have any impact on the quantum features in the limit beyond the single mode. As an interesting result, while the density matrix depends on the right and left Unruh modes, the Negativity as a measure of Quantum Entanglement remains constant. Also, Quantum Discord does not change beyond single mode approximation.

Self-Assembled Chiral Photonic Crystals from a Colloidal Helix Racemate.

PubMed

Lei, Qun-Li; Ni, Ran; Ma, Yu-Qiang

2018-06-20

Chiral crystals consisting of microhelices have many optical properties, while presently available fabrication processes limit their large-scale applications in photonic devices. Here, by using a simplified simulation method, we investigate a bottom-up self-assembly route to build up helical crystals from the smectic monolayer of a colloidal helix racemate. With increasing the density, the system undergoes an entropy-driven cocrystallization by forming crystals of various symmetries with different helical shapes. In particular, we identify two crystals of helices arranged in binary honeycomb and square lattices, which are essentially composed of two sets of opposite-handed chiral crystals. Photonic calculations show that these chiral structures can have large complete photonic band gaps. In addition, in the self-assembled chiral square crystal, we also find dual polarization band gaps that selectively forbid the propagation of circularly polarized light of a specific handedness along the helical axis direction. The self-assembly process in our proposed system is robust, suggesting possibilities of using chiral colloids to assemble photonic metamaterials.

Helical Face Gear Development Under the Enhanced Rotorcraft Drive System Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heath, Gregory F.; Slaughter, Stephen C.; Fisher, David J.; Lewicki, David G.; Fetty, Jason

2011-01-01

U.S. Army goals for the Enhanced Rotorcraft Drive System Program are to achieve a 40 percent increase in horsepower to weight ratio, a 15 dB reduction in drive system generated noise, 30 percent reduction in drive system operating, support, and acquisition cost, and 75 percent automatic detection of critical mechanical component failures. Boeing s technology transition goals are that the operational endurance level of the helical face gearing and related split-torque designs be validated to a TRL 6, and that analytical and manufacturing tools be validated. Helical face gear technology is being developed in this project to augment, and transition into, a Boeing AH-64 Block III split-torque face gear main transmission stage, to yield increased power density and reduced noise. To date, helical face gear grinding development on Northstar s new face gear grinding machine and pattern-development tests at the NASA Glenn/U.S. Army Research Laboratory have been completed and are described.

Helical plasma thruster

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beklemishev, A. D., E-mail: bekl@bk.ru

2015-10-15

A new scheme of plasma thruster is proposed. It is based on axial acceleration of rotating magnetized plasmas in magnetic field with helical corrugation. The idea is that the propellant ionization zone can be placed into the local magnetic well, so that initially the ions are trapped. The E × B rotation is provided by an applied radial electric field that makes the setup similar to a magnetron discharge. Then, from the rotating plasma viewpoint, the magnetic wells of the helically corrugated field look like axially moving mirror traps. Specific shaping of the corrugation can allow continuous acceleration of trapped plasma ionsmore » along the magnetic field by diamagnetic forces. The accelerated propellant is expelled through the expanding field of magnetic nozzle. By features of the acceleration principle, the helical plasma thruster may operate at high energy densities but requires a rather high axial magnetic field, which places it in the same class as the VASIMR{sup ®} rocket engine.« less

Gear Design Effects on the Performance of High Speed Helical Gear Trains as Used in Aerospace Drive Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Handschuh, R.; Kilmain, D.; Ehinger, R.; Sinusas, E.

2013-01-01

The performance of high-speed helical gear trains is of particular importance for tiltrotor aircraft drive systems. These drive systems are used to provide speed reduction/torque multiplication from the gas turbine output shaft and provide the necessary offset between these parallel shafts in the aircraft. Four different design configurations have been tested in the NASA Glenn Research Center, High Speed Helical Gear Train Test Facility. The design configurations included the current aircraft design, current design with isotropic superfinished gear surfaces, double helical design (inward and outward pumping), increased pitch (finer teeth), and an increased helix angle. All designs were tested at multiple input shaft speeds (up to 15,000 rpm) and applied power (up to 5,000 hp). Also two lubrication, system-related, variables were tested: oil inlet temperature (160 to 250 F) and lubricating jet pressure (60 to 80 psig). Experimental data recorded from these tests included power loss of the helical system under study, the temperature increase of the lubricant from inlet to outlet of the drive system and fling off temperatures (radially and axially). Also, all gear systems were tested with and without shrouds around the gears. The empirical data resulting from this study will be useful to the design of future helical gear train systems anticipated for next generation rotorcraft drive systems.

Gear Design Effects on the Performance of High Speed Helical Gear Trains as Used in Aerospace Drive Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Handschuh, R.; Kilmain, C.; Ehinger, R.; Sinusas, E.

2013-01-01

The performance of high-speed helical gear trains is of particular importance for tiltrotor aircraft drive systems. These drive systems are used to provide speed reduction / torque multiplication from the gas turbine output shaft and provide the necessary offset between these parallel shafts in the aircraft. Four different design configurations have been tested in the NASA Glenn Research Center, High Speed Helical Gear Train Test Facility. The design configurations included the current aircraft design, current design with isotropic superfinished gear surfaces, double helical design (inward and outward pumping), increased pitch (finer teeth), and an increased helix angle. All designs were tested at multiple input shaft speeds (up to 15,000 rpm) and applied power (up to 5,000 hp). Also two lubrication, system-related, variables were tested: oil inlet temperature (160 to 250 degF) and lubricating jet pressure (60 to 80 psig). Experimental data recorded from these tests included power loss of the helical system under study, the temperature increase of the lubricant from inlet to outlet of the drive system and fling off temperatures (radially and axially). Also, all gear systems were tested with and without shrouds around the gears. The empirical data resulting from this study will be useful to the design of future helical gear train systems anticipated for next generation rotorcraft drive systems.

Non-inductively driven tokamak plasmas at near-unity βt in the Pegasus toroidal experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reusch, J. A.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Pachicano, J. L.; Perry, J. M.; Pierren, C.; Rhodes, A. T.; Richner, N. J.; Rodriguez Sanchez, C.; Schlossberg, D. J.; Weberski, J. D.

2018-05-01

A major goal of the spherical tokamak (ST) research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance ℓi, high elongation κ, and high toroidal and normalized beta ( βt and βN) without solenoidal current drive. Local helicity injection (LHI) in the Pegasus ST [Garstka et al., Nucl. Fusion 46, S603 (2006)] provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources for plasma startup and sustainment. It results in hollow current density profiles with low ℓi. The low aspect ratio ( R0/a ˜1.2 ) of Pegasus allows access to high κ and high normalized plasma currents ( IN=Ip/a BT>14 ). Magnetic reconnection during LHI provides auxiliary ion heating. Together, these features provide access to very high βt plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate that βt up to ˜100% is achieved. These high βt discharges disrupt at the ideal no-wall β limit at βN˜7.

Measurements of Magnetic Helicity within Two Interacting Flux Ropes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehaas, Timothy; Gekelman, Walter

2016-10-01

Magnetic helicity (HM) has become a useful tool in the exploration of astrophysical plasmas. Its conservation in the MHD limit (and even some fluid approaches) constrains the global behavior of large plasma structures. One such astrophysical structure is a magnetic flux rope: a rope-like, current-carrying plasma embedded in an external magnetic field. Bundles of these ropes are commonly observed extending from the solar surface and can be found in the near-earth environment. In this well-diagnosed experiment (3D measurements of ne, Te, Vp, B, J, E, uflow) , two magnetic flux ropes were generated in the Large Plasma Device at UCLA. These ropes were driven kink-unstable, commencing complex motion. As they interact, helicity conservation is broken in regions of reconnection, turbulence, and instabilities. The changes in helicity can be visualized as 1) the transport of helicity (ϕB +E × A) and 2) the dissipation of the helicity (-2EB). Magnetic helicity is observed to have a negative sign and its counterpart, cross helicity, a positive one. These qualities oscillate 8% peak-to-peak. As the ropes move and the topology of the field lines change, a quasi-separatrix layer (QSL) is formed. The volume averaged HM and the largest value of Q both oscillate but not in phase. In addition to magnetic helicity, similar quantities such as self-helicity, mutual-helicity, vorticity, and canonical helicity are derived and will be presented. This work is supported by LANL-UC research Grant and done at the Basic Plasma Science Facility, which is funded by DOE and NSF.

Significant Enhancement of the Chiral Correlation Length in Nematic Liquid Crystals by Gold Nanoparticle Surfaces Featuring Axially Chiral Binaphthyl Ligands.

PubMed

Mori, Taizo; Sharma, Anshul; Hegmann, Torsten

2016-01-26

Chirality is a fundamental scientific concept best described by the absence of mirror symmetry and the inability to superimpose an object onto its mirror image by translation and rotation. Chirality is expressed at almost all molecular levels, from single molecules to supramolecular systems, and present virtually everywhere in nature. Here, to explore how chirality propagates from a chiral nanoscale surface, we study gold nanoparticles functionalized with axially chiral binaphthyl molecules. In particular, we synthesized three enantiomeric pairs of chiral ligand-capped gold nanoparticles differing in size, curvature, and ligand density to tune the chirality transfer from nanoscale solid surfaces to a bulk anisotropic liquid crystal medium. Ultimately, we are examining how far the chirality from a nanoparticle surface reaches into a bulk material. Circular dichroism spectra of the gold nanoparticles decorated with binaphthyl thiols confirmed that the binaphthyl moieties form a cisoid conformation in isotropic organic solvents. In the chiral nematic liquid crystal phase, induced by dispersing the gold nanoparticles into an achiral anisotropic nematic liquid crystal solvent, the binaphthyl moieties on the nanoparticle surface form a transoid conformation as determined by imaging the helical twist direction of the induced cholesteric phase. This suggests that the ligand density on the nanoscale metal surfaces provides a dynamic space to alter and adjust the helicity of binaphthyl derivatives in response to the ordering of the surrounding medium. The helical pitch values of the induced chiral nematic phase were determined, and the helical twisting power (HTP) of the chiral gold nanoparticles calculated to elucidate the chirality transfer efficiency of the binaphthyl ligand capped gold nanoparticles. Remarkably, the HTP increases with increasing diameter of the particles, that is, the efficiency of the chirality transfer of the binaphthyl units bound to the nanoparticle surface is diminished as the size of the particle is reduced. However, in comparison to the free ligands, per chiral molecule all tested gold nanoparticles induce helical distortions in a 10- to 50-fold larger number of liquid crystal host molecules surrounding each particle, indicating a significantly enhanced chiral correlation length. We propose that both the helicity and the chirality transfer efficiency of axially chiral binaphthyl derivatives can be controlled at metal nanoparticle surfaces by adjusting the particle size and curvature as well as the number and density of the chiral ligands to ultimately measure and tune the chiral correlation length.

A power-balance model for local helicity injection startup in a spherical tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barr, Jayson L.; Bongard, Michael W.; Burke, Marcus G.

A 0D circuit model for predicting I p( t) in Local Helicity Injection (LHI) discharges is developed. Analytic formulas for estimating the surface flux of finite-A plasmas developed are modified and expanded to treat highly shaped, ultralow-A tokamak geometry using a database of representative equilibria. Model predictions are compared to sample LHI discharges in the A ~ 1 Pegasus spherical tokamak, and are found to agree within 15% of experimental I p( t). High performance LHI discharges are found to follow the Taylor relaxation current limit for approximately the first half of the current ramp, or I p ≲ 75more » kA. The second half of the current ramp follows a limit imposed by power-balance as plasmas expand from high- A to ultralow- A. Here, this shape evolution generates a significant drop in external plasma inductance, effectively using the plasma’s initially high inductance to drive the current ramp and provide > 70% of the current drive V-s. Projections using this model indicate the relative influences of higher helicity input rate and injector current on the attainable total plasma current.« less

Absorber arc mitigation during CHI on NSTX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, D.; Bell, M. G.; Roquemore, A. L.; Raman, R.; Nelson, B. A.; Jarboe, T. R.

2009-11-01

A method of non-inductive startup, referred to as transient coaxial helicity injection (CHI), was successfully developed on the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT-II) experiment and employed on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). This technique has produced 160 kA of plasma current on closed flux surfaces. Over 100 kA of the CHI current has been coupled to inductively driven current ramp-up. In transient CHI, a voltage is applied across the insulating gap separating the inner and outer vacuum vessel and gas is introduced at the lower gap (the injector). The resulting current in the injector follows the helical magnetic field connecting the electrodes, forms a toroidal current and expands into the vacuum vessel. At higher CHI current, the poloidal field due to the plasma can connect the inner and outer vessels at the insulating gap at the top (called the absorber) of NSTX and lower the impedance there. This results in arcs in the absorber which are a source of impurities and which reduce the desired current in the injector. Two coils installed in the absorber will be used to reduce the magnetic field across the absorber gap and mitigate the absorber arcs.

A power-balance model for local helicity injection startup in a spherical tokamak

DOE PAGES

Barr, Jayson L.; Bongard, Michael W.; Burke, Marcus G.; ...

2018-05-15

A 0D circuit model for predicting I p( t) in Local Helicity Injection (LHI) discharges is developed. Analytic formulas for estimating the surface flux of finite-A plasmas developed are modified and expanded to treat highly shaped, ultralow-A tokamak geometry using a database of representative equilibria. Model predictions are compared to sample LHI discharges in the A ~ 1 Pegasus spherical tokamak, and are found to agree within 15% of experimental I p( t). High performance LHI discharges are found to follow the Taylor relaxation current limit for approximately the first half of the current ramp, or I p ≲ 75more » kA. The second half of the current ramp follows a limit imposed by power-balance as plasmas expand from high- A to ultralow- A. Here, this shape evolution generates a significant drop in external plasma inductance, effectively using the plasma’s initially high inductance to drive the current ramp and provide > 70% of the current drive V-s. Projections using this model indicate the relative influences of higher helicity input rate and injector current on the attainable total plasma current.« less

Research on the influence of helical strakes on dynamic response of floating wind turbine platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Qin-wei; Li, Chun

2017-04-01

The stability of platform structure is the paramount guarantee of the safe operation of the offshore floating wind turbine. The NREL 5MW floating wind turbine is established based on the OC3-Hywind Spar Buoy platform with the supplement of helical strakes for the purpose to analyze the impact of helical strakes on the dynamic response of the floating wind turbine Spar platform. The dynamic response of floating wind turbine Spar platform under wind, wave and current loading from the impact of number, height and pitch ratio of the helical strakes is analysed by the radiation and diffraction theory, the finite element method and orthogonal design method. The result reveals that the helical strakes can effectively inhibit the dynamic response of the platform but enlarge the wave exciting force; the best parameter combination is two pieces of helical strakes with the height of 15% D ( D is the diameter of the platform) and the pitch ratio of 5; the height of the helical strake and its pitch ratio have significant influence on pitch response.

Magnetic helicity balance at Taylor relaxed states sustained by AC helicity injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirota, Makoto; Morrison, Philip J.; Horton, Wendell; Hattori, Yuji

2017-10-01

Magnitudes of Taylor relaxed states that are sustained by AC magnetic helicity injection (also known as oscillating field current drive, OFCD) are investigated numerically in a cylindrical geometry. Compared with the amplitude of the oscillating magnetic field at the skin layer (which is normalized to 1), the strength of the axial guide field Bz 0 is shown to be an important parameter. The relaxation process seems to be active only when Bz 0 < 1 . Moreover, in the case of weak guide field Bz 0 < 0.2 , a helically-symmetric relaxed state is self-generated instead of the axisymmetric reversed-field pinch. As a theoretical model, the helicity balance is considered in a similar way to R. G. O'Neill et al., where the helicity injection rate is directly equated with the dissipation rate at the Taylor states. Then, the bifurcation to the helical Taylor state is predicted theoretically and the estimated magnitudes of the relaxed states reasonably agree with numerical results as far as Bz 0 < 1 . This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 16K05627.

Magnetic helicity of the global field in solar cycles 23 and 24

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pipin, V. V.; Pevtsov, A. A.

2014-07-01

For the first time we reconstruct the magnetic helicity density of the global axisymmetric field of the Sun using the method proposed by Brandenburg et al. and Pipin et al. To determine the components of the vector potential, we apply a gauge which is typically employed in mean-field dynamo models. This allows for a direct comparison of the reconstructed helicity with the predictions from the mean-field dynamo models. We apply this method to two different data sets: the synoptic maps of the line-of-sight magnetic field from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) andmore » vector magnetic field measurements from the Vector Spectromagnetograph (VSM) on the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) system. Based on the analysis of the MDI/SOHO data, we find that in solar cycle 23 the global magnetic field had positive (negative) magnetic helicity in the northern (southern) hemisphere. This hemispheric sign asymmetry is opposite to the helicity of the solar active regions, but it is in agreement with the predictions of mean-field dynamo models. The data also suggest that the hemispheric helicity rule may have reversed its sign during the early and late phases of cycle 23. Furthermore, the data indicate an imbalance in magnetic helicity between the northern and southern hemispheres. This imbalance seems to correlate with the total level of activity in each hemisphere in cycle 23. The magnetic helicity for the rising phase of cycle 24 is derived from SOLIS/VSM data, and qualitatively its latitudinal pattern is similar to the pattern derived from SOHO/MDI data for cycle 23.« less

A HELICAL MAGNET DESIGN FOR RHIC.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

WILLEN,E.; GUPTA,R.; JAIN,A.

1997-05-12

Helical dipole magnets are required in a project for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) to control and preserve the beam polarization in order to allow the collision of polarized proton beams. Specifications are for low current superconducting magnets with a 100 mm coil aperture and a 4 Tesla field in which the field rotates 360 degrees over a distance of 2.4 meters. A magnet meeting the requirements has been developed that uses a small diameter cable wound into helical grooves machined into a thick-walled aluminum cylinder.

Experiments Using Local Helicity Injectors in the Lower Divertor Region as the Majority Current Drive in a Tokamak Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, Justin M.

Local helicity injection (LHI) is a non-solenoidal current drive capable of achieving high-Ip tokamak startup with a relatively compact and non-invasive array of current injectors in the plasma scrape-off layer. The choice of injector location within the edge region is flexible, but has a profound influence on the nature of the current drive in LHI discharges. Past experiments on the Pegasus ST with injection on the low-field-side near the outboard midplane produced plasmas dominated by inductive drive resulting primarily from plasma geometry evolution over the discharge. Recent experiments with injection on the high-field- side in the lower divertor region produce plasmas dominated by helicity injection current drive, with relatively static plasma geometry, and thus negligible inductive drive. Plasma current up to 200 kA is driven with helicity injection as the dominant current drive using a pair of 4 cm2 area injectors sourcing 8 kA of total injected current. Steady sustainment with LHI current drive alone is demonstrated, with 100 kA sustained for 18 ms. Maximum achievable plasma current is found to scale approximately linearly with a plasma-geometry- normalized form of the effective loop voltage from LHI, Vnorm = AinjVinj/Rinj, where A inj is the total injector area, Vinj is the injector bias voltage, and Rinj is the major radius of the injectors. A newly-discovered MHD regime for LHI-driven plasmas is described, in which the large-amplitude n = 1 fluctuations at 20-50 kHz which are generally dominant during LHI are abruptly reduced by an order of magnitude on the outboard side. High frequency fluctuations ( f > 400 kHz) increase inside the plasma edge at the same time. This regime results in improved plasma current and pervasive changes to plasma behavior, and may suggest short wavelength turbulence as a current drive mechanism during LHI.

THE TOPOLOGY OF CANONICAL FLUX TUBES IN FLARED JET GEOMETRY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lavine, Eric Sander; You, Setthivoine, E-mail: Slavine2@uw.edu, E-mail: syou@aa.washington.edu

2017-01-20

Magnetized plasma jets are generally modeled as magnetic flux tubes filled with flowing plasma governed by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We outline here a more fundamental approach based on flux tubes of canonical vorticity, where canonical vorticity is defined as the circulation of the species’ canonical momentum. This approach extends the concept of magnetic flux tube evolution to include the effects of finite particle momentum and enables visualization of the topology of plasma jets in regimes beyond MHD. A flared, current-carrying magnetic flux tube in an ion-electron plasma with finite ion momentum is thus equivalent to either a pair of electron andmore » ion flow flux tubes, a pair of electron and ion canonical momentum flux tubes, or a pair of electron and ion canonical vorticity flux tubes. We examine the morphology of all these flux tubes for increasing electrical currents, different radial current profiles, different electron Mach numbers, and a fixed, flared, axisymmetric magnetic geometry. Calculations of gauge-invariant relative canonical helicities track the evolution of magnetic, cross, and kinetic helicities in the system, and show that ion flow fields can unwind to compensate for an increasing magnetic twist. The results demonstrate that including a species’ finite momentum can result in a very long collimated canonical vorticity flux tube even if the magnetic flux tube is flared. With finite momentum, particle density gradients must be normal to canonical vorticities, not to magnetic fields, so observations of collimated astrophysical jets could be images of canonical vorticity flux tubes instead of magnetic flux tubes.« less

Density functional study of molecular interactions in secondary structures of proteins.

PubMed

Takano, Yu; Kusaka, Ayumi; Nakamura, Haruki

2016-01-01

Proteins play diverse and vital roles in biology, which are dominated by their three-dimensional structures. The three-dimensional structure of a protein determines its functions and chemical properties. Protein secondary structures, including α-helices and β-sheets, are key components of the protein architecture. Molecular interactions, in particular hydrogen bonds, play significant roles in the formation of protein secondary structures. Precise and quantitative estimations of these interactions are required to understand the principles underlying the formation of three-dimensional protein structures. In the present study, we have investigated the molecular interactions in α-helices and β-sheets, using ab initio wave function-based methods, the Hartree-Fock method (HF) and the second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), density functional theory, and molecular mechanics. The characteristic interactions essential for forming the secondary structures are discussed quantitatively.

Sharp magnetic structures from dynamos with density stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabbari, Sarah; Brandenburg, Axel; Kleeorin, Nathan; Rogachevskii, Igor

2017-05-01

Recent direct numerical simulations (DNS) of large-scale turbulent dynamos in strongly stratified layers have resulted in surprisingly sharp bipolar structures at the surface. Here, we present new DNS of helically and non-helically forced turbulence with and without rotation and compare with corresponding mean-field simulations (MFS) to show that these structures are a generic outcome of a broader class of dynamos in density-stratified layers. The MFS agree qualitatively with the DNS, but the period of oscillations tends to be longer in the DNS. In both DNS and MFS, the sharp structures are produced by converging flows at the surface and might be driven in non-linear stage of evolution by the Lorentz force associated with the large-scale dynamo-driven magnetic field if the dynamo number is at least 2.5 times supercritical.

Coalescence of two current loops with a kink instability simulated by a three-dimensional electromagnetic particle code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nishikawa, K.-I.; Sakai, J.-I.; Zhao, Jie; Neubert, T.; Buneman, Oscar

1994-01-01

We have studied the dynamics of a coalescence of current loops using three-dimensional electromagnetic (EM) particle simulation code. Our focus is the investigation of such kinetic processes as energy trasnfer, heating particles, and electromagnetic emissions associated with a current loop coalescence which cannot be studied by MHD simulations. First, the two loops undergo a pinching oscillation due to a pressure imbalance between the inside and outside of the current loop. During the pinching oscillation, a kinetic kink instability is excited and electrons in the loops are heated perpendicularly to an ambient magnetic field. Next, the two current loops collide and coalesce, while at the same time a helical structure grows further. Subsequently, the perturbed current, which is due to these helically bunched electrons, can drive a whistler instability. It should be noted in this case that the whistler wave is excited by the kinetic kink instability and not a beam instability. After the coalescence of two helical loops, tilting motions can be observed in the direction of left-hand rotation, and the helical structure will relax resulting in strong plasma heating mostly in the direction perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. It is also shown that high-frequency electromagnetic waves can be emitted from the region where the two loops coalesce and propagate strongly in the direction of the electron drift velocity. These processes may be important in understanding heating mechansims for coronal loops as well as radio wave emission mechanisms from active regions of solar plasmas.

Internal transport barrier in tokamak and helical plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ida, K.; Fujita, T.

2018-03-01

The differences and similarities between the internal transport barriers (ITBs) of tokamak and helical plasmas are reviewed. By comparing the characteristics of the ITBs in tokamak and helical plasmas, the mechanisms of the physics for the formation and dynamics of the ITB are clarified. The ITB is defined as the appearance of discontinuity of temperature, flow velocity, or density gradient in the radius. From the radial profiles of temperature, flow velocity, and density the ITB is characterized by the three parameters of normalized temperature gradient, R/{L}T, the location, {ρ }{ITB}, and the width, W/a, and can be expressed by ‘weak’ ITB (small R/{L}T) or ‘strong’ (large R/{L}T), ‘small’ ITB (small {ρ }{ITB}) or ‘large’ ITB (large {ρ }{ITB}), and ‘narrow’ (small W/a) or ‘wide’ (large W/a). Three key physics elements for the ITB formation, radial electric field shear, magnetic shear, and rational surface (and/or magnetic island) are described. The characteristics of electron and ion heat transport and electron and impurity transport are reviewed. There are significant differences in ion heat transport and electron heat transport. The dynamics of ITB formation and termination is also discussed. The emergence of the location of the ITB is sometimes far inside the ITB foot in the steady-state phase and the ITB region shows radial propagation during the formation of the ITB. The non-diffusive terms in momentum transport and impurity transport become more dominant in the plasma with the ITB. The reversal of the sign of non-diffusive terms in momentum transport and impurity transport associated with the formation of the ITB reported in helical plasma is described. Non-local transport plays an important role in determining the radial profile of temperature and density. The spontaneous change in temperature curvature (second radial derivative of temperature) in the ITB region is described. In addition, the key parameters of the control of the ITB and future prospects are discussed.

Comparative divertor-transport study for helical devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Y.; Kobayashi, M.; Sardei, F.; Masuzaki, S.; Kisslinger, J.; Morisaki, T.; Grigull, P.; Yamada, H.; McCormick, K.; Ohyabu, N.; König, R.; Yamada, I.; Giannone, L.; Narihara, K.; Wenzel, U.; Morita, S.; Thomsen, H.; Miyazawa, J.; Hildebrandt, D.; Watanabe, T.; Wagner, F.; Ashikawa, N.; Ida, K.; Komori, A.; Motojima, O.; Nakamura, Y.; Peterson, B. J.; Sato, K.; Shoji, M.; Tamura, N.; Tokitani, M.; LHD experimental Group

2009-09-01

Using the island divertors (IDs) of W7-AS and W7-X and the helical divertor (HD) of LHD as examples, the paper presents a comparative divertor transport study for three typical helical devices of different machine sizes following two distinct divertor concepts, aiming at identifying common physics issues/effects for mutual validation and combined studies. Based on EMC3/EIRENE simulations supported by experimental results, the paper first reviews and compares the essential transport features of the W7-AS ID and the LHD HD in order to build a base and framework for a predictive study of W7-X. The fundamental role of low-order magnetic islands in both divertor concepts is emphasized. Preliminary EMC3/EIRENE simulation results for W7-X are presented and discussed with respect to W7-AS and LHD in order to show how the individual field and divertor topologies affect the divertor transport and performance. For instance, a high recycling regime, which is absent from W7-AS and LHD, is predicted to exist for W7-X. The paper focuses on identifying and understanding the role of divertors for high density plasma operations in helical devices. In this regard, special attention is paid to investigating the divertor function for controlling intrinsic impurities. Impurity transport behaviour and wall-sputtering processes of CX-neutrals are studied under different divertor plasma conditions. A divertor retention effect on intrinsic impurities at high SOL collisonalities is predicted for all the three devices. The required SOL plasma conditions and the underlying mechanisms are analysed in detail. Numerical results are discussed in conjunction with the experimental observations for high density divertor plasmas in W7-AS and LHD. Different SOL transport regimes are numerically identified for the standard divertor configuration of W7-X and the possible consequences on high density plasmas are assessed. All the EMC3-EIRENE simulations presented in this paper are based on vacuum fields and comparisons with local diagnostics are made for low-ß plasmas.

Helicity-Driven Ratchet Effect Enhanced by Plasmons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozhansky, I. V.; Kachorovskii, V. Yu.; Shur, M. S.

2015-06-01

We demonstrate that the ratchet effect—a radiation-induced direct current in periodically modulated structures with built-in asymmetry—is dramatically enhanced in the vicinity of the plasmonic resonances and has a nontrivial polarization dependence. For a circular polarization, the current component, perpendicular to the modulation direction, changes sign with the inversion of the radiation helicity. In the high-mobility structures, this component might increase by several orders of magnitude due to the plasmonic effects and exceed the current component in the modulation direction. Our theory also predicts that in the dirty systems, where the plasma resonances are suppressed, the ratchet current is controlled by the Maxwell relaxation.

Change of Paradigm for the Reversed Field Pinch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escande, D. F.

2010-11-01

The reversed field pinch (RFP) is a magnetic configuration germane to the tokamak, but it produces most of its magnetic field by the currents flowing inside the plasma; external coils provide only a small edge toroidal field whose sign is reversed with respect to the central one, whence the name of the configuration. Because of the presence of magnetic turbulence and chaos, the RFP had been considered for a long period as a terrible confinement configuration. However, recently a change of paradigm occurred for this device. Indeed, when the toroidal current is increased in the RFX-mod RFP in Padua (Italy), a self-organized helical state with an internal transport barrier (ITB) develops, and a broad zone of the plasma becomes hot (above 1 keV for a magnetic field above 0.8 T). The present theoretical picture of the RFP mainly comes from three-dimensional nonlinear visco-resistive MHD simulations whose dynamics has strong similarities with the experimental one, and triggered the experimental search for RFP states with improved confinement. The RFP ohmic state involves a helical electrostatic potential generating, as an electric drift, the so-called dynamo velocity field. The magnetic topology can bifurcate from a magnetic island to kink-like magnetic surfaces with higher resilience to magnetic chaos. This theoretical scenario was found to be relevant when ITB's enclosing a broad hot domain were discovered. The ITBs occur in the vicinity of the maximum of the safety factor. The new paradigm for the RFP supports its reappraisal as a low-external field, non-disruptive, ohmically heated approach to magnetic fusion, exploiting both self-organization and technological simplicity. Furthermore the RFP has the same Greenwald density limit as the tokamak, and it is an excellent test bed for the efficient control of multiple resistive wall modes. Its helical magnetic structure makes it germane to the stellarator too. As a result the RFP is also useful to bring support to the present two main lines of magnetic confinement.

Novel analysis technique for measuring edge density fluctuation profiles with reflectometry in the Large Helical Device.

PubMed

Creely, A J; Ida, K; Yoshinuma, M; Tokuzawa, T; Tsujimura, T; Akiyama, T; Sakamoto, R; Emoto, M; Tanaka, K; Michael, C A

2017-07-01

A new method for measuring density fluctuation profiles near the edge of plasmas in the Large Helical Device (LHD) has been developed utilizing reflectometry combined with pellet-induced fast density scans. Reflectometer cutoff location was calculated by proportionally scaling the cutoff location calculated with fast far infrared laser interferometer (FIR) density profiles to match the slower time resolution results of the ray-tracing code LHD-GAUSS. Plasma velocity profile peaks generated with this reflectometer mapping were checked against velocity measurements made with charge exchange spectroscopy (CXS) and were found to agree within experimental uncertainty once diagnostic differences were accounted for. Measured density fluctuation profiles were found to peak strongly near the edge of the plasma, as is the case in most tokamaks. These measurements can be used in the future to inform inversion methods of phase contrast imaging (PCI) measurements. This result was confirmed with both a fixed frequency reflectometer and calibrated data from a multi-frequency comb reflectometer, and this method was applied successfully to a series of discharges. The full width at half maximum of the turbulence layer near the edge of the plasma was found to be only 1.5-3 cm on a series of LHD discharges, less than 5% of the normalized minor radius.

Novel analysis technique for measuring edge density fluctuation profiles with reflectometry in the Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creely, A. J.; Ida, K.; Yoshinuma, M.; Tokuzawa, T.; Tsujimura, T.; Akiyama, T.; Sakamoto, R.; Emoto, M.; Tanaka, K.; Michael, C. A.

2017-07-01

A new method for measuring density fluctuation profiles near the edge of plasmas in the Large Helical Device (LHD) has been developed utilizing reflectometry combined with pellet-induced fast density scans. Reflectometer cutoff location was calculated by proportionally scaling the cutoff location calculated with fast far infrared laser interferometer (FIR) density profiles to match the slower time resolution results of the ray-tracing code LHD-GAUSS. Plasma velocity profile peaks generated with this reflectometer mapping were checked against velocity measurements made with charge exchange spectroscopy (CXS) and were found to agree within experimental uncertainty once diagnostic differences were accounted for. Measured density fluctuation profiles were found to peak strongly near the edge of the plasma, as is the case in most tokamaks. These measurements can be used in the future to inform inversion methods of phase contrast imaging (PCI) measurements. This result was confirmed with both a fixed frequency reflectometer and calibrated data from a multi-frequency comb reflectometer, and this method was applied successfully to a series of discharges. The full width at half maximum of the turbulence layer near the edge of the plasma was found to be only 1.5-3 cm on a series of LHD discharges, less than 5% of the normalized minor radius.

Comparing an Atomic Model or Structure to a Corresponding Cryo-electron Microscopy Image at the Central Axis of a Helix.

PubMed

Zeil, Stephanie; Kovacs, Julio; Wriggers, Willy; He, Jing

2017-01-01

Three-dimensional density maps of biological specimens from cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can be interpreted in the form of atomic models that are modeled into the density, or they can be compared to known atomic structures. When the central axis of a helix is detectable in a cryo-EM density map, it is possible to quantify the agreement between this central axis and a central axis calculated from the atomic model or structure. We propose a novel arc-length association method to compare the two axes reliably. This method was applied to 79 helices in simulated density maps and six case studies using cryo-EM maps at 6.4-7.7 Å resolution. The arc-length association method is then compared to three existing measures that evaluate the separation of two helical axes: a two-way distance between point sets, the length difference between two axes, and the individual amino acid detection accuracy. The results show that our proposed method sensitively distinguishes lateral and longitudinal discrepancies between the two axes, which makes the method particularly suitable for the systematic investigation of cryo-EM map-model pairs.

Comparing an Atomic Model or Structure to a Corresponding Cryo-electron Microscopy Image at the Central Axis of a Helix

PubMed Central

Zeil, Stephanie; Kovacs, Julio; Wriggers, Willy

2017-01-01

Abstract Three-dimensional density maps of biological specimens from cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can be interpreted in the form of atomic models that are modeled into the density, or they can be compared to known atomic structures. When the central axis of a helix is detectable in a cryo-EM density map, it is possible to quantify the agreement between this central axis and a central axis calculated from the atomic model or structure. We propose a novel arc-length association method to compare the two axes reliably. This method was applied to 79 helices in simulated density maps and six case studies using cryo-EM maps at 6.4–7.7 Å resolution. The arc-length association method is then compared to three existing measures that evaluate the separation of two helical axes: a two-way distance between point sets, the length difference between two axes, and the individual amino acid detection accuracy. The results show that our proposed method sensitively distinguishes lateral and longitudinal discrepancies between the two axes, which makes the method particularly suitable for the systematic investigation of cryo-EM map–model pairs. PMID:27936925

Improved Density Control in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment using Internal Fueling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thome, K. E.; Bongard, M. W.; Cole, J. A.; Fonck, R. J.; Redd, A. J.; Winz, G. R.

2012-10-01

Routine density control up to and exceeding the Greenwald limit is critical to key Pegasus operational scenarios, including non-solenoidal startup plasmas created using single-point helicity injection and high β Ohmic plasmas. Confinement scalings suggest it is possible to achieve very high β plasmas in Pegasus by lowering the toroidal field and increasing ne/ng. In the past, Pegasus achieved β ˜ 20% in high recycling Ohmic plasmas without running into any operational boundaries.footnotetext Garstka, G.D. et al., Phys. Plasmas 10, 1705 (2003) However, recent Ohmic experiments have demonstrated that Pegasus currently operates in an extremely low-recycling regime with R < 0.8 and Zeff ˜ 1 using improved vacuum conditioning techniques, such as Ti gettering and cryogenic pumping. Hence, it is difficult to achieve ne/ng> 0.3 with these improved wall conditions. Presently, gas is injected using low-field side (LFS) modified PV-10 valves. To attain high ne/ng operation and coincidentally separate core plasma and local current source fueling two new gas fueling capabilities are under development. A centerstack capillary injection system has been commissioned and is undergoing initial tests. A LFS movable midplane needle gas injection system is currently under design and will reach r/a ˜ 0.25. Initial results from both systems will be presented.

Nonreciprocal Transverse Photonic Spin and Magnetization-Induced Electromagnetic Spin-Orbit Coupling

PubMed Central

Levy, Miguel; Karki, Dolendra

2017-01-01

We present a formulation of electromagnetic spin-orbit coupling in magneto-optic media, and propose an alternative source of spin-orbit coupling to non-paraxial optics vortices. Our treatment puts forth a formulation of nonreciprocal transverse-spin angular-momentum-density shifts for evanescent waves in magneto-optic waveguide media. It shows that magnetization-induced electromagnetic spin-orbit coupling is possible, and that it leads to unequal spin to orbital angular momentum conversion in magneto-optic media evanescent waves in opposite propagation-directions. Generation of free-space helicoidal beams based on this conversion is shown to be spin-helicity- and magnetization-dependent. We show that transverse-spin to orbital angular momentum coupling into magneto-optic waveguide media engenders spin-helicity-dependent unidirectional propagation. This unidirectional effect produces different orbital angular momenta in opposite directions upon excitation-spin-helicity reversals. PMID:28059120

Passive scalars: Mixing, diffusion, and intermittency in helical and nonhelical rotating turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imazio, P. Rodriguez; Mininni, P. D.

2017-03-01

We use direct numerical simulations to compute structure functions, scaling exponents, probability density functions, and effective transport coefficients of passive scalars in turbulent rotating helical and nonhelical flows. We show that helicity affects the inertial range scaling of the velocity and of the passive scalar when rotation is present, with a spectral law consistent with ˜k⊥-1.4 for the passive scalar variance spectrum. This scaling law is consistent with a phenomenological argument [P. Rodriguez Imazio and P. D. Mininni, Phys. Rev. E 83, 066309 (2011), 10.1103/PhysRevE.83.066309] for rotating nonhelical flows, which follows directly from Kolmogorov-Obukhov scaling and states that if energy follows a E (k ) ˜k-n law, then the passive scalar variance follows a law V (k ) ˜k-nθ with nθ=(5 -n ) /2 . With the second-order scaling exponent obtained from this law, and using the Kraichnan model, we obtain anomalous scaling exponents for the passive scalar that are in good agreement with the numerical results. Multifractal intermittency models are also considered. Intermittency of the passive scalar is stronger than in the nonhelical rotating case, a result that is also confirmed by stronger non-Gaussian tails in the probability density functions of field increments. Finally, Fick's law is used to compute the effective diffusion coefficients in the directions parallel and perpendicular to rotation. Calculations indicate that horizontal diffusion decreases in the presence of helicity in rotating flows, while vertical diffusion increases. A simple mean field argument explains this behavior in terms of the amplitude of velocity fluctuations.

Biomimetic Hierarchical Assembly of Helical Supraparticles from Chiral Nanoparticles

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Yunlong; Marson, Ryan L.; van Anders, Greg; ...

2016-02-22

Chiroptical materials found in butterflies, beetles, stomatopod crustaceans, and other creatures are attributed to biocomposites with helical motifs and multiscale hierarchical organization. These structurally sophisticated materials self-assemble from primitive nanoscale building blocks, a process that is simpler and more energy efficient than many top-down methods currently used to produce similarly sized three-dimensional materials. In this paper, we report that molecular-scale chirality of a CdTe nanoparticle surface can be translated to nanoscale helical assemblies, leading to chiroptical activity in the visible electromagnetic range. Chiral CdTe nanoparticles coated with cysteine self-organize around Te cores to produce helical supraparticles. D-/L-Form of the aminomore » acid determines the dominant left/right helicity of the supraparticles. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations with a helical pair-potential confirm the assembly mechanism and the origin of its enantioselectivity, providing a framework for engineering three-dimensional chiral materials by self-assembly. Finally, the helical supraparticles further self-organize into lamellar crystals with liquid crystalline order, demonstrating the possibility of hierarchical organization and with multiple structural motifs and length scales determined by molecular-scale asymmetry of nanoparticle interactions.« less

Effect of the helically-trapped energetic-ion-driven resistive interchange modes on energetic ion confinement in the Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogawa, K.; Isobe, M.; Kawase, H.; Nishitani, T.; Seki, R.; Osakabe, M.; LHD Experiment Group

2018-04-01

The effect of the helically-trapped energetic-ion-driven resistive interchange modes (EICs) on energetic ion confinement is studied in the Large Helical Device deuterium plasmas. Neutron diagnostics such as the neutron flux monitor and the vertical neutron camera (VNC) are used in order to measure neutrons mainly created by beam-plasma reactions. The line-integrated neutron profiles are obtained by VNC in magnetohydrodynamic-quiet plasma with various neutral beam (NB) injection patterns. The profiles are consistent with that expected by the beam ion density calculated using orbit-following simulations. Significant decreases of the total neutron emission rate (S n) and the neutron counting rate of the VNC (C n) in central cords are observed to be synchronized with EIC bursts with perpendicular-NB injection. The drop rates of both S n and C n increase with EIC amplitude and reach around 50%. The line-integrated neutron profiles before and after EIC burst show that in the central cords, C n decrease due to EIC burst whereas there is almost no change in the other cords. The experimental results suggests that the effect of EIC on helically-trapped beam ion is substantial, however the effect of passing beam ion is not significant.

Helicity in the dynamic magnetotail

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buchert, Stephan

Observations of substorms typically feature a clear azimuthal or east-west asymmetry which has been described in expressions like for example westward-traveling surge. The origin of this asymmetry is not clear. Candidates are the Hall effect, either in the ionosphere, or in magnetic reconnection, and self-induction when Hall currents change in time. The magnetic helicity in the tail measured by the Cluster satellites shows a clear preference during dynamic events, that we have studied. We discuss possible causes of this non-zero helicity and whether it is related to east-west assymmetric tail dynamics.

Automated main-chain model building by template matching and iterative fragment extension.

PubMed

Terwilliger, Thomas C

2003-01-01

An algorithm for the automated macromolecular model building of polypeptide backbones is described. The procedure is hierarchical. In the initial stages, many overlapping polypeptide fragments are built. In subsequent stages, the fragments are extended and then connected. Identification of the locations of helical and beta-strand regions is carried out by FFT-based template matching. Fragment libraries of helices and beta-strands from refined protein structures are then positioned at the potential locations of helices and strands and the longest segments that fit the electron-density map are chosen. The helices and strands are then extended using fragment libraries consisting of sequences three amino acids long derived from refined protein structures. The resulting segments of polypeptide chain are then connected by choosing those which overlap at two or more C(alpha) positions. The fully automated procedure has been implemented in RESOLVE and is capable of model building at resolutions as low as 3.5 A. The algorithm is useful for building a preliminary main-chain model that can serve as a basis for refinement and side-chain addition.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kaufman, Allan N.; Tracy, Eugene R.; Brizard, Alain J.

The process of resonant wave conversion (often called linear mode conversion) has traditionally been analyzed with a spatially one-dimensional slab model, for which the rays propagate in a two-dimensional phase space. However, it has recently been shown [E. R. Tracy and A. N. Kaufman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 130402 (2003)] that multidimensional rays have a helical structure for conversion in two or more spatial dimensions (if their dispersion matrix is generic). In that case, a one-dimensional model is inadequate; a correct analysis requires two spatial dimensions and, thus, four-dimensional phase space. A cold-plasma model is introduced in this paper whichmore » exhibits ray helicity in conversion regions where the density and magnetic field gradients are significantly nonparallel. For illustration, such regions are identified in a model of the poloidal plane of a deuterium-tritium tokamak plasma. In each conversion region, characterized by a six-sector topology, rays in the sector for incident and reflected magnetosonic waves exhibit significant helicity. A detailed analytic and numerical study of helical rays in this sector is developed for a 'symmetric-wedge' model.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kaufman, Allan N.; Tracy, Eugene R.; Brizard, Alain J.

The process of resonant wave conversion (often called linear mode conversion) has traditionally been analyzed with a spatially one-dimensional slab model, for which the rays propagate in a two-dimensional phase space. However, it has recently been shown [E.R. Tracy and A.N. Kaufman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 130402 (2003)] that multidimensional rays have a helical structure for conversion in two or more spatial dimensions (if their dispersion matrix is generic). In that case, a one-dimensional model is inadequate; a correct analysis requires two spatial dimensions and, thus, four-dimensional phase space. In this paper we show that a cold plasma model willmore » exhibit ray helicity in conversion regions where the density and magnetic field gradients are significantly non-parallel. For illustration, we examine a model of the poloidal plane of a deuterium-tritium tokamak plasma, and identify such a region. In this region, characterized by a six-sector topology, rays in the sector for incident and reflected magnetosonic waves exhibit significant helicity. We introduce a ''symmetric-wedge'' model, to develop a detailed analytic and numerical study of helical rays in this sector.« less

First Plasma Results from the HIT-SI Spheromak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieck, P. E.; Hamp, W. T.; Izzo, V. A.; Jarboe, T. R.; Nelson, B. A.; O'Neill, R. G.; Redd, A. J.; Smith, R. J.

2003-10-01

HIT-SI is the newest device in the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) program. HIT-SI is a ``bow tie'' spheromak formed and sustained by Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI) current drive. SIHI injects helicity at a nearly constant rate with no open field lines intersecting the boundary. (T. R. Jarboe, Fusion Technology 36) (1), p. 85, 1999 HIT-SI has been designed with a bow tie geometry to achieve stable high-β (>10%) spheromak equilibria. (U. Shumlak and T. R. Jarboe, Phys. Plasmas 7) (7), p. 2959, 2000 Diagnostics currently include surface magnetic probes and flux loops, visible light imaging, H-alpha line radiation monitors, voltage measurements across insulating breaks, injector current Rogowski coils, and injector flux loops. HIT-SI is currently operating in parallel with experiments on HIT-II. At the conclusion of HIT-II operations, HIT-SI will inherit a multi-point Thomson Scattering system, a scanning two-chord FIR interferometer, and other advanced diagnostics, as well as more power supplies to extend the discharge duration. Results are presented which characterize injector operation and possible evidence for spheromak formation.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FLUID VORTICITY, KINETIC HELICITY, AND MAGNETIC FIELD ON SMALL-SCALES (QUIET-NETWORK) ON THE SUN

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sangeetha, C. R.; Rajaguru, S. P., E-mail: crsangeetha@iiap.res.in

We derive horizontal fluid motions on the solar surface over large areas covering the quiet-Sun magnetic network from local correlation tracking of convective granules imaged in continuum intensity and Doppler velocity by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory . From these we calculate the horizontal divergence, the vertical component of vorticity, and the kinetic helicity of fluid motions. We study the correlations between fluid divergence and vorticity, and between vorticity (kinetic helicity) and the magnetic field. We find that the vorticity (kinetic helicity) around small-scale fields exhibits a hemispherical pattern (in sign) similar tomore » that followed by the magnetic helicity of large-scale active regions (containing sunspots). We identify this pattern to be a result of the Coriolis force acting on supergranular-scale flows (both the outflows and inflows), consistent with earlier studies using local helioseismology. Furthermore, we show that the magnetic fields cause transfer of vorticity from supergranular inflow regions to outflow regions, and that they tend to suppress the vortical motions around them when magnetic flux densities exceed about 300 G (from HMI). We also show that such an action of the magnetic fields leads to marked changes in the correlations between fluid divergence and vorticity. These results are speculated to be of importance to local dynamo action (if present) and to the dynamical evolution of magnetic helicity at the small-scale.« less

Magnetic helicity generation in the frame of Kazantsev model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yushkov, Egor V.; Lukin, Alexander S.

2017-11-01

Using a magnetic dynamo model, suggested by Kazantsev (J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 1968, vol. 26, p. 1031), we study the small-scale helicity generation in a turbulent electrically conducting fluid. We obtain the asymptotic dependencies of dynamo growth rate and magnetic correlation functions on magnetic Reynolds numbers. Special attention is devoted to the comparison of a longitudinal correlation function and a function of magnetic helicity for various conditions of asymmetric turbulent flows. We compare the analytical solutions on small scales with numerical results, calculated by an iterative algorithm on non-uniform grids. We show that the exponential growth of current helicity is simultaneous with the magnetic energy for Reynolds numbers larger than some critical value and estimate this value for various types of asymmetry.

Model of driven and decaying magnetic turbulence in a cylinder.

PubMed

Kemel, Koen; Brandenburg, Axel; Ji, Hantao

2011-11-01

Using mean-field theory, we compute the evolution of the magnetic field in a cylinder with outer perfectly conducting boundaries and imposed axial magnetic and electric fields. The thus injected magnetic helicity in the system can be redistributed by magnetic helicity fluxes down the gradient of the local current helicity of the small-scale magnetic field. A weak reversal of the axial magnetic field is found to be a consequence of the magnetic helicity flux in the system. Such fluxes are known to alleviate so-called catastrophic quenching of the α effect in astrophysical applications. A stronger field reversal can be obtained if there is also a significant kinetic α effect. Application to the reversed field pinch in plasma confinement devices is discussed.

A new experiment to investigate the origin of optical activity using a low energy positron beam of controlled helicity. [molecular biology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gidley, D. W.; Rich, A.; Van House, J. C.; Zitzewitz, P. W.

1981-01-01

Previous experiments undertaken in search of a correlation between the origin of optical activity in biological molecules and the helicity of beta particles emitted in nuclear beta decay have not provided any useful results. A description is presented of an experiment in which a low energy polarized positron beam of controlled helicity interacts with an optically active material to form positronium in vacuum. Advantages of the current study compared to the previous experiments are mainly related to a much greater sensitivity. Initially, it will be possible to detect a helicity-dependent asymmetry in triplet positronium formation of 1 part in 10,000. Improvements to better than 1 part in 100,000 should be attainable.

Validation and Continued Development of Methods for Spheromak Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedett, Thomas

2017-10-01

The HIT-SI experiment has demonstrated stable sustainment of spheromaks. Determining how the underlying physics extrapolate to larger, higher-temperature regimes is of prime importance in determining the viability of the inductively-driven spheromak. It is thus prudent to develop and validate a computational model that can be used to study current results and study the effect of possible design choices on plasma behavior. An extended MHD model has shown good agreement with experimental data at 14 kHz injector operation. Efforts to extend the existing validation to a range of higher frequencies (36, 53, 68 kHz) using the PSI-Tet 3D extended MHD code will be presented, along with simulations of potential combinations of flux conserver features and helicity injector configurations and their impact on current drive performance, density control, and temperature for future SIHI experiments. Work supported by USDoE.

Investigations of plasmoid reconnection in the presence of strong guide fields in CHI plasma start-up on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagata, Masayoshi; Fujita, Akihiro; Ibragi, Youhei; Matsui, Takahiro; Kikuchi, Yusuke; Fukumoto, Naoyuki; Kanki, Takashi

2017-10-01

Plasmoid magnetic reconnections have been examined in the Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) experiments on HIST. Magnetic reconnections are required for the formation of closed flux surfaces in the transient-CHI start-up plasmas. So far, we have observed formation of plasmoids inside an elongated current layer to create the multiple X-points during the CHI process. According to the MHD simulation by F. Ebrahimi and R. Raman, the reconnection rate based on the plasmoid instability is faster than that by Sweet-Parker (S-P) model. To estimate the Lundquist number S number, we have measured spatial profiles of magnetic field strength, electron density and temperature in the current layer. In this meeting, we will present the effect of the guide (toroidal) magnetic field and mass (H, D and He) on the current layer thickness and reconnection rates of plasmoids. It is found that behavior of plasmoids is synchronized with Ion Doppler temperature, leading to ion heating.

Two-fluid dynamo relaxation and momentum transport induced by CHI on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagata, Masayoshi; Hirono, Hidetoshi; Hanao, Takafumi; Hyobu, Takahiro; Ito, Kengo; Matsumoto, Keisuke; Nakayama, Takashi; Oki, Nobuharu; Kikuchi, Yusuke; Fukumoto, Naoyuki

2013-10-01

Non-inductive current drive by using Multi-pulsing coaxial helicity injection was studied on HIST. In the double-pulsing CHI experiment, we have examined two-fluid effects by reversing polarity of the bias poloidal coil current. In the ST magnetic configurations with the right-handed magnetic field (positive CHI), there are a diamagnetic structure in the open flux column region and a paramagnetic structure in the closed flux region. It is naturally understood that the direction of the poloidal magnetic field (toroidal current) is reversed in reversing the polarity of the bias flux from positive to negative. However, the poloidal current is surprisingly reversed in reversing the magnetic helicity polarity. The direction of the poloidal current is opposite in the each region. The toroidal flow is reversed, but a shear profile of the poloidal flow is not changed significantly. In this configuration, the diamagnetic structure appears in the closed flux region. Thus, not only Jt×Bp but also Jp×Bt force contributes on pressure balance leading to a higher beta. We are studying a more general helicity conservation that constrains the interaction between flows and magnetic fields and momentum transport in the two-fluid framework.

Electron Temperature Evolution During Local Helicity Injection on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlossberg, D. J.; Barr, J. L.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Perry, J. M.; Reusch, J. A.; Rodriguez Sanchez, C.

2016-10-01

Understanding the electron temperature (Te) evolution during local helicity injection (LHI) is critical for scaling up this non-solenoidal startup technique to MA-class devices. The first comprehensive Te measurements during LHI reveal centrally-peaked profiles with Te > 100 eV for plasma current Ip > 120 kA, toroidal field 0.15 T, and electron density ne 1019 m-3. Te rises and is sustained from just after magnetic relaxation through the plasma decoupling from edge-localized injectors. Results are presented for two injector edge locations: outboard midplane and inboard divertor. Outboard midplane injection couples LHI with inductive drive from poloidal field ramps and radial compression during inward plasma growth. Comparisons of Te at different LHI-to-inductive drive ratios show some profile flattening for higher LHI drive fraction. The latter, constant-shape discharges were necessarily lower performance, with Ip 50 kA and reduced Te , max. Inboard divertor injection achieves higher Ip using minimal inductive drive and thus isolates effects of LHI drive on Te. Initial results in this configuration show Te rising rapidly at the injector location as the discharge grows, settling to a roughly flat profile 100 eV. Thus far, both scenarios provide relatively stable discharges with moderate ne and high-Te, suitable for coupling to auxiliary current drive. Detailed studies of confinement dynamics and discharge optimization are planned for the near future. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

High-Speed Imaging of the First Kink Mode Instability in a Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Jonathan A.; Langendof, Samuel; Walker, Mitchell L. R.; Polzin, Kurt; Kimberlin, Adam

2013-01-01

One of the biggest challenges to efficient magnetoplasmadynamic thruster (MPDT) operation is the onset of high-frequency voltage oscillations as the discharge current is increased above a threshold value. The onset regime is closely related to magnetohydrodynamic instabilities known as kink modes. This work documents direct observation of the formation and quasi-steady state behavior of an argon discharge plasma in a MPDT operating at discharge currents of 8 to 10 kA for a pulse length of approximately 4 ms. A high-speed camera images the quasi-steady-state operation of the thruster at 26,143 fps with a frame exposure time of 10 micro s. A 0.9 neutral density filter and 488-nm argon line filter with a 10-nm bandwidth are used on separate trials to capture the time evolution of the discharge plasma. Frame-by-frame analysis of the power flux incident on the CCD sensor shows both the initial discharge plasma formation process and the steady-state behavior of the discharge plasma. Light intensity levels on the order of 4-6 W/m2 indicate radial and azimuthal asymmetries in the concentration of argon plasma in the discharge channel. The plasma concentration exhibits characteristics that suggest the presence of a helical plasma column. This helical behavior has been observed in previous experiments that characterize plasma kink mode instabilities indirectly. Therefore, the direct imaging of these plasma kink modes further supports the link between MPDT onset behavior and the excitation of the magnetohydrodynamic instabilities.

Demonstration of Tokamak Ohmic Flux Saving by Transient Coaxial Helicity Injection in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raman, R.; Mueller, D.; Nelson, B. A.; Jarboe, T. R.; Gerhardt, S.; Kugel, H. W.; Leblanc, B.; Maingi, R.; Menard, J.; Ono, M.; Paul, S.; Roquemore, L.; Sabbagh, S.; Soukhanovskii, V.

2010-03-01

Transient coaxial helicity injection (CHI) started discharges in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) have attained peak currents up to 300 kA and when coupled to induction, it has produced up to 200 kA additional current over inductive-only operation. CHI in NSTX has shown to be energetically quite efficient, producing a plasma current of about 10 A/J of capacitor bank energy. In addition, for the first time, the CHI-produced toroidal current that couples to induction continues to increase with the energy supplied by the CHI power supply at otherwise similar values of the injector flux, indicating the potential for substantial current generation capability by CHI in NSTX and in future toroidal devices.

Layout and results from the initial operation of the high-resolution x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer on the Large Helical Device.

PubMed

Pablant, N A; Bitter, M; Delgado-Aparicio, L; Goto, M; Hill, K W; Lazerson, S; Morita, S; Roquemore, A L; Gates, D; Monticello, D; Nielson, H; Reiman, A; Reinke, M; Rice, J E; Yamada, H

2012-08-01

First results of ion and electron temperature profile measurements from the x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer (XICS) diagnostic on the Large Helical Device (LHD) are presented. This diagnostic system has been operational since the beginning of the 2011 LHD experimental campaign and is the first application of the XICS diagnostic technique to helical plasma geometry. The XICS diagnostic provides measurements of ion and electron temperature profiles in LHD with a spatial resolution of 2 cm and a maximum time resolution of 5 ms (typically 20 ms). Ion temperature profiles from the XICS diagnostic are possible under conditions where charge exchange recombination spectroscopy (CXRS) is not possible (high density) or is perturbative to the plasma (low density or radio frequency heated plasmas). Measurements are made by using a spherically bent crystal to provide a spectrally resolved 1D image of the plasma from line integrated emission of helium-like Ar(16 +). The final hardware design and configuration are detailed along with the calibration procedures. Line-integrated ion and electron temperature measurements are presented, and the measurement accuracy is discussed. Finally central temperature measurements from the XICS system are compared to measurements from the Thomson scattering and CXRS systems, showing excellent agreement.

Molecular dynamics simulations on discoidal HDL particles suggest a mechanism for rotation in the apo A-I belt model.

PubMed

Klon, Anthony E; Segrest, Jere P; Harvey, Stephen C

2002-12-06

Apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) is the major protein component of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles. Elevated levels of HDL in the bloodstream have been shown to correlate strongly with a reduced risk factor for atherosclerosis. Molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out on three separate model discoidal high-density lipoprotein particles (HDL) containing two monomers of apo A-I and 160 molecules of palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC), to a time-scale of 1ns. The starting structures were on the basis of previously published molecular belt models of HDL consisting of the lipid-binding C-terminal domain (residues 44-243) wrapped around the circumference of a discoidal HDL particle. Subtle changes between two of the starting structures resulted in significantly different behavior during the course of the simulation. The results provide support for the hypothesis of Segrest et al. that helical registration in the molecular belt model of apo A-I is modulated by intermolecular salt bridges. In addition, we propose an explanation for the presence of proline punctuation in the molecular belt model, and for the presence of two 11-mer helical repeats interrupting the otherwise regular pattern of 22-mer helical repeats in the lipid-binding domain of apo A-I.

Carbon impurities behavior and its impact on ion thermal confinement in high-ion-temperature deuterium discharges on the Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukai, K.; Nagaoka, K.; Takahashi, H.; Yokoyama, M.; Murakami, S.; Nakano, H.; Ida, K.; Yoshinuma, M.; Seki, R.; Kamio, S.; Fujiwara, Y.; Oishi, T.; Goto, M.; Morita, S.; Morisaki, T.; Osakabe, M.; LHD Experiment Group1, the

2018-07-01

The behavior of carbon impurities in deuterium plasmas and its impact on thermal confinement were investigated in comparison with hydrogen plasmas in the Large Helical Device (LHD). Deuterium plasma experiments have been started in the LHD and high-ion-temperature plasmas with central ion temperature (T i) of 10 keV were successfully obtained. The thermal confinement improvement could be sustained for a longer time compared with hydrogen plasmas. An isotope effect was observed in the time evolution of the carbon density profiles. A transiently peaked profile was observed in the deuterium plasmas due to the smaller carbon convection velocity and diffusivity in the deuterium plasmas compared with the hydrogen plasmas. The peaked carbon density profile was strongly correlated to the ion thermal confinement improvement. The peaking of the carbon density profile will be one of the clues to clarify the unexplained mechanisms for the formations of ion internal transport barrier and impurity hole on LHD. These results could also lead to a better understanding of the isotope effect in the thermal confinement in torus plasma.

Direct Observation of Azimuthal Correlations between DNA in Hydrated Aggregates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kornyshev, Alexei A.; Lee, Dominic J.; Wynveen, Aaron

2005-09-30

This study revisits the classical x-ray diffraction patterns from hydrated, noncrystalline fibers originally used to establish the helical structure of DNA. We argue that changes in these diffraction patterns with DNA packing density reveal strong azimuthally dependent interactions between adjacent molecules up to {approx}40 A interaxial or {approx}20 A surface-to-surface separations. These interactions appear to force significant torsional 'straightening' of DNA and strong azimuthal alignment of nearest neighbor molecules. The results are in good agreement with the predictions of recent theoretical models relating DNA-DNA interactions to the helical symmetry of their surface charge patterns.

Peptide crystal simulations reveal hidden dynamics

PubMed Central

Janowski, Pawel A.; Cerutti, David S.; Holton, James; Case, David A.

2013-01-01

Molecular dynamics simulations of biomolecular crystals at atomic resolution have the potential to recover information on dynamics and heterogeneity hidden in the X-ray diffraction data. We present here 9.6 microseconds of dynamics in a small helical peptide crystal with 36 independent copies of the unit cell. The average simulation structure agrees with experiment to within 0.28 Å backbone and 0.42 Å all-atom rmsd; a model refined against the average simulation density agrees with the experimental structure to within 0.20 Å backbone and 0.33 Å all-atom rmsd. The R-factor between the experimental structure factors and those derived from this unrestrained simulation is 23% to 1.0 Å resolution. The B-factors for most heavy atoms agree well with experiment (Pearson correlation of 0.90), but B-factors obtained by refinement against the average simulation density underestimate the coordinate fluctuations in the underlying simulation where the simulation samples alternate conformations. A dynamic flow of water molecules through channels within the crystal lattice is observed, yet the average water density is in remarkable agreement with experiment. A minor population of unit cells is characterized by reduced water content, 310 helical propensity and a gauche(−) side-chain rotamer for one of the valine residues. Careful examination of the experimental data suggests that transitions of the helices are a simulation artifact, although there is indeed evidence for alternate valine conformers and variable water content. This study highlights the potential for crystal simulations to detect dynamics and heterogeneity in experimental diffraction data, as well as to validate computational chemistry methods. PMID:23631449

Electron Temperature and Density in Local Helicity Injection and High betat Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlossberg, David J.

Tokamak startup in a spherical torus (ST) and an ST-based fusion nuclear science facility can greatly benefit from using non-inductive methods. The Pegasus Toroidal Experiment has developed a non-inductive startup technique using local helicity injection (LHI). Electron temperature, T e(r), and density, ne( r), profiles during LHI are unknown. These profiles are critical for understanding both the physics of the injection and relaxation mechanisms, as well as for extrapolating this technique to larger devices. A new Thomson scattering system has been designed, installed, and used to characterize Te(r, t) and ne(r, t) during LHI. The diagnostic leverages new technology in image intensified CCD cameras, high-efficiency diffraction gratings, and reliable Nd:YAG lasers. Custom systems for stray light mitigation, fast shuttering, and precision timing have been developed and implemented. The overall system provides a low-maintenance, economic, and effective means to explore novel physics regimes in Pegasus. Electron temperature and density profiles during LHI have been measured for the first time. Results indicate Te(r) peaked in the core of plasmas, and sustained while plasmas are coupled to injection drive. Electron densities also peak near the core of the tokamak, up to local values of n e ˜ 1.5 x 1019 m -3. A comparison of Te( r, t) has been made between discharges with dominant drive voltage from induction versus helicity injection. In both cases Te ( r, t) profiles remain peaked, with values for Te ,max > 150 eV in dominantly helicity-driven plasmas using high-field side LHI. Sustained values of betat ˜ 100% have been demonstrated in a tokamak for the first time. Plasmas are created and driven entirely non-solenoidally, and exhibit MHD stability. Measured temperature and density profiles are used to constrain magnetic equilibrium reconstructions, which calculate 80% < betat < 100% throughout a toroidal field ramp-down. For a continued decrease in the toroidal field these plasmas disrupt near the ideal MHD no-wall stability limit predicted by the DCON code. Mode analyses of predicted and measured MHD agree, and suggest discharges terminate by an intermediate-m, n=1 external mode. A localized region of minimum |B| has been identified in these discharges, and modeling shows access to it depends on both plasma pressure and magnetic geometry. This magnetic well is shown to persist over several milliseconds, in both constant toroidal field and ramp-down cases.

Electrodynamics in the Friedmann Robertson Walker universe: Maxwell and Dirac fields in Newman Penrose formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanal, U.

2006-07-01

Maxwell and Dirac fields in Friedmann Robertson Walker (FRW) spacetime are investigated using the Newman Penrose method. The variables are all separable, with the angular dependence given by spin-weighted spherical harmonics. All the radial parts reduce to the barrier penetration problem, with mostly repulsive potentials representing the centrifugal energies. Both the helicity states of the photon field see the same potential, but that of the Dirac field see different ones; one component even sees attractive potential in the open universe. The massless fields have the usual exponential time dependences; that of the massive Dirac field is coupled to the evolution of the cosmic scale factor a. The case of the radiation-filled flat universe is solved in terms of the Whittaker function. A formal series solution, valid in any FRW universe, is also presented. The energy density of the Maxwell field is explicitly shown to scale as a-4. The co-moving particle number density of the massless Dirac field is found to be conserved, but that of the massive one is not. Particles flow out of certain regions, and into others, creating regions that are depleted of certain linear and angular momenta states, and others with excess. Such a current of charged particles would constitute an electric current that could generate a cosmic magnetic field. In contrast, the energy density of these massive particles still scales as a-4.

A generalised model of secondary circulation for a wide range of geophysical flows from direct observations of natural turbidity currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azpiroz, M.; Cartigny, M.; Sumner, E. J.; Talling, P.; Parsons, D. R.; Clare, M. A.; Cooper, C.

2017-12-01

Turbidity currents transport sediment through submarine channel systems for hundreds of kilometres to form vast deposits of sediment in the deep sea called submarine fans. The largest submarine fans are fed by meandering channels suggesting that bends may enhance sediment transport distances. The interaction between meander bends and turbidity currents has been a topic of intense debate. Due to the absence of observations of deep-sea turbidity currents flowing through meander bends, our understanding has been based on experimental and numerical models. Measurements of geophysical flows demonstrate a common helical flow structure around meanders. Previous work has demonstrated that helical circulation in rivers is dominated by a single helix that rotates towards the inner bend at near-bed depths. In contrast, initial numerical and experimental models for turbidity currents found both river-like and river-reversed circulations. Saline flows in well-mixed estuaries show a river-like basal helical circulation, while stratified estuaries and saline flows are river-reversed. The existence of lateral stratification in stratified flows is thought to be the key factor in the change of direction of rotation. Stratification causes lateral pressure gradients that can govern the rotation of the flow helix. Turbidity currents are stratified due to their upwards-decreasing sediment load. It has therefore been proposed that stratified turbidity currents behave like stratified saline flow, but this hypothesis remains so far untested. Here we present the first observations of the helical flow in turbidity currents, which occurred within the deep-sea Congo Canyon. The measurements show a consistent river-reversed pattern downstream of the bend apex. Those results lead us to develop a new generalised model for a wide range of flows around meanders. Our conclusions have implications for understanding the flow erosional and depositional patterns, the evolution of channel systems and the architecture of the depositional record.

A miniaturized human-motion energy harvester using flux-guided magnet stacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halim, M. A.; Park, J. Y.

2016-11-01

We present a miniaturized electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH) using two flux-guided magnet stacks to harvest energy from human-generated vibration such as handshaking. Each flux-guided magnet stack increases (40%) the magnetic flux density by guiding the flux lines through a soft magnetic material. The EMEH has been designed to up-convert the applied human-motion vibration to a high-frequency oscillation by mechanical impact of a spring-less structure. The high-frequency oscillator consists of the analyzed 2-magnet stack and a customized helical compression spring. A standard AAA battery sized prototype (3.9 cm3) can generate maximum 203 μW average power from human hand-shaking vibration. It has a maximum average power density of 52 μWcm-3 which is significantly higher than the current state-of-the-art devices. A 6-stage multiplier and rectifier circuit interfaces the harvester with a wearable electronic load (wrist watch) to demonstrate its capability of powering small- scale electronic systems from human-generated vibration.

Non-inductively driven tokamak plasmas at near-unity β t in the Pegasus toroidal experiment

DOE PAGES

Reusch, Joshua A.; Bodner, Grant M.; Bongard, Michael W.; ...

2018-03-14

Amore » major goal of the spherical tokamak (ST) research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance ℓ i , high elongation κ , and high toroidal and normalized beta ( β t and β N ) without solenoidal current drive. Local helicity injection (LHI) in the Pegasus ST [Garstka et al., Nucl. Fusion 46, S603 (2006)] provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources for plasma startup and sustainment. It results in hollow current density profiles with low ℓ i . The low aspect ratio ( R 0 / a ~ 1.2 ) of Pegasus allows access to high κ and high normalized plasma currents I N = I p / a B T > 14 ). Magnetic reconnection during LHI provides auxiliary ion heating. Together, these features provide access to very high β t plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate that β t up to ~100% is achieved. Finally, these high β t discharges disrupt at the ideal no-wall β limit at β N ~ 7. « less

Non-inductively driven tokamak plasmas at near-unity β t in the Pegasus toroidal experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reusch, Joshua A.; Bodner, Grant M.; Bongard, Michael W.

Amore » major goal of the spherical tokamak (ST) research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance ℓ i , high elongation κ , and high toroidal and normalized beta ( β t and β N ) without solenoidal current drive. Local helicity injection (LHI) in the Pegasus ST [Garstka et al., Nucl. Fusion 46, S603 (2006)] provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources for plasma startup and sustainment. It results in hollow current density profiles with low ℓ i . The low aspect ratio ( R 0 / a ~ 1.2 ) of Pegasus allows access to high κ and high normalized plasma currents I N = I p / a B T > 14 ). Magnetic reconnection during LHI provides auxiliary ion heating. Together, these features provide access to very high β t plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate that β t up to ~100% is achieved. Finally, these high β t discharges disrupt at the ideal no-wall β limit at β N ~ 7. « less

Steady state compact toroidal plasma production

DOEpatents

Turner, William C.

1986-01-01

Apparatus and method for maintaining steady state compact toroidal plasmas. A compact toroidal plasma is formed by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun and held in close proximity to the gun electrodes by applied magnetic fields or magnetic fields produced by image currents in conducting walls. Voltage supply means maintains a constant potential across the electrodes producing an increasing magnetic helicity which drives the plasma away from a minimum energy state. The plasma globally relaxes to a new minimum energy state, conserving helicity according to Taylor's relaxation hypothesis, and injecting net helicity into the core of the compact toroidal plasma. Controlling the voltage so as to inject net helicity at a predetermined rate based on dissipative processes maintains or increases the compact toroidal plasma in a time averaged steady state mode.

Biomechanical comparison of straight DCP and helical plates for fixation of transverse and oblique bone fractures.

PubMed

Aksakal, Bunyamin; Gurger, Murat; Say, Yakup; Yilmaz, Erhan

2014-01-01

Biomechanical comparison of straight DCP and helical plates for fixation of transversal and oblique tibial bone fractures were analyzed and compared to each other by axial compression, bending and torsion tests. An in vitro osteosynthesis of transverse (TF) and oblique bone fracture (OF) fixations have been analysed on fresh sheep tibias by using the DCP and helical compression plates (HP). Statistically significant differences were found for both DCP and helical plate fixations under axial compression, bending and torsional loads. The strength of fixation systems was in favor of DC plating with exception of the TF-HP fixation group under compression loads and torsional moments. The transvers fracture (TF) stability was found to be higher than that found in oblique fracture (OF) fixed by helical plates (HP). However, under torsional testing, compared to conventional plating, the helical plate fixations provided a higher torsional resistance and strength. The maximum stiffness at axial compression loading and maximum torsional strength was achieved in torsional testing for the TF-HP fixations. From in vitro biomechanical analysis, fracture type and plate fixation system groups showed different responses under different loadings. Consequently, current biomechanical analyses may encourage the usage of helical HP fixations in near future during clinical practice for transverse bone fractures.

Characteristics of Helical Flow through Neck Cutoffs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richards, D.; Konsoer, K. M.; Turnipseed, C.; Willson, C. S.

2017-12-01

Meander cutoffs and oxbows lakes are a ubiquitous feature of riverine landscapes yet there is a paucity of detailed investigations concentrated on the three-dimensional flow structure through evolving neck cutoffs. The purpose of this research is to investigate and characterize helical flow through neck cutoffs with two different planform configurations: elongate meander loops and serpentine loops. Three-dimensional velocity measurements was collected with an acoustic Doppler current profiler for five cutoffs on the White River, Arkansas. Pronounced helical flow was found through all elongate loop cutoff sites, formed from the balance between centrifugal force resulting from the curving of flow through the cutoff channel and pressure gradient force resulting from water surface super-elevation between primary flow and flow at the entrance and exit of the abandoned loop. The sense of motion of the helical flow caused near-surface fluid to travel outward toward the abandoned loop while near-bed fluid was redirected toward the downstream channel. Another characteristic of the helical flow structure for elongate loop cutoffs was the reversal of helical flow over a relatively short distance, causing patterns of secondary circulation that differed from typical patterns observed through curved channels with point bars. Lastly, helical flow was revealed within zones of strong flow recirculation, enhanced by an exchange of streamwise momentum between shear layers.

Structural details (kinks and non-α conformations) in transmembrane helices are intrahelically determined and can be predicted by sequence pattern descriptors

PubMed Central

Rigoutsos, Isidore; Riek, Peter; Graham, Robert M.; Novotny, Jiri

2003-01-01

One of the promising methods of protein structure prediction involves the use of amino acid sequence-derived patterns. Here we report on the creation of non-degenerate motif descriptors derived through data mining of training sets of residues taken from the transmembrane-spanning segments of polytopic proteins. These residues correspond to short regions in which there is a deviation from the regular α-helical character (i.e. π-helices, 310-helices and kinks). A ‘search engine’ derived from these motif descriptors correctly identifies, and discriminates amongst instances of the above ‘non-canonical’ helical motifs contained in the SwissProt/TrEMBL database of protein primary structures. Our results suggest that deviations from α-helicity are encoded locally in sequence patterns only about 7–9 residues long and can be determined in silico directly from the amino acid sequence. Delineation of such variations in helical habit is critical to understanding the complex structure–function relationships of polytopic proteins and for drug discovery. The success of our current methodology foretells development of similar prediction tools capable of identifying other structural motifs from sequence alone. The method described here has been implemented and is available on the World Wide Web at http://cbcsrv.watson.ibm.com/Ttkw.html. PMID:12888523

Structural details (kinks and non-alpha conformations) in transmembrane helices are intrahelically determined and can be predicted by sequence pattern descriptors.

PubMed

Rigoutsos, Isidore; Riek, Peter; Graham, Robert M; Novotny, Jiri

2003-08-01

One of the promising methods of protein structure prediction involves the use of amino acid sequence-derived patterns. Here we report on the creation of non-degenerate motif descriptors derived through data mining of training sets of residues taken from the transmembrane-spanning segments of polytopic proteins. These residues correspond to short regions in which there is a deviation from the regular alpha-helical character (i.e. pi-helices, 3(10)-helices and kinks). A 'search engine' derived from these motif descriptors correctly identifies, and discriminates amongst instances of the above 'non-canonical' helical motifs contained in the SwissProt/TrEMBL database of protein primary structures. Our results suggest that deviations from alpha-helicity are encoded locally in sequence patterns only about 7-9 residues long and can be determined in silico directly from the amino acid sequence. Delineation of such variations in helical habit is critical to understanding the complex structure-function relationships of polytopic proteins and for drug discovery. The success of our current methodology foretells development of similar prediction tools capable of identifying other structural motifs from sequence alone. The method described here has been implemented and is available on the World Wide Web at http://cbcsrv.watson.ibm.com/Ttkw.html.

Use of reconstructed 3D equilibria to determine onset conditions of helical cores in tokamaks for extrapolation to ITER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wingen, A.; Wilcox, R. S.; Seal, S. K.; Unterberg, E. A.; Cianciosa, M. R.; Delgado-Aparicio, L. F.; Hirshman, S. P.; Lao, L. L.

2018-03-01

Large, spontaneous m/n  =  1/1 helical cores are shown to be expected in tokamaks such as ITER with extended regions of low- or reversed- magnetic shear profiles and q near 1 in the core. The threshold for this spontaneous symmetry breaking is determined using VMEC scans, beginning with reconstructed 3D equilibria from DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod based on observed internal 3D deformations. The helical core is a saturated internal kink mode (Wesson 1986 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 28 243); its onset threshold is shown to be proportional to (dp/dρ)/B_t2 around q  =  1. Below the threshold, applied 3D fields can drive a helical core to finite size, as in DIII-D. The helical core size thereby depends on the magnitude of the applied perturbation. Above it, a small, random 3D kick causes a bifurcation from axisymmetry and excites a spontaneous helical core, which is independent of the kick size. Systematic scans of the q-profile show that the onset threshold is very sensitive to the q-shear in the core. Helical cores occur frequently in Alcator C-Mod during ramp-up when slow current penetration results in a reversed shear q-profile, which is favorable for helical core formation. Finally, a comparison of the helical core onset threshold for discharges from DIII-D, Alcator C-Mod and ITER confirms that while DIII-D is marginally stable, Alcator C-Mod and especially ITER are highly susceptible to helical core formation without being driven by an externally applied 3D magnetic field.

Use of reconstructed 3D equilibria to determine onset conditions of helical cores in tokamaks for extrapolation to ITER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wingen, A.; Wilcox, R. S.; Seal, S. K.

In this paper, large, spontaneous m/n = 1/1 helical cores are shown to be expected in tokamaks such as ITER with extended regions of low- or reversed- magnetic shear profiles and q near 1 in the core. The threshold for this spontaneous symmetry breaking is determined using VMEC scans, beginning with reconstructed 3D equilibria from DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod based on observed internal 3D deformations. The helical core is a saturated internal kink mode (Wesson 1986 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 28 243); its onset threshold is shown to be proportional tomore » $$({\\rm d}p/{\\rm d}\\rho)/B_t^2$$ around q = 1. Below the threshold, applied 3D fields can drive a helical core to finite size, as in DIII-D. The helical core size thereby depends on the magnitude of the applied perturbation. Above it, a small, random 3D kick causes a bifurcation from axisymmetry and excites a spontaneous helical core, which is independent of the kick size. Systematic scans of the q-profile show that the onset threshold is very sensitive to the q-shear in the core. Helical cores occur frequently in Alcator C-Mod during ramp-up when slow current penetration results in a reversed shear q-profile, which is favorable for helical core formation. In conclusion, a comparison of the helical core onset threshold for discharges from DIII-D, Alcator C-Mod and ITER confirms that while DIII-D is marginally stable, Alcator C-Mod and especially ITER are highly susceptible to helical core formation without being driven by an externally applied 3D magnetic field.« less

A NEW SIMPLE DYNAMO MODEL FOR STELLAR ACTIVITY CYCLE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yokoi, N.; Hamba, F.; Schmitt, D.

2016-06-20

A new simple dynamo model for stellar activity cycle is proposed. By considering an inhomogeneous flow effect on turbulence, it is shown that turbulent cross helicity (velocity–magnetic-field correlation) enters the expression of turbulent electromotive force as the coupling coefficient for the mean absolute vorticity. This makes the present model different from the current α –Ω-type models in two main ways. First, in addition to the usual helicity ( α ) and turbulent magnetic diffusivity ( β ) effects, we consider the cross-helicity effect as a key ingredient of the dynamo process. Second, the spatiotemporal evolution of cross helicity is solvedmore » simultaneously with the mean magnetic fields. The basic scenario is as follows. In the presence of turbulent cross helicity, the toroidal field is induced by the toroidal rotation. Then, as in usual models, the α effect generates the poloidal field from the toroidal one. This induced poloidal field produces a turbulent cross helicity whose sign is opposite to the original one (negative production). With this cross helicity of the reversed sign, a reversal in field configuration starts. Eigenvalue analyses of the simplest possible model give a butterfly diagram, which confirms the above scenario and the equatorward migrations, the phase relationship between the cross helicity and magnetic fields. These results suggest that the oscillation of the turbulent cross helicity is a key for the activity cycle. The reversal of the cross helicity is not the result of the magnetic-field reversal, but the cause of the latter. This new model is expected to open up the possibility of the mean-field or turbulence closure dynamo approaches.« less

Use of reconstructed 3D equilibria to determine onset conditions of helical cores in tokamaks for extrapolation to ITER

DOE PAGES

Wingen, A.; Wilcox, R. S.; Seal, S. K.; ...

2018-01-15

In this paper, large, spontaneous m/n = 1/1 helical cores are shown to be expected in tokamaks such as ITER with extended regions of low- or reversed- magnetic shear profiles and q near 1 in the core. The threshold for this spontaneous symmetry breaking is determined using VMEC scans, beginning with reconstructed 3D equilibria from DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod based on observed internal 3D deformations. The helical core is a saturated internal kink mode (Wesson 1986 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 28 243); its onset threshold is shown to be proportional tomore » $$({\\rm d}p/{\\rm d}\\rho)/B_t^2$$ around q = 1. Below the threshold, applied 3D fields can drive a helical core to finite size, as in DIII-D. The helical core size thereby depends on the magnitude of the applied perturbation. Above it, a small, random 3D kick causes a bifurcation from axisymmetry and excites a spontaneous helical core, which is independent of the kick size. Systematic scans of the q-profile show that the onset threshold is very sensitive to the q-shear in the core. Helical cores occur frequently in Alcator C-Mod during ramp-up when slow current penetration results in a reversed shear q-profile, which is favorable for helical core formation. In conclusion, a comparison of the helical core onset threshold for discharges from DIII-D, Alcator C-Mod and ITER confirms that while DIII-D is marginally stable, Alcator C-Mod and especially ITER are highly susceptible to helical core formation without being driven by an externally applied 3D magnetic field.« less

Quantum correlations of helicity entangled states in non-inertial frames beyond single mode approximation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harsij, Zeynab, E-mail: z.harsij@ph.iut.ac.ir; Mirza, Behrouz, E-mail: b.mirza@cc.iut.ac.ir

A helicity entangled tripartite state is considered in which the degree of entanglement is preserved in non-inertial frames. It is shown that Quantum Entanglement remains observer independent. As another measure of quantum correlation, Quantum Discord has been investigated. It is explicitly shown that acceleration has no effect on the degree of quantum correlation for the bipartite and tripartite helicity entangled states. Geometric Quantum Discord as a Hilbert–Schmidt distance is computed for helicity entangled states. It is shown that living in non-inertial frames does not make any influence on this distance, either. In addition, the analysis has been extended beyond singlemore » mode approximation to show that acceleration does not have any impact on the quantum features in the limit beyond the single mode. As an interesting result, while the density matrix depends on the right and left Unruh modes, the Negativity as a measure of Quantum Entanglement remains constant. Also, Quantum Discord does not change beyond single mode approximation. - Highlights: • The helicity entangled states here are observer independent in non-inertial frames. • It is explicitly shown that Quantum Discord for these states is observer independent. • Geometric Quantum Discord is also not affected by acceleration increase. • Extending to beyond single mode does not change the degree of entanglement. • Beyond single mode approximation the degree of Quantum Discord is also preserved.« less

Trefoil knot timescales for reconnection and helicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerr, Robert M.

2018-02-01

Three-dimensional images of evolving numerical trefoil vortex knots are used to study the growth and decay of the enstrophy and helicity. Negative helicity density (h< 0) plays several roles. First, during anti-parallel reconnection, sheets of oppositely signed helicity dissipation of equal magnitude on either side of the maximum of the enstrophy dissipation allow the global helicity { H } to be preserved through the first reconnection, as suggested theoretically (Laing et al 2015 Sci. Rep. 5 9224) and observed experimentally (Scheeler et al 2014a Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 111 15350-5). Next, to maintain the growth of the enstrophy and positive helicity within the trefoil while { H } is preserved, h< 0 forms in the outer parts of the trefoil so long as the periodic boundaries do not interfere. To prevent that, the domain size {\\ell } is increased as the viscosity ν \\to 0. Combined, this allows two sets of trefoils to form a new scaling regime with linearly decreasing {(\\sqrt{ν }Z(t))}-1/2 up to common ν-independent times t x that the graphics show is when the first reconnection ends. During this phase there is good correspondence between the evolution of the simulated vortices and the reconnecting experimental trefoil of Kleckner and Irvine (2017 Nat. Phys. 9 253-8) when time is scaled by their respective nonlinear timescales t f . The timescales t f are based upon by the radii r f of the trefoils and their circulations Γ, so long as the strong camber of the experimental hydrofoil models is used to correct the published experimental circulations Γ that use only the flat-plate approximation.

Effect of Impurities on the Josephson Current through Helical Metals: Exploiting a Neutrino Paradigm.

PubMed

Ghaemi, Pouyan; Nair, V P

2016-01-22

In this Letter we study the effect of time-reversal symmetric impurities on the Josephson supercurrent through two-dimensional helical metals such as on a topological insulator surface state. We show that, contrary to the usual superconducting-normal metal-superconducting junctions, the suppression of the supercurrent in the superconducting-helical metal-superconducting junction is mainly due to fluctuations of impurities in the junctions. Our results, which are a condensed matter realization of a part of the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect for neutrinos, show that the relationship between normal state conductance and the critical current of Josephson junctions is significantly modified for Josephson junctions on the surface of topological insulators. We also study the temperature dependence of the supercurrent and present a two fluid model which can explain some of the recent experimental results in Josephson junctions on the edge of topological insulators.

Effect of Impurities on the Josephson Current through Helical Metals: Exploiting a Neutrino Paradigm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghaemi, Pouyan; Nair, V. P.

2016-01-01

In this Letter we study the effect of time-reversal symmetric impurities on the Josephson supercurrent through two-dimensional helical metals such as on a topological insulator surface state. We show that, contrary to the usual superconducting-normal metal-superconducting junctions, the suppression of the supercurrent in the superconducting-helical metal-superconducting junction is mainly due to fluctuations of impurities in the junctions. Our results, which are a condensed matter realization of a part of the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect for neutrinos, show that the relationship between normal state conductance and the critical current of Josephson junctions is significantly modified for Josephson junctions on the surface of topological insulators. We also study the temperature dependence of the supercurrent and present a two fluid model which can explain some of the recent experimental results in Josephson junctions on the edge of topological insulators.

Experimental observation of left polarized wave absorption near electron cyclotron resonance frequency in helicon antenna produced plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barada, Kshitish K.; Chattopadhyay, P. K.; Ghosh, J.

2013-01-15

Asymmetry in density peaks on either side of an m = +1 half helical antenna is observed both in terms of peak position and its magnitude with respect to magnetic field variation in a linear helicon plasma device [Barada et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 063501 (2012)]. The plasma is produced by powering the m = +1 half helical antenna with a 2.5 kW, 13.56 MHz radio frequency source. During low magnetic field (B < 100 G) operation, plasma density peaks are observed at critical magnetic fields on either side of the antenna. However, the density peaks occurred at differentmore » critical magnetic fields on both sides of antenna. Depending upon the direction of the magnetic field, in the m = +1 propagation side, the main density peak has been observed around 30 G of magnetic field. On this side, the density peak around 5 G corresponding to electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) is not very pronounced, whereas in the m = -1 propagation side, very pronounced ECR peak has been observed around 5 G. Another prominent density peak around 12 G has also been observed in m = -1 side. However, no peak has been observed around 30 G on this m = -1 side. This asymmetry in the results on both sides is explained on the basis of polarization reversal of left hand polarized waves to right hand polarized waves and vice versa in a bounded plasma system. The density peaking phenomena are likely to be caused by obliquely propagating helicon waves at the resonance cone boundary.« less

Twisting and Writhing with George Ellery Hale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canfield, Richard C.

2013-06-01

Early in his productive career in astronomy, George Ellery Hale developed innovative solar instrumentation that allowed him to make narrow-band images. Among the solar phenomena he discovered were sunspot vortices, which he attributed to storms akin to cyclones in our own atmosphere. Using the concept of magnetic helicity, physicists and mathematicians describe the topology of magnetic fields, including twisting and writhing. Our contemporary understanding of Hale's vortices as a consequence of large-scale twist in sunspot magnetic fields hinges on a key property of helicity: conservation. I will describe the critical role that this property plays, when applied to twist and writhe, in a fundamental aspect of global solar magnetism: the hemispheric and solar cycle dependences of active region electric currents with respect to magnetic fields. With the advent of unbroken sequences of high-resolution magnetic images, such as those presently available from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on Solar Dynamics Observatory, the flux of magnetic helicity through the photosphere can be observed quantitatively. As magnetic flux tubes buoy up through the convection zone, buffeted and shredded by turbulence, they break up into fragments by repeated random bifurcation. We track these rising flux fragments in the photosphere, and calculate the flux of energy and magnetic helicity there. Using a quantitative model of coronal currents, we also track connections between these fragments to calculate the energy and magnetic helicity stored at topological interfaces that are in some ways analogous to the storage of stress at faults in the Earth's crust. Comparison of these values to solar flares and interplanetary coronal mass ejections implies that this is the primary storage mechanism for energy and magnetic helicity released in those phenomena, and suggests a useful tool for quantitative prediction of geomagnetic storms.

PI-line-based image reconstruction in helical cone-beam computed tomography with a variable pitch.

PubMed

Zou, Yu; Pan, Xiaochuan; Xia, Dan; Wang, Ge

2005-08-01

Current applications of helical cone-beam computed tomography (CT) involve primarily a constant pitch where the translating speed of the table and the rotation speed of the source-detector remain constant. However, situations do exist where it may be more desirable to use a helical scan with a variable translating speed of the table, leading a variable pitch. One of such applications could arise in helical cone-beam CT fluoroscopy for the determination of vascular structures through real-time imaging of contrast bolus arrival. Most of the existing reconstruction algorithms have been developed only for helical cone-beam CT with constant pitch, including the backprojection-filtration (BPF) and filtered-backprojection (FBP) algorithms that we proposed previously. It is possible to generalize some of these algorithms to reconstruct images exactly for helical cone-beam CT with a variable pitch. In this work, we generalize our BPF and FBP algorithms to reconstruct images directly from data acquired in helical cone-beam CT with a variable pitch. We have also performed a preliminary numerical study to demonstrate and verify the generalization of the two algorithms. The results of the study confirm that our generalized BPF and FBP algorithms can yield exact reconstruction in helical cone-beam CT with a variable pitch. It should be pointed out that our generalized BPF algorithm is the only algorithm that is capable of reconstructing exactly region-of-interest image from data containing transverse truncations.

Point-source helicity injection for ST plasma startup in Pegasus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redd, A. J.; Battaglia, D. J.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2009-11-01

Plasma current guns are used as point-source DC helicity injectors for forming non-solenoidal tokamak plasmas in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment. Discharges driven by this injection scheme have achieved Ip>= 100 kA using Iinj<= 4 kA. They form at the outboard midplane, transition to a tokamak-like equilibrium, and continue to grow inward as Ip increases due to helicity injection and outer- PF induction. The maximum Ip is determined by helicity balance (injection rate vs resistive dissipation) and a Taylor relaxation limit, in which Ip√ITF Iinj/w, where w is the radial thickness of the gun-driven edge. Preliminary experiments tentatively confirm these scalings with ITF, Iinj, and w, increasing confidence in this simple relaxation model. Adding solenoidal inductive drive during helicity injection can push Ip up to, but not beyond, the predicted relaxation limit, demonstrating that this is a hard performance limit. Present experiments are focused on increasing the injection voltage (i.e., helicity injection rate) and reducing w. Near-term goals are to further test scalings predicted by the simple relaxation model and to study in detail the observed bursty n=1 activity correlated with rapid increases in Ip.

On the resonance amplification of magnetic perturbations near the threshold of tearing instability in a tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arsenin, V. V., E-mail: arsenin-vv@nrcki.ru; Skovoroda, A. A., E-mail: skovoroda-aa@nrcki.ru

2015-12-15

Using a cylindrical model, a relatively simple description is presented of how a magnetic field perturbation stimulated by a low external helical current or a small helical distortion of the boundary and generating magnetic islands penetrates into a plasma column with a magnetic surface q=m/n to which tearing instability is attached. Linear analysis of the classical instability with an aperiodic growth of the perturbation in time shows that the perturbation amplitude in plasma increases in a resonant manner as the discharge parameters approach the threshold of tearing instability. In a stationary case, under the assumption on the helical character ofmore » equilibrium, which can be found from the two-dimensional nonlinear equation for the helical flux, there is no requirement for the small size of the island. Examples of calculations in which magnetic islands are large near the threshold of tearing instability are presented. The bifurcation of equilibrium near the threshold of tearing instability in plasma with a cylindrical boundary, i.e., the existence of helical equilibrium (along with cylindrical equilibrium) with large islands, is described. Moreover, helical equilibrium can also exist in the absence of instability.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seljak, Uroš; McDonald, Patrick, E-mail: useljak@berkeley.edu, E-mail: pvmcdonald@lbl.gov

We develop a phase space distribution function approach to redshift space distortions (RSD), in which the redshift space density can be written as a sum over velocity moments of the distribution function. These moments are density weighted and have well defined physical interpretation: their lowest orders are density, momentum density, and stress energy density. The series expansion is convergent if kμu/aH < 1, where k is the wavevector, H the Hubble parameter, u the typical gravitational velocity and μ = cos θ, with θ being the angle between the Fourier mode and the line of sight. We perform an expansionmore » of these velocity moments into helicity modes, which are eigenmodes under rotation around the axis of Fourier mode direction, generalizing the scalar, vector, tensor decomposition of perturbations to an arbitrary order. We show that only equal helicity moments correlate and derive the angular dependence of the individual contributions to the redshift space power spectrum. We show that the dominant term of μ{sup 2} dependence on large scales is the cross-correlation between the density and scalar part of momentum density, which can be related to the time derivative of the matter power spectrum. Additional terms contributing to μ{sup 2} and dominating on small scales are the vector part of momentum density-momentum density correlations, the energy density-density correlations, and the scalar part of anisotropic stress density-density correlations. The second term is what is usually associated with the small scale Fingers-of-God damping and always suppresses power, but the first term comes with the opposite sign and always adds power. Similarly, we identify 7 terms contributing to μ{sup 4} dependence. Some of the advantages of the distribution function approach are that the series expansion converges on large scales and remains valid in multi-stream situations. We finish with a brief discussion of implications for RSD in galaxies relative to dark matter, highlighting the issue of scale dependent bias of velocity moments correlators.« less

Design and analysis of a field modulated magnetic screw for artificial heart

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ling, Zhijian; Ji, Jinghua; Wang, Fangqun; Bian, Fangfang

2017-05-01

This paper proposes a new electromechanical energy conversion system, called Field Modulated Magnetic Screw (FMMS) as a high force density linear actuator for artificial heart. This device is based on the concept of magnetic screw and linear magnetic gear. The proposed FMMS consists of three parts with the outer and inner carrying the radially magnetized helically permanent-magnet (PM), and the intermediate having a set of helically ferromagnetic pole pieces, which modulate the magnetic fields produced by the PMs. The configuration of the newly designed FMMS is presented and its electromagnetic performances are analyzed by using the finite-element analysis, verifying the advantages of the proposed structure.

Current Noise from a Magnetic Moment in a Helical Edge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Väyrynen, Jukka I.; Glazman, Leonid I.

2017-03-01

We calculate the two-terminal current noise generated by a magnetic moment coupled to a helical edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator. When the system is symmetric with respect to in-plane spin rotation, the noise is dominated by the Nyquist component even in the presence of a voltage bias V . The corresponding noise spectrum S (V ,ω ) is determined by a modified fluctuation-dissipation theorem with the differential conductance G (V ,ω ) in place of the linear one. The differential noise ∂S /∂V , commonly measured in experiments, is strongly dependent on frequency on a small scale τK-1≪T set by the Korringa relaxation rate of the local moment. This is in stark contrast to the case of conventional mesoscopic conductors where ∂S /∂V is frequency independent and defined by the shot noise. In a helical edge, a violation of the spin-rotation symmetry leads to the shot noise, which becomes important only at a high bias. Uncharacteristically for a fermion system, this noise in the backscattered current is super-Poissonian.

Simulation of multi-pulse coaxial helicity injection in the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Bryan, J. B.; Romero-Talamás, C. A.; Woodruff, S.

2018-03-01

Nonlinear, numerical computation with the NIMROD code is used to explore magnetic self-organization during multi-pulse coaxial helicity injection in the Sustained Spheromak Physics eXperiment. We describe multiple distinct phases of spheromak evolution, starting from vacuum magnetic fields and the formation of the initial magnetic flux bubble through multiple refluxing pulses and the eventual onset of the column mode instability. Experimental and computational magnetic diagnostics agree on the onset of the column mode instability, which first occurs during the second refluxing pulse of the simulated discharge. Our computations also reproduce the injector voltage traces, despite only specifying the injector current and not explicitly modeling the external capacitor bank circuit. The computations demonstrate that global magnetic evolution is fairly robust to different transport models and, therefore, that a single fluid-temperature model is sufficient for a broader, qualitative assessment of spheromak performance. Although discharges with similar traces of normalized injector current produce similar global spheromak evolution, details of the current distribution during the column mode instability impact the relative degree of poloidal flux amplification and magnetic helicity content.

Cherenkov sound on a surface of a topological insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, Sergey

2013-11-01

Topological insulators are currently of considerable interest due to peculiar electronic properties originating from helical states on their surfaces. Here we demonstrate that the sound excited by helical particles on surfaces of topological insulators has several exotic properties fundamentally different from sound propagating in nonhelical or even isotropic helical systems. Specifically, the sound may have strictly forward propagation absent for isotropic helical states. Its dependence on the anisotropy of the realistic surface states is of distinguished behavior which may be used as an alternative experimental tool to measure the anisotropy strength. Fascinating from the fundamental point of view backward, or anomalous, Cherenkov sound is excited above the critical angle π/2 when the anisotropy exceeds a critical value. Strikingly, at strong anisotropy the sound localizes into a few forward and backward beams propagating along specific directions.

Molecular dynamics simulations of fluoropolymers in the solid state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holt, David Bryan

1998-10-01

Molecular mechanics and dynamics simulations have been utilized to address the behavior of helix reversal defects in fluoropolymers. The results of the simulations confirm that helix reversals do form and migrate in PTFE crystals. The most important defect structure is a helix reversal band: two helix reversals which bracker a small chain segment (typically 6-7 backbone atoms) having the opposite helical sense from the parent molecule. Small reversal bands had velocities ranging between 100 m/s (low temperature)-250 m/s (high temperature). The size of this reversal band defect is dependent upon the helical conformation and is equal to approximately half of the helical repeat unit in the low and intermediate temperature phases. In the high temperature phase where intermolecular effects are diminished, a wider distribution of reversal band sizes was observed during the simulations. A mechanism is identified by which significant reorientation of a chain segment about the molecular axis can occur when it is bracketed by two helix reversal bands. Simulations with a model containing a perfluoromethyl (PFM) group at low temperature showed that the presence of the PFM group significantly restricts chain mobility locally. However, a significant reduction in the helix reversal defect density was observed on neighboring chains as well. During simulations in which a shear deformation was applied to the models with and without a PFM group, an increase in reversal defect density was observed. However, the helix reversal density in the sheared model containing the PFM branch was less than that in the model without a PFM branch under no shear. These data implicate helix reversal defects and associated chain segment motions in the mechanical behavior of fluoropolymer materials.

The three-dimensional model for helical columns on type-J synchronous counter-current chromatography.

PubMed

Guan, Y H; van den Heuvel, Remco

2011-08-05

Unlike the existing 2-D pseudo-ring model for helical columns undergoing synchronous type-J planetary motion of counter-current chromatograph (CCC), the 3-D "helix" model developed in this work shows that there is a second normal force (i.e. the binormal force) applied virtually in the axial direction of the helical column. This force alternates in the two opposite directions and intensifies phase mixing with increasing the helix angle. On the contrary, the 2-D spiral column operated on the same CCC device lacks this third-dimensional mixing force. The (principal) normal force quantified by this "helix" model has been the same as that by the pseudo-ring model. With β>0.25, this normal centrifugal force has been one-directional and fluctuates cyclically. Different to the spiral column, this "helix" model shows that the centrifugal force (i.e. the hydrostatic force) does not contribute to stationary phase retention in the helical column. Between the popular helical columns and the emerging spiral columns for type-J synchronous CCC, this work has thus illustrated that the former is associated with better phase mixing yet poor retention for the stationary phase whereas the latter has potential for better retention for the stationary phase yet poor phase mixing. The methodology developed in this work may be regarded as a new platform for designing optimised CCC columns for analytical and engineering applications. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ribbons characterize magnetohydrodynamic magnetic fields better than lines: a lesson from dynamo theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackman, Eric G.; Hubbard, Alexander

2014-08-01

Blackman and Brandenburg argued that magnetic helicity conservation in dynamo theory can in principle be captured by diagrams of mean field dynamos when the magnetic fields are represented by ribbons or tubes, but not by lines. Here, we present such a schematic ribbon diagram for the α2 dynamo that tracks magnetic helicity and provides distinct scales of large-scale magnetic helicity, small-scale magnetic helicity, and kinetic helicity involved in the process. This also motivates our construction of a new `2.5 scale' minimalist generalization of the helicity-evolving equations for the α2 dynamo that separately allows for these three distinct length-scales while keeping only two dynamical equations. We solve these equations and, as in previous studies, find that the large-scale field first grows at a rate independent of the magnetic Reynolds number RM before quenching to an RM-dependent regime. But we also show that the larger the ratio of the wavenumber where the small-scale current helicity resides to that of the forcing scale, the earlier the non-linear dynamo quenching occurs, and the weaker the large-scale field is at the turnoff from linear growth. The harmony between the theory and the schematic diagram exemplifies a general lesson that magnetic fields in magnetohydrodynamic are better visualized as two-dimensional ribbons (or pairs of lines) rather than single lines.

Chiral charge and orbital order in 1T-TiSe2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Wezel, Jasper

2012-02-01

Helical arrangements of spins are common among magnetic materials. The first material to harbor a corkscrew pattern of charge density on the other hand, was discovered only very recently [1,2]. The nature of the order parameter is of key relevance, since rotating a magnetic vector around any propagation vector trivially yields a helical pattern. In contrast, the purely scalar charge density cannot straightforwardly support a chiral state. Here we resolve this paradox by identifying the microscopic mechanism underlying the formation of the chiral charge density wave in 1T-TiSe2. It is shown that the emergence of chirality is accompanied by the simultaneous formation of orbital order [3] We show that this type of combined orbital and charge order may in fact be expected to be a generic property of a broad class of charge ordered materials and discuss the prerequisites for finding chiral charge order in other materials. [4pt] [1] J. Ishioka, Y. H. Liu, K. Shimatake, T. Kurosawa, K. Ichimura, Y. Toda, M. Oda and S. Tanda, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 176401 (2010). [2] J. van Wezel and P. B. Littlewood, Physics 3, 87 (2010). [3] J. van Wezel, arXiv:1106.1930v1 (2011).

HIGH TEMPERATURE REACTOR

DOEpatents

Kulsrud, R.M.; Spitzer, L. Jr.

1961-12-12

An apparatus of the stellarator type for heating a plasma to high temperatures is designed. Circularizers at the end of then helical windings produce a circular magnetic surface and provide improved confining and heating of the plasma. Reverse curvature sections formed in the end loops of the reaction tube provide increased plasma pressure for a given magnetic field pressure and thereby minimize the current flow in the helical windings. (AEC)

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) | Division of Cancer Prevention

Cancer.gov

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) compared two ways of detecting lung cancer: low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) and standard chest X-ray. Both chest X-rays and low-dose helical CT scans have been used to find lung cancer early, but the effects of these screening techniques on lung cancer mortality rates had not been determined. NLST enrolled 53,454 current or

Impact of ideal MHD stability limits on high-beta hybrid operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piovesan, P.; Igochine, V.; Turco, F.; Ryan, D. A.; Cianciosa, M. R.; Liu, Y. Q.; Marrelli, L.; Terranova, D.; Wilcox, R. S.; Wingen, A.; Angioni, C.; Bock, A.; Chrystal, C.; Classen, I.; Dunne, M.; Ferraro, N. M.; Fischer, R.; Gude, A.; Holcomb, C. T.; Lebschy, A.; Luce, T. C.; Maraschek, M.; McDermott, R.; Odstrčil, T.; Paz-Soldan, C.; Reich, M.; Sertoli, M.; Suttrop, W.; Taylor, N. Z.; Weiland, M.; Willensdorfer, M.; The ASDEX Upgrade Team; The DIII-D Team; The EUROfusion MST1 Team

2017-01-01

The hybrid scenario is a candidate for stationary high-fusion gain tokamak operation in ITER and DEMO. To obtain such performance, the energy confinement and the normalized pressure {βN} must be maximized, which requires operating near or above ideal MHD no-wall limits. New experimental findings show how these limits can affect hybrid operation. Even if hybrids are mainly limited by tearing modes, proximity to the no-wall limit leads to 3D field amplification that affects plasma profiles, e.g. rotation braking is observed in ASDEX Upgrade throughout the plasma and peaks in the core. As a result, even the small ASDEX Upgrade error fields are amplified and their effects become visible. To quantify such effects, ASDEX Upgrade measured the response to 3D fields applied by 8× 2 non-axisymmetric coils as {βN} approaches the no-wall limit. The full n  =  1 response profile and poloidal structure were measured by a suite of diagnostics and compared with linear MHD simulations, revealing a characteristic feature of hybrids: the n  =  1 response is due to a global, marginally-stable n  =  1 kink characterized by a large m  =  1, n  =  1 core harmonic due to q min being just above 1. A helical core distortion of a few cm forms and affects various core quantities, including plasma rotation, electron and ion temperature, and intrinsic W density. In similar experiments, DIII-D also measured the effect of this helical core on the internal current profile, providing information useful to understanding of the physics of magnetic flux pumping, i.e. anomalous current redistribution by MHD modes that keeps {{q}\\text{min}}>1 . Thanks to flux pumping, a broad current profile is maintained in DIII-D even with large on-axis current drive, enabling fully non-inductive operation at high {βN} up to 3.5-4.

Impact of ideal MHD stability limits on high-beta hybrid operation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Piovesan, Paolo; Igochine, V.; Turco, F.

Here, the hybrid scenario is a candidate for stationary high-fusion gain tokamak operation in ITER and DEMO. To obtain such performance, the energy confinement and the normalized pressuremore » $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ must be maximized, which requires operating near or above ideal MHD no-wall limits. New experimental findings show how these limits can affect hybrid operation. Even if hybrids are mainly limited by tearing modes, proximity to the no-wall limit leads to 3D field amplification that affects plasma profiles, e.g. rotation braking is observed in ASDEX Upgrade throughout the plasma and peaks in the core. As a result, even the small ASDEX Upgrade error fields are amplified and their effects become visible. To quantify such effects, ASDEX Upgrade measured the response to 3D fields applied by $$8\\times 2$$ non-axisymmetric coils as $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ approaches the no-wall limit. The full n = 1 response profile and poloidal structure were measured by a suite of diagnostics and compared with linear MHD simulations, revealing a characteristic feature of hybrids: the n = 1 response is due to a global, marginally-stable n = 1 kink characterized by a large m = 1, n = 1 core harmonic due to q min being just above 1. A helical core distortion of a few cm forms and affects various core quantities, including plasma rotation, electron and ion temperature, and intrinsic W density. In similar experiments, DIII-D also measured the effect of this helical core on the internal current profile, providing information useful to understanding of the physics of magnetic flux pumping, i.e. anomalous current redistribution by MHD modes that keeps $${{q}_{\\text{min}}}>1$$ . Thanks to flux pumping, a broad current profile is maintained in DIII-D even with large on-axis current drive, enabling fully non-inductive operation at high $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ up to 3.5–4.« less

Impact of ideal MHD stability limits on high-beta hybrid operation

DOE PAGES

Piovesan, Paolo; Igochine, V.; Turco, F.; ...

2016-10-27

Here, the hybrid scenario is a candidate for stationary high-fusion gain tokamak operation in ITER and DEMO. To obtain such performance, the energy confinement and the normalized pressuremore » $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ must be maximized, which requires operating near or above ideal MHD no-wall limits. New experimental findings show how these limits can affect hybrid operation. Even if hybrids are mainly limited by tearing modes, proximity to the no-wall limit leads to 3D field amplification that affects plasma profiles, e.g. rotation braking is observed in ASDEX Upgrade throughout the plasma and peaks in the core. As a result, even the small ASDEX Upgrade error fields are amplified and their effects become visible. To quantify such effects, ASDEX Upgrade measured the response to 3D fields applied by $$8\\times 2$$ non-axisymmetric coils as $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ approaches the no-wall limit. The full n = 1 response profile and poloidal structure were measured by a suite of diagnostics and compared with linear MHD simulations, revealing a characteristic feature of hybrids: the n = 1 response is due to a global, marginally-stable n = 1 kink characterized by a large m = 1, n = 1 core harmonic due to q min being just above 1. A helical core distortion of a few cm forms and affects various core quantities, including plasma rotation, electron and ion temperature, and intrinsic W density. In similar experiments, DIII-D also measured the effect of this helical core on the internal current profile, providing information useful to understanding of the physics of magnetic flux pumping, i.e. anomalous current redistribution by MHD modes that keeps $${{q}_{\\text{min}}}>1$$ . Thanks to flux pumping, a broad current profile is maintained in DIII-D even with large on-axis current drive, enabling fully non-inductive operation at high $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ up to 3.5–4.« less

Improper magnetic ferroelectricity of nearly pure electronic nature in helicoidal spiral CaMn7O12

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Jin Soo; Saldana-Greco, Diomedes; Rappe, Andrew M.

2018-01-01

Helicoidal magnetic order breaks inversion symmetry in quadruple perovskite CaMn7O12 , generating one of the largest spin-induced ferroelectric polarizations measured to date. Here, the microscopic origin of the polarization, including exchange interactions, coupling to the spin helicity, and charge density redistribution, is explored via first-principles calculations. The B -site Mn4 + (Mn3) spin adopts a noncentrosymmetric configuration, stabilized not only by spin-orbit coupling (SOC), but also by the fully anisotropic Hubbard J parameter in the absence of SOC, to break inversion symmetry and generate polarization. Berry phase computed polarization (Pelec=2169 μ C /m2 ) exhibits nearly pure electronic behavior, with negligible Mn displacements (≈0.7 m Å ). Orbital-resolved density of states shows that p -d orbital mixing is microscopically driven by nonrelativistic exchange striction within the commensurate ionic structure. Persistent electronic polarization induced by helical spin order in the nearly inversion-symmetric ionic crystal lattice suggests opportunities for ultrafast magnetoelectric response.

H-mode plasmas at very low aspect ratio on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

DOE PAGES

Thome, Kathleen E.; Bongard, Michael W.; Barr, Jayson L.; ...

2016-09-30

H-mode is obtained atmore » $$A\\sim 1.2$$ in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment via Ohmic heating, high-field-side fueling, and low edge recycling in both limited and diverted magnetic topologies. These H-mode plasmas show the formation of edge current and pressure pedestals and a doubling of the energy confinement time to $${{H}_{98y,2}}\\sim 1$$ . The L–H power threshold $${{P}_{\\text{LH}}}$$ increases with density, and there is no $${{P}_{\\text{LH}}}$$ minimum observed in the attainable density space. The power threshold is equivalent in limited and diverted plasmas, consistent with the FM3 model. However, the measured $${{P}_{\\text{LH}}}$$ is $$\\sim 15\\,\\,\\times $$ higher than that predicted by conventional International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) scalings, and $${{P}_{\\text{LH}}}/{{P}_{\\text{ITPA}08}}$$ increases as $$A\\to 1$$ . Small ELMs are present at low input power $${{P}_{\\text{IN}}}\\sim {{P}_{\\text{LH}}}$$ , with toroidal mode number $$n\\leqslant 4$$ . At $${{P}_{\\text{IN}}}\\gg {{P}_{\\text{LH}}}$$ , they transition to large ELMs with intermediate 5 < n < 15. The dominant-n component of a large ELM grows exponentially, while other components evolve nonlinearly and can damp prior to the crash. Direct measurements of the current profile in the pedestal region show that both ELM types exhibit a generation of a current-hole, followed by a pedestal recovery. Large ELMs are shown to further expel a current-carrying filament. Small ELM suppression via injection of low levels of helical current into the edge plasma region is also indicated.« less

Effects of the circularly polarized beam of linearized gravitational waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barker, W.

2017-08-01

Solutions of the linearized Einstein equations are found that describe a transversely confined beam of circularly polarized gravitational waves on a Minkowski backdrop. By evaluating the cycle-averaged stress-energy-momentum pseudotensor of Landau & Lifshitz it is found that the angular momentum density is concentrated in the ‘skin’ at the edge of the beam where the intensity falls, and that the ratio of angular momentum to energy per unit length of the beam is 2/ω , where ω is the wave frequency, as expected for a beam of spin-2 gravitons. For sharply-defined, uniform, axisymmetric beams, the induced background metric is shown to produce the gravitomagnetic field and frame-dragging effects of a gravitational solenoid, whilst the angular momentum current helically twists the space at infinite radius along the beam axis.

Anomalous transport and generalized axial charge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kirilin, Vladimir P.; Sadofyev, Andrey V.

For this article, we continue studying the modification of the axial charge in chiral media by macroscopic helicities. Recently it was shown that magnetic reconnections result in a persistent current of zero mode along flux tubes. Here we argue that in general a change in the helical part of the generalized axial charge results in the same phenomenon. Thus one may say that there is a novel realization of chiral effects requiring no initial chiral asymmetry. The transfer of flow helicity to zero modes is analyzed in a toy model based on a vortex reconnection in a chiral superfluid. Then,more » we discuss the balance between the two competing processes effect of reconnections and the chiral instability on the example of magnetic helicity. We argue that in the general case there is a possibility for the distribution of the axial charge between the magnetic and fermionic forms at the end of the instability.« less

Anomalous transport and generalized axial charge

DOE PAGES

Kirilin, Vladimir P.; Sadofyev, Andrey V.

2017-07-25

For this article, we continue studying the modification of the axial charge in chiral media by macroscopic helicities. Recently it was shown that magnetic reconnections result in a persistent current of zero mode along flux tubes. Here we argue that in general a change in the helical part of the generalized axial charge results in the same phenomenon. Thus one may say that there is a novel realization of chiral effects requiring no initial chiral asymmetry. The transfer of flow helicity to zero modes is analyzed in a toy model based on a vortex reconnection in a chiral superfluid. Then,more » we discuss the balance between the two competing processes effect of reconnections and the chiral instability on the example of magnetic helicity. We argue that in the general case there is a possibility for the distribution of the axial charge between the magnetic and fermionic forms at the end of the instability.« less

Turbulent convective heat transfer of methane at supercritical pressure in a helical coiled tube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chenggang; Sun, Baokun; Lin, Wei; He, Fan; You, Yingqiang; Yu, Jiuyang

2018-02-01

The heat transfer of methane at supercritical pressure in a helically coiled tube was numerically investigated using the Reynolds Stress Model under constant wall temperature. The effects of mass flux ( G), inlet pressure ( P in) and buoyancy force on the heat transfer behaviors were discussed in detail. Results show that the light fluid with higher temperature appears near the inner wall of the helically coiled tube. When the bulk temperature is less than or approach to the pseudocritical temperature ( T pc ), the combined effects of buoyancy force and centrifugal force make heavy fluid with lower temperature appear near the outer-right of the helically coiled tube. Beyond the T pc , the heavy fluid with lower temperature moves from the outer-right region to the outer region owing to the centrifugal force. The buoyancy force caused by density variation, which can be characterized by Gr/ Re 2 and Gr/ Re 2.7, enhances the heat transfer coefficient ( h) when the bulk temperature is less than or near the T pc , and the h experiences oscillation due to the buoyancy force. The oscillation is reduced progressively with the increase of G. Moreover, h reaches its peak value near the T pc . Higher G could improve the heat transfer performance in the whole temperature range. The peak value of h depends on P in. A new correlation was proposed for methane at supercritical pressure convective heat transfer in the helical tube, which shows a good agreement with the present simulated results.

Ion heating and characteristics of ST plasma used by double-pulsing CHI on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanao, Takafumi; Hirono, Hidetoshi; Hyobu, Takahiro; Ito, Kengo; Matsumoto, Keisuke; Nakayama, Takashi; Oki, Nobuharu; Kikuchi, Yusuke; Fukumoto, Naoyuki; Nagata, Masayoshi

2013-10-01

Multi-pulsing Coaxial Helicity Injection (M-CHI) is an efficient current drive and sustainment method used in spheromak and spherical torus (ST). We have observed plasma current/flux amplification by double pulsing CHI. Poloidal ion temperature measured by Ion Doppler Spectrometer (IDS) has a peak at plasma core region. In this region, radial electric field has a negative peak. At more inboard side that is called separatrix between closed flux region and inner open flux region, poloidal flow has a large shear and radial electric field changes the polarity. After the second CHI pulse, we observed sharp and rapid ion heating at plasma core region and separatrix. In this region, the poloidal ion temperature is selective heating because electron temperature is almost uniform. At this time, flow shear become larger and radial electric field is amplified at separatorix. These effects produce direct heating of ion through the viscous flow damping. Furthermore, we observed decrease of electron density at separatrix. Decreased density makes Hall dynamo electric field as two-fluid effect. When the ion temperature is increasing, dynamo electric field is observed at separatrix. It may have influence with the ion heating. We will discuss characteristic of double pulsing CHI driven ST plasmas and correlation of direct heating of ion with dynamo electric field and any other parameters.

Non-Inductively Driven Tokamak Plasmas at Near-Unity Toroidal Beta in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reusch, Joshua

2017-10-01

A major goal of the spherical tokamak research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance li, high elongation κ, high toroidal and normalized beta (βt and βN) , and low collisionality without solenoidal current drive. A new local helicity injection (LHI) system in the lower divertor region of the ultra-low aspect ratio Pegasus ST provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit most of these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources (Ainj 4 cm2, Iinj 8 kA, Vinj 1.5 kV) for plasma startup and sustainment, and can sustain more than 200 kA of plasma current. Plasma growth via LHI is enhanced by a transition from a regime of high kink-like MHD activity to one of reduced MHD activity at higher frequencies and presumably shorter wavelengths. The strong edge current drive provided by LHI results in a hollow current density profile with low li. The low aspect ratio (R0 / a 1.2) of Pegasus allows ready access to high κ and MHD stable operation at very high normalized plasma currents (IN =Ip /aBT> 15). Thomson scattering measurements indicate Te 100 eV and ne 1 ×19 m-3. The impurity Ti evolution is correlated in time with high frequency magnetic fluctuations, implying substantial reconnection ion heating is driven by the applied helicity injection. Doppler spectroscopy indicates Ti >=Te and that the anomalous ion heating scales consistently with two fluid reconnection theory. Taken together, these features provide access to very high βt plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate βt up to 100% and βN 6.5 is achieved. At increasingly low BT, the discharge disrupts at the no-wall ideal stability limit. In these high βt discharges, a minimum |B| well forms over 50% of the plasma volume. This unique magnetic configuration may be of interest for testing predictions of stabilizing drift wave turbulence and/or improving energetic particle confinement. This work supported by US DOE Grants DE-FG02-96ER54375 and DE-SC0006928.

Large-volume flux closure during plasmoid-mediated reconnection in coaxial helicity injection

DOE Data Explorer

Ebrahimi, Fatima [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000331095367); Raman, Roger [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000220273271)

2016-01-01

A large-volume flux closure during transient coaxial helicity injection (CHI) in NSTX-U is demonstrated through resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations. Several major improvements, including the improved positioning of the divertor poloidal field coils, are projected to improve the CHI start-up phase in NSTX-U. Simulations in the NSTX-U configuration with constant in time coil currents show that with strong flux shaping the injected open field lines (injector flux) rapidly reconnect and form large volume of closed flux surfaces. This is achieved by driving parallel current in the injector flux coil and oppositely directed currents in the flux shaping coils to form a narrow injector flux footprint and push the injector flux into the vessel. As the helicity and plasma are injected into the device, the oppositely directed field lines in the injector region are forced to reconnect through a local Sweet–Parker type reconnection, or to spontaneously reconnect when the elongated current sheet becomes MHD unstable to form plasmoids. In these simulations for the first time, it is found that the closed flux is over 70% of the initial injector flux used to initiate the discharge. These results could work well for the application of transient CHI in devices that employ super conducting coils to generate and sustain the plasma equilibrium.

Large-volume flux closure during plasmoid-mediated reconnection in coaxial helicity injection

DOE Data Explorer

Ebrahimi, F. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Raman, R. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

2016-04-01

A large-volume flux closure during transient coaxial helicity injection (CHI) in NSTX-U is demonstrated through resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations. Several major improvements, including the improved positioning of the divertor poloidal field coils, are projected to improve the CHI start-up phase in NSTX-U. Simulations in the NSTX-U configuration with constant in time coil currents show that with strong flux shaping the injected open field lines (injector flux) rapidly reconnect and form large volume of closed flux surfaces. This is achieved by driving parallel current in the injector flux coil and oppositely directed currents in the flux shaping coils to form a narrow injector flux footprint and push the injector flux into the vessel. As the helicity and plasma are injected into the device, the oppositely directed field lines in the injector region are forced to reconnect through a local Sweet–Parker type reconnection, or to spontaneously reconnect when the elongated current sheet becomes MHD unstable to form plasmoids. In these simulations for the first time, it is found that the closed flux is over 70% of the initial injector flux used to initiate the discharge. These results could work well for the application of transient CHI in devices that employ super conducting coils to generate and sustain the plasma equilibrium.

Advancing High Current Startup via Localized Helicity Injection in the PEGASUS Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinson, E. T.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Perry, J. M.; Redd, A. J.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2013-10-01

Non-solenoidal startup via local helicity injection (LHI) and poloidal field induction is used to produce Ip = 0 . 17 MA tokamak discharges. Impurity contamination has been reduced to negligible levels by use of conical frustum cathode geometry and local scraper limiters. Attainable currents are governed by global limits of helicity and energy balance, and Taylor relaxation. A simple lumped parameter model based on these limits is used to project discharge evolution, and indicates that attaining 1 MA in NSTX-U will require LHI-driven effective loop voltages to dominate contributions from dLp / dt . This regime contrasts with results to date and will be tested at 0.3 MA in PEGASUS with a new integrated multi-injector array. Injector impedance characteristics are consistent with magnetically-limited regimes observed in higher-power foilless diodes. Bursts of MHD are measured on time scales of order ~ 100 μ s, and correlate with rapid equilibrium changes, discrete rises in Ip, redistribution of the toroidal current, ion heating (Ti ~ 1 keV), transient drops in injector voltage, and apparent n = 1 line-tied kink activity at the injector. NIMROD simulations of high-field-side HI discharges in PEGASUS are in qualitative agreement, suggesting Ip buildup results from inward propagating toroidal current loops created by intermittent reconnection of injected current streams. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Flux amplification and sustainment of ST plasmas by multi-pulsed coaxial helicity injection on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higashi, T.; Ishihara, M.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2010-11-01

The Helicity Injected Spherical Torus (HIST) device has been developed towards high-current start up and sustainment by Multi-pulsed Coaxial Helicity Injection (M-CHI) method. Multiple pulses operation of the coaxial plasma gun can build the magnetic field of STs and spheromak plasmas in a stepwise manner. So far, successive gun pulses on SSPX at LLNL were demonstrated to maintain the magnetic field of spheromak in a quasi-steady state against resistive decay [1]. The resistive 3D-MHD numerical simulation [2] for STs reproduced the current amplification by the M-CHI method and confirmed that stochastic magnetic field was reduced during the decay phase. By double pulsed operation on HIST, the plasma current was effectively amplified against the resistive decay. The life time increases up to 10 ms which is longer than that in the single CHI case (4 ms). The edge poloidal fields last between 0.5 ms and 6 ms like a repetitive manner. During the second driven phase, the toroidal ion flow is driven in the same direction as the plasma current as well as in the initial driven phase. At the meeting, we will discuss a current amplification mechanism based on the merging process with the plasmoid injected secondly from the gun. [1] B. Hudson et al., Phys. Plasmas Vol.15, 056112 (2008). [2] Y. Kagei et al., J. Plasma Fusion Res. Vol.79, 217 (2003).

Force-free electromagnetic pulses in a laboratory plasma

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stenzel, R. L.; Urrutia, J. M.

1990-01-01

A short, intense current pulse is drawn from an electrode immersed in a magnetized afterglow plasma. The induced magnetic field B(r,t) assumes the shape of a helical double vortex which propagates along B(0) through the uniform plasma as a whistler mode. The observations support a prediction of force-free (J x B + neE = 0) electromagnetic fields and solitary waves. Energy and helicity are approximately conserved.

Effect of Cosmological Neutrinos on Discrimination Between the Two Enantiomers of a Chiral Molecule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bargueño, Pedro; Gonzalo, Isabel

2006-04-01

In the framework of an extraterrestrial origin of biological homochirality, universal mechanisms are of particular interest. In this sense we consider the weak parity-violating neutrino-electron interaction through weak charged currents W ± between the relic flux of cosmological neutrinos and the electrons of a chiral molecule. We use the known theoretical result of the split in energy of the two helicity sates of an electron in the cosmic neutrino bath, due to weak charged currents. In the case that electrons of a chiral molecule are submitted to a helicoidal potential due to the nuclear conformation, these electrons have opposite helicities for the two enantiomers of the molecule and consequently the mentioned neutrino-electron interaction would produce a splitting in energy between the two enantiomers. An estimation of this energy for the case of a single electron yields a small value of the order of 10-26 eV. This value results amplified by the contribution of all the molecular electrons having helicity and other possible mechanisms.

Transmembrane helix prediction: a comparative evaluation and analysis.

PubMed

Cuthbertson, Jonathan M; Doyle, Declan A; Sansom, Mark S P

2005-06-01

The prediction of transmembrane (TM) helices plays an important role in the study of membrane proteins, given the relatively small number (approximately 0.5% of the PDB) of high-resolution structures for such proteins. We used two datasets (one redundant and one non-redundant) of high-resolution structures of membrane proteins to evaluate and analyse TM helix prediction. The redundant (non-redundant) dataset contains structure of 434 (268) TM helices, from 112 (73) polypeptide chains. Of the 434 helices in the dataset, 20 may be classified as 'half-TM' as they are too short to span a lipid bilayer. We compared 13 TM helix prediction methods, evaluating each method using per segment, per residue and termini scores. Four methods consistently performed well: SPLIT4, TMHMM2, HMMTOP2 and TMAP. However, even the best methods were in error by, on average, about two turns of helix at the TM helix termini. The best and worst case predictions for individual proteins were analysed. In particular, the performance of the various methods and of a consensus prediction method, were compared for a number of proteins (e.g. SecY, ClC, KvAP) containing half-TM helices. The difficulties of predicting half-TM helices suggests that current prediction methods successfully embody the two-state model of membrane protein folding, but do not accommodate a third stage in which, e.g., short helices and re-entrant loops fold within a bundle of stable TM helices.

Weighted current sheets supported in normal and inverse configurations - A model for prominence observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Demoulin, P.; Forbes, T. G.

1992-01-01

A technique which incorporates both photospheric and prominence magnetic field observations is used to analyze the magnetic support of solar prominences in two dimensions. The prominence is modeled by a mass-loaded current sheet which is supported against gravity by magnetic fields from a bipolar source in the photosphere and a massless line current in the corona. It is found that prominence support can be achieved in three different kinds of configurations: an arcade topology with a normal polarity; a helical topology with a normal polarity; and a helical topology with an inverse polarity. In all cases the important parameter is the variation of the horizontal component of the prominence field with height. Adding a line current external to the prominence eliminates the nonsupport problem which plagues virtually all previous prominence models with inverse polarity.

Multilayer DNA Origami Packed on a Square Lattice

PubMed Central

Ke, Yonggang; Douglas, Shawn M.; Liu, Minghui; Sharma, Jaswinder; Cheng, Anchi; Leung, Albert; Liu, Yan; Shih, William M.; Yan, Hao

2009-01-01

Molecular self-assembly using DNA as a structural building block has proven to be an efficient route to the construction of nanoscale objects and arrays of increasing complexity. Using the remarkable “scaffolded DNA origami” strategy, Rothemund demonstrated that a long single-stranded DNA from a viral genome (M13) can be folded into a variety of custom two-dimensional (2D) shapes using hundreds of short synthetic DNA molecules as staple strands. More recently, we generalized a strategy to build custom-shaped, three-dimensional (3D) objects formed as pleated layers of helices constrained to a honeycomb lattice, with precisely controlled dimensions ranging from 10 to 100 nm. Here we describe a more compact design for 3D origami, with layers of helices packed on a square lattice, that can be folded successfully into structures of designed dimensions in a one-step annealing process, despite the increased density of DNA helices. A square lattice provides a more natural framework for designing rectangular structures, the option for a more densely packed architecture, and the ability to create surfaces that are more flat than is possible with the honeycomb lattice. Thus enabling the design and construction of custom 3D shapes from helices packed on a square lattice provides a general foundational advance for increasing the versatility and scope of DNA nanotechnology. PMID:19807088

Non-Solenoidal Startup Research Directions on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fonck, R. J.; Bongard, M. W.; Lewicki, B. T.; Reusch, J. A.; Winz, G. R.

2017-10-01

The Pegasus research program has been focused on developing a physical understanding and predictive models for non-solenoidal tokamak plasma startup using Local Helicity Injection (LHI). LHI employs strong localized electron currents injected along magnetic field lines in the plasma edge that relax through magnetic turbulence to form a tokamak-like plasma. Pending approval, the Pegasus program will address a broader, more comprehensive examination of non-solenoidal tokamak startup techniques. New capabilities may include: increasing the toroidal field to 0.6 T to support critical scaling tests to near-NSTX-U field levels; deploying internal plasma diagnostics; installing a coaxial helicity injection (CHI) capability in the upper divertor region; and deploying a modest (200-400 kW) electron cyclotron RF capability. These efforts will address scaling of relevant physics to higher BT, separate and comparative studies of helicity injection techniques, efficiency of handoff to consequent current sustainment techniques, and the use of ECH to synergistically improve the target plasma for consequent bootstrap and neutral beam current drive sustainment. This has an ultimate goal of validating techniques to produce a 1 MA target plasma in NSTX-U and beyond. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Frontier of Fusion Research: Path to the Steady State Fusion Reactor by Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motojima, Osamu

2006-12-01

The ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which will be built in Cadarache in France, has finally started this year, 2006. Since the thermal energy produced by fusion reactions divided by the external heating power, i.e., the Q value, will be larger than 10, this is a big step of the fusion research for half a century trying to tame the nuclear fusion for the 6.5 Billion people on the Earth. The source of the Sun's power is lasting steadily and safely for 8 Billion years. As a potentially safe environmentally friendly and economically competitive energy source, fusion should provide a sustainable future energy supply for all mankind for ten thousands of years. At the frontier of fusion research important milestones are recently marked on a long road toward a true prototype fusion reactor. In its own merits, research into harnessing turbulent burning plasmas and thereby controlling fusion reaction, is one of the grand challenges of complex systems science. After a brief overview of a status of world fusion projects, a focus is given on fusion research at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) in Japan, which is playing a role of the Inter University Institute, the coordinating Center of Excellence for academic fusion research and by the Large Helical Device (LHD), the world's largest superconducting heliotron device, as a National Users' facility. The current status of LHD project is presented focusing on the experimental program and the recent achievements in basic parameters and in steady state operations. Since, its start in a year 1998, a remarkable progress has presently resulted in the temperature of 140 Million degree, the highest density of 500 Thousand Billion/cc with the internal density barrier (IDB) and the highest steady average beta of 4.5% in helical plasma devices and the largest total input energy of 1.6 GJ, in all magnetic confinement fusion devices. Finally, a perspective is given of the ITER Broad Approach program as an integrated part of ITER and Development of Fusion Energy project Agreement. Moreover, the relationship with the NIFS' new parent organization the National Institutes of Natural Sciences and with foreign research institutions is briefly explained.

Wave-Particle Interactions on Relativistic Electron Beams.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-10-20

8217 , , , . , • -- . . : - ’ - , % % , . , , : " ’ . I_ °- , ,, - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . - .- , ,. , - ,.. .. -l -. ’- - ’ @ -5- In summary, the body of published research which resulted from Office...current beams so that the influence of the self- U(5 )-Y space charge on the beam can be neglected. We thus require that the transverse electrostatic...the gain en - hancement is that the equilibrium electron orbits in the wiggler be nearly helical. Without the axial guide field a helical magnetic

Statistical Theory of the Ideal MHD Geodynamo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shebalin, J. V.

2012-01-01

A statistical theory of geodynamo action is developed, using a mathematical model of the geodynamo as a rotating outer core containing an ideal (i.e., no dissipation), incompressible, turbulent, convecting magnetofluid. On the concentric inner and outer spherical bounding surfaces the normal components of the velocity, magnetic field, vorticity and electric current are zero, as is the temperature fluctuation. This allows the use of a set of Galerkin expansion functions that are common to both velocity and magnetic field, as well as vorticity, current and the temperature fluctuation. The resulting dynamical system, based on the Boussinesq form of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, represents MHD turbulence in a spherical domain. These basic equations (minus the temperature equation) and boundary conditions have been used previously in numerical simulations of forced, decaying MHD turbulence inside a sphere [1,2]. Here, the ideal case is studied through statistical analysis and leads to a prediction that an ideal coherent structure will be found in the form of a large-scale quasistationary magnetic field that results from broken ergodicity, an effect that has been previously studied both analytically and numerically for homogeneous MHD turbulence [3,4]. The axial dipole component becomes prominent when there is a relatively large magnetic helicity (proportional to the global correlation of magnetic vector potential and magnetic field) and a stationary, nonzero cross helicity (proportional to the global correlation of velocity and magnetic field). The expected angle of the dipole moment vector with respect to the rotation axis is found to decrease to a minimum as the average cross helicity increases for a fixed value of magnetic helicity and then to increase again when average cross helicity approaches its maximum possible value. Only a relatively small value of cross helicity is needed to produce a dipole moment vector that is aligned at approx.10deg with the rotation axis.

Power Balance Modeling of Local Helicity Injection for Non-Solenoidal ST Startup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weberski, J. D.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Perry, J. M.; Reusch, J. A.

2017-10-01

A zero-dimensional power balance model for predicting Ip(t) for Local Helicity Injection (LHI) discharges has been used to interpret experimental results from recent experimental campaigns using high-field-side (HFS) helicity injection. This model quantifies LHI's effective drive (Veff) through helicity balance while enforcing the Taylor relaxation current limit and tracking inductive effects to determine Ip(t) . Recent analysis of HFS LHI discharges indicate LHI is the dominant source of drive and provides Veff up to 1.3 V while geometric effects and inductive drive provide < 0.1 V throughout much of the discharge. In contrast to previous analysis of low-field-side (LFS) LHI discharges, which were driven by Veff = 0.3 V and 2.0 V from geometric effects and inductive drive. A significant remaining uncertainty in the model is the resistive dissipation of LHI discharges. This requires greater understanding of LHI confinement scaling and impurity content, which are currently under investigation. However, the model and experimental Ip(t) exhibit good agreement for parameters consistent with previous experimental findings. Extrapolation of plasma parameters and shaping from recent experiments allow for the model to project the performance of LHI systems. These projections indicate Ip 0.3 MA can be accessed on Pegasus via HFS LHI through changes to injector geometry to provide more Veff. This regime can be accessed via a LFS system by increasing the Taylor relaxation current limit early in the discharge. Work supported by US DOE Grants DE-FG02-96ER54375 and DE-SC0006928.

Fractional Wigner Crystal in the Helical Luttinger Liquid.

PubMed

Traverso Ziani, N; Crépin, F; Trauzettel, B

2015-11-13

The properties of the strongly interacting edge states of two dimensional topological insulators in the presence of two-particle backscattering are investigated. We find an anomalous behavior of the density-density correlation functions, which show oscillations that are neither of Friedel nor of Wigner type: they, instead, represent a Wigner crystal of fermions of fractional charge e/2, with e the electron charge. By studying the Fermi operator, we demonstrate that the state characterized by such fractional oscillations still bears the signatures of spin-momentum locking. Finally, we compare the spin-spin correlation functions and the density-density correlation functions to argue that the fractional Wigner crystal is characterized by a nontrivial spin texture.

Modelling ion cyclotron emission from KSTAR tokamak and LHD helical device plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dendy, Richard; Chapman, Ben; Reman, Bernard; Chapman, Sandra; Akiyama, Tsuyoshi; Yun, Gunsu

2017-10-01

New high quality measurements of ion cyclotron emission (ICE) from KSTAR and LHD greatly extend the scope and diversity of plasma conditions under which ICE is observed. Variables include the origin (fusion reactions or neutral beam injection) and energy (sub- or super-Alfvénic) of the minority energetic ions that drive ICE; the composition of the bulk plasma (hydrogen or deuterium) which supports the modes excited; plasma density in the emitting region, and the timescale on which it changes; and toroidal magnetic field geometry (tokamak or helical device). Future exploitation of ICE as a diagnostic for energetic ion populations in JET D-T plasmas and in ITER rests on quantitative understanding of the physics of the emission. This is tested and extended by current KSTAR and LHD measurements of ICE. We report progress on direct numerical simulation using full orbit ion kinetic codes that solve the Maxwell-Lorentz equations for hundreds of millions of particles. In the saturated regime, these simulations yield excited field spectra that correspond directly to the measured ICE spectra under diverse KSTAR and LHD regimes. At early times, comparison of simulation outputs with linear analytical theory confirms the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability as the basic driver of ICE. Supported by RCUK Energy Programme Grant EP/P012450/1, NRF Korea Grant 2014M1A7A1A03029881, NIFS budget ULHH029 and Euratom.

SU-E-T-197: Helical Cranial-Spinal Treatments with a Linear Accelerator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, J; Bernard, D; Liao, Y

2014-06-01

Purpose: Craniospinal irradiation (CSI) of systemic disease requires a high level of beam intensity modulation to reduce dose to bone marrow and other critical structures. Current helical delivery machines can take 30 minutes or more of beam-on time to complete these treatments. This pilot study aims to test the feasibility of performing helical treatments with a conventional linear accelerator using longitudinal couch travel during multiple gantry revolutions. Methods: The VMAT optimization package of the Eclipse 10.0 treatment planning system was used to optimize pseudo-helical CSI plans of 5 clinical patient scans. Each gantry revolution was divided into three 120° arcsmore » with each isocenter shifted longitudinally. Treatments requiring more than the maximum 10 arcs used multiple plans with each plan after the first being optimized including the dose of the others (Figure 1). The beam pitch was varied between 0.2 and 0.9 (couch speed 5- 20cm/revolution and field width of 22cm) and dose-volume histograms of critical organs were compared to tomotherapy plans. Results: Viable pseudo-helical plans were achieved using Eclipse. Decreasing the pitch from 0.9 to 0.2 lowered the maximum lens dose by 40%, the mean bone marrow dose by 2.1% and the maximum esophagus dose by 17.5%. (Figure 2). Linac-based helical plans showed dose results comparable to tomotherapy delivery for both target coverage and critical organ sparing, with the D50 of bone marrow and esophagus respectively 12% and 31% lower in the helical linear accelerator plan (Figure 3). Total mean beam-on time for the linear accelerator plan was 8.3 minutes, 54% faster than the tomotherapy average for the same plans. Conclusions: This pilot study has demonstrated the feasibility of planning pseudo-helical treatments for CSI targets using a conventional linac and dynamic couch movement, and supports the ongoing development of true helical optimization and delivery.« less

Helicity Transformation under the Collision and Merging of Magnetic Flux Ropes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehaas, Timothy

2016-10-01

A magnetic flux rope is a tube-like, current carrying plasma embedded in an external magnetic field. The magnetic field lines resemble threads in a rope, which vary in pitch according to radius. Flux ropes are ubiquitous in astrophysical plasmas, and bundles of these structures play an important role in the dynamics of the space environment. They are observed in the solar atmosphere and near-earth environment where they are seen to twist, merge, tear, and writhe. In this MHD context, their global dynamics are bound by rules of magnetic helicity conservation, unless, under a non-ideal process, helicity is transformed through magnetic reconnection, turbulence, or localized instabilities. These processes are tested under experimental conditions in the Large Plasma Device (LAPD). The device is a twenty-meter long, one-meter diameter, cylindrical vacuum vessel designed to generate a highly reproducible, magnetized plasma. Reliable shot-to-shot repetition of plasma parameters and over four hundred diagnostic ports enable the collection of volumetric datasets (measurements of ne, Te, Vp, B, J, E, uflow) as two kink-unstable flux ropes form, move, collide, and merge. Similar experiments on the LAPD have utilized these volumetric datasets, visualizing magnetic reconnection through a topological quasi-separatrix layer, or QSL. This QSL is shown to be spatially coincident with the reconnection rate, ∫ E . dl , and oscillates (although out of phase) with global helicity. Magnetic helicity is observed to have a negative sign and its counterpart, cross helicity, a positive one. These quantities oscillate 8% peak-to-peak, and the changes in helicity are visualized as 1) the transport of helicity (ϕB + E × A) and 2) the dissipation of the helicity - 2 E . B . This work is supported by LANL-UC research Grant and done at the Basic Plasma Science Facility, which is funded by DOE and NSF.

CHI during an ohmic discharge in HIT-II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, Dennis; Nelson, Brian A.; Redd, Aaron J.; Hamp, William T.

2004-11-01

Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) has been used on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) and HIT-II to initiate plasma and to drive up to 400 kA of toroidal current. The primary goal of the CHI systems is to provide a start-up plasma with substantial toroidal current that can be heated and sustained with other methods. We have investigated the use of CHI systems to add current to an established, inductively driven plasma. This may be an attractive method to add edge current that may modify the stability characteristics of the discharge or modify the particle and energy transport in a spherical torus. For example, divertor biasing experiments have been successful in modifying particle and energy transport in the scrape-off layer of tokamaks. Use of IGBT power supplies to modulate the injector current makes analysis of current penetration feasible by comparisons of before and after CHI using EFIT analysis of the data.

Ratios of helicity amplitudes for exclusive ρ 0 electroproduction on transversely polarized protons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Airapetian, A.; Akopov, N.; Akopov, Z.

Exclusive ρ 0-meson electroproduction is studied by the HERMES experiment, using the 27.6 GeV longitudinally polarized electron/positron beam of HERA and a transversely polarized hydrogen target, in the kinematic region 1.0 GeV 2 < Q 2 < 7.0 GeV 2, 3.0 GeV < W < 6.3 GeV, and –t' < 0.4 GeV 2. Using an unbinned maximum-likelihood method, 25 parameters are extracted. These determine the real and imaginary parts of the ratios of several helicity amplitudes describing ρ 0-meson production by a virtual photon. The denominator of those ratios is the dominant amplitude, the nucleon-helicity-non-flip amplitude F 01/201/2, which describesmore » the production of a longitudinal ρ 0-meson by a longitudinal virtual photon. The ratios of nucleon-helicity-non-flip amplitudes are found to be in good agreement with those from the previous HERMES analysis. The transverse target polarization allows for the first time the extraction of ratios of a number of nucleon-helicity-flip amplitudes to F 01/201/2. Results obtained in a handbag approach based on generalized parton distributions taking into account the contribution from pion exchange are found to be in good agreement with these ratios. Within the model, the data favor a positive sign for the π - ρ transition form factor. By also exploiting the longitudinal beam polarization, a total of 71 ρ 0 spin-density matrix elements is determined from the extracted 25 parameters, in contrast to only 53 elements as directly determined in earlier analyses.« less

Ratios of helicity amplitudes for exclusive ρ 0 electroproduction on transversely polarized protons

DOE PAGES

Airapetian, A.; Akopov, N.; Akopov, Z.; ...

2017-06-08

Exclusive ρ 0-meson electroproduction is studied by the HERMES experiment, using the 27.6 GeV longitudinally polarized electron/positron beam of HERA and a transversely polarized hydrogen target, in the kinematic region 1.0 GeV 2 < Q 2 < 7.0 GeV 2, 3.0 GeV < W < 6.3 GeV, and –t' < 0.4 GeV 2. Using an unbinned maximum-likelihood method, 25 parameters are extracted. These determine the real and imaginary parts of the ratios of several helicity amplitudes describing ρ 0-meson production by a virtual photon. The denominator of those ratios is the dominant amplitude, the nucleon-helicity-non-flip amplitude F 01/201/2, which describesmore » the production of a longitudinal ρ 0-meson by a longitudinal virtual photon. The ratios of nucleon-helicity-non-flip amplitudes are found to be in good agreement with those from the previous HERMES analysis. The transverse target polarization allows for the first time the extraction of ratios of a number of nucleon-helicity-flip amplitudes to F 01/201/2. Results obtained in a handbag approach based on generalized parton distributions taking into account the contribution from pion exchange are found to be in good agreement with these ratios. Within the model, the data favor a positive sign for the π - ρ transition form factor. By also exploiting the longitudinal beam polarization, a total of 71 ρ 0 spin-density matrix elements is determined from the extracted 25 parameters, in contrast to only 53 elements as directly determined in earlier analyses.« less

Effect of Relative Marker Movement on the Calculation of the Foot Torsion Axis Using a Combined Cardan Angle and Helical Axis Approach

PubMed Central

Graf, Eveline S.; Wright, Ian C.; Stefanyshyn, Darren J.

2012-01-01

The two main movements occurring between the forefoot and rearfoot segment of a human foot are flexion at the metatarsophalangeal joints and torsion in the midfoot. The location of the torsion axis within the foot is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to develop a method based on Cardan angles and the finite helical axis approach to calculate the torsion axis without the effect of flexion. As the finite helical axis method is susceptible to error due to noise with small helical rotations, a minimal amount of rotation was defined in order to accurately determine the torsion axis location. Using simulation, the location of the axis based on data containing noise was compared to the axis location of data without noise with a one-sample t-test and Fisher's combined probability score. When using only data with helical rotation of seven degrees or more, the location of the torsion axis based on the data with noise was within 0.2 mm of the reference location. Therefore, the proposed method allowed an accurate calculation of the foot torsion axis location. PMID:22666303

Bifurcation in the MHD behaviour of a self-organizing system: the reversed field pinch (RFP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cappello, S.

2004-12-01

Within the framework of MHD modelling the RFP is shown to develop turbulent or laminar regimes switching from the former to the latter in a continuous way depending on the strength of dissipative forces (the higher they are the more laminar is the corresponding regime). In either of these cases interesting features can be observed such as the occurrence of quasi-periodic relaxation events involving reconnection processes, or the formation of stationary helical symmetric configurations. The first case corresponds to the conventional turbulent dynamo in the RFP where perturbations with multiple helical harmonic content are present. The second case corresponds to a global single helical deformation of the current channel. This simpler configuration is associated with a laminar electrostatic dynamo field and may also be found as a solution of a helical Ohmic equilibrium problem where a finite beta is necessary. The continuity of the transition between the two regimes suggests that the simple helical symmetric solution can provide a fruitful intuitive description of the RFP dynamo in general. Many of the MHD predictions are in good agreement with experimental findings and suggest possible improvements for the confinement properties of the RFP configuration.

Properties of two-fluid flowing equilibria observed in double-pulsing coaxial helicity injection on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, T.; Nagata, M.

2013-10-01

Multi-pulsing coaxial helicity injection (M-CHI) method which aims to achieve both quasi-steady sustainment and good confinement has been proposed as a refluxing scenario of the CHI. To explore the usefulness of the M-CHI for spherical torus (ST) configurations, the double-pulsing operations have been carried out in the HIST, verifying the flux amplification and the formation of the closed flux surfaces after the second CHI pulse. The purpose of this study is to investigate the properties of the magnetic field and plasma flow structures during the sustainment by comparing the results of plasma flow, density, and magnetic fields measurements with those of two-fluid equilibrium calculations. The two-fluid flowing equilibrium model which is described by a pair of generalized Grad-Shafranov equations for ion and electron surface variables and Bernoulli equations for density is applied to reconstruct the ST configuration with poloidal flow shear observed in the HIST. Due to the negative steep density gradient in high field side, the toroidal field has a diamagnetic profile (volume average beta, < β > = 68 %) in the central open flux column region. The ion flow velocity with strong flow shear from the separatrix in the inboard side to the core region is the opposite direction to the electron flow velocity due to the diamagentic drift through the density gradient. The electric field is relatively small in the whole region, and thus the Lorentz force nearly balances with the two-fluid effect which is particularly significant in a region with the steep density gradient due to the ion and electron diamagnetic drifts.

Dirac cone and pseudogapped density of states in the topological half-Heusler compound YPtBi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kronenberg, A.; Braun, J.; Minár, J.; Elmers, H.-J.; Kutnyakhov, D.; Zaporozhchenko, A. V.; Wallauer, R.; Chernov, S.; Medjanik, K.; Schönhense, G.; Kläui, M.; Chadov, S.; Ebert, H.; Jourdan, M.

2016-10-01

Topological insulators (TIs) are exciting materials, which exhibit unprecedented properties, such as helical spin-momentum locking, which leads to large torques for magnetic switching and highly efficient spin current detection. Here we explore the compound YPtBi, an example from the class of half-Heusler materials, for which the typical band inversion of topological insulators was predicted. We prepared this material as thin films by conventional cosputtering from elementary targets. By in situ time-of-flight momentum microscopy, a Dirac conelike surface state with a Dirac point ≃300 meV below the Fermi energy was observed, in agreement with electronic structure-photoemission calculations. Only little additional spectral weight due to other states was observed at EF, which corroborates the identification of the topologically protected surface state and is highly relevant for spintronics applications.

Optimal Charge-to-Spin Conversion in Graphene on Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Offidani, Manuel; Milletarı, Mirco; Raimondi, Roberto; Ferreira, Aires

2017-11-01

When graphene is placed on a monolayer of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) its band structure develops rich spin textures due to proximity spin-orbital effects with interfacial breaking of inversion symmetry. In this work, we show that the characteristic spin winding of low-energy states in graphene on a TMD monolayer enables current-driven spin polarization, a phenomenon known as the inverse spin galvanic effect (ISGE). By introducing a proper figure of merit, we quantify the efficiency of charge-to-spin conversion and show it is close to unity when the Fermi level approaches the spin minority band. Remarkably, at high electronic density, even though subbands with opposite spin helicities are occupied, the efficiency decays only algebraically. The giant ISGE predicted for graphene on TMD monolayers is robust against disorder and remains large at room temperature.

Beam-Helicity Asymmetries in Double-Charged-Pion Photoproduction on the Proton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strauch, S.; Berman, B. L.; Adams, G.; Ambrozewicz, P.; Anghinolfi, M.; Asavapibhop, B.; Asryan, G.; Audit, G.; Avakian, H.; Bagdasaryan, H.; Baillie, N.; Ball, J. P.; Baltzell, N. A.; Barrow, S.; Batourine, V.; Battaglieri, M.; Beard, K.; Bedlinskiy, I.; Bektasoglu, M.; Bellis, M.; Benmouna, N.; Bennhold, C.; Biselli, A. S.; Boiarinov, S.; Bouchigny, S.; Bradford, R.; Branford, D.; Briscoe, W. J.; Brooks, W. K.; Bültmann, S.; Burkert, V. D.; Butuceanu, C.; Calarco, J. R.; Careccia, S. L.; Carman, D. S.; Carnahan, B.; Chen, S.; Cole, P. L.; Coleman, A.; Coltharp, P.; Cords, D.; Corvisiero, P.; Crabb, D.; Crannell, H.; Cummings, J. P.; Degtyarenko, P. V.; Denizli, H.; Dennis, L.; de Sanctis, E.; Deur, A.; Devita, R.; Dharmawardane, K. V.; Dhuga, K. S.; Djalali, C.; Dodge, G. E.; Donnelly, J.; Doughty, D.; Dragovitsch, P.; Dugger, M.; Dytman, S.; Dzyubak, O. P.; Egiyan, H.; Egiyan, K. S.; Elouadrhiri, L.; Empl, A.; Eugenio, P.; Fatemi, R.; Fedotov, G.; Feldman, G.; Feuerbach, R. J.; Fix, A.; Forest, T. A.; Funsten, H.; Gavalian, G.; Gilfoyle, G. P.; Giovanetti, K. L.; Girod, F. X.; Goetz, J. T.; Gothe, R. W.; Griffioen, K. A.; Guidal, M.; Guler, N.; Guo, L.; Gyurjyan, V.; Hadjidakis, C.; Hakobyan, R. S.; Hardie, J.; Heddle, D.; Hersman, F. W.; Hicks, K.; Hleiqawi, I.; Holtrop, M.; Hu, J.; Huertas, M.; Hyde-Wright, C. E.; Ilieva, Y.; Ireland, D. G.; Ishkhanov, B. S.; Ito, M. M.; Jenkins, D.; Jo, H. S.; Joo, K.; Juengst, H. G.; Kellie, J. D.; Khandaker, M.; Kim, K. Y.; Kim, K.; Kim, W.; Klein, A.; Klein, F. J.; Klimenko, A. V.; Klusman, M.; Kossov, M.; Kramer, L. H.; Kubarovsky, V.; Kuhn, J.; Kuhn, S. E.; Lachniet, J.; Laget, J. M.; Langheinrich, J.; Lawrence, D.; Lee, T.; Lima, A. C. S.; Livingston, K.; Lukashin, K.; Manak, J. J.; Marchand, C.; McAleer, S.; McKinnon, B.; McNabb, J. W. C.; Mecking, B. A.; Mestayer, M. D.; Meyer, C. A.; Mibe, T.; Mikhailov, K.; Minehart, R.; Mirazita, M.; Miskimen, R.; Mokeev, V.; Morrow, S. A.; Muccifora, V.; Mueller, J.; Mutchler, G. S.; Nadel-Turonski, P.; Napolitano, J.; Nasseripour, R.; Niccolai, S.; Niculescu, G.; Niculescu, I.; Niczyporuk, B. B.; Niyazov, R. A.; Nozar, M.; O'Rielly, G. V.; Osipenko, M.; Ostrovidov, A. I.; Park, K.; Pasyuk, E.; Paterson, C.; Philips, S. A.; Pierce, J.; Pivnyuk, N.; Pocanic, D.; Pogorelko, O.; Polli, E.; Pozdniakov, S.; Preedom, B. M.; Price, J. W.; Prok, Y.; Protopopescu, D.; Qin, L. M.; Raue, B. A.; Riccardi, G.; Ricco, G.; Ripani, M.; Ritchie, B. G.; Roberts, W.; Ronchetti, F.; Rosner, G.; Rossi, P.; Rowntree, D.; Rubin, P. D.; Sabatié, F.; Salgado, C.; Santoro, J. P.; Sapunenko, V.; Schumacher, R. A.; Serov, V. S.; Shafi, A.; Sharabian, Y. G.; Shaw, J.; Skabelin, A. V.; Smith, E. S.; Smith, L. C.; Sober, D. I.; Stavinsky, A.; Stepanyan, S. S.; Stepanyan, S.; Stokes, B. E.; Stoler, P.; Strakovsky, I. I.; Suleiman, R.; Taiuti, M.; Taylor, S.; Tedeschi, D. J.; Thoma, U.; Thompson, R.; Tkabladze, A.; Tkachenko, S.; Todor, L.; Tur, C.; Ungaro, M.; Vineyard, M. F.; Vlassov, A. V.; Wang, K.; Weinstein, L. B.; Weygand, D. P.; Williams, M.; Wolin, E.; Wood, M. H.; Yegneswaran, A.; Yun, J.; Zana, L.; Zhang, J.

2005-10-01

Beam-helicity asymmetries for the two-pion-photoproduction reaction γ→p→pπ+π- have been studied for the first time in the resonance region for center-of-mass energies between 1.35 and 2.30 GeV. The experiment was performed at Jefferson Lab with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer using circularly polarized tagged photons incident on an unpolarized hydrogen target. Beam-helicity-dependent angular distributions of the final-state particles were measured. The large cross-section asymmetries exhibit strong sensitivity to the kinematics and dynamics of the reaction. The data are compared with the results of various phenomenological model calculations, and show that these models currently do not provide an adequate description for the behavior of this new observable.

Predictive Power-balance Modeling of PEGASUS and NSTX-U Local Helicity Injection Discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Perry, J. M.; Redd, A. J.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2013-10-01

Local helicity injection (LHI) with outer poloidal-field (PF) induction for solenoid-free startup is being studied on PEGASUS, reaching Ip <= 0 . 175 MA with 6 kA of injected current. A lumped-parameter circuit model for predicting the performance of LHI initiated plasmas is under development. The model employs energy and helicity balance, and includes applied PF ramping and the inductive effects of shape evolution. Low- A formulations for both the plasma external inductance and a uniform equilibrium-field are used to estimate inductive voltages. PEGASUS LHI plasmas are created near the outboard injectors with aspect ratio (A) ~ 5-6.5 and grow inward to fill the confinement region at A <= 1 . 3 . Initial results match experimental Ip (t) trajectories within 15 kA with a prescribed geometry evolution. Helicity injection is the largest driving term in the initial phase, but in the later phase is reduced to 20-45% of the total drive as PF induction and decreasing plasma inductance become dominant. In contrast, attaining ~1 MA non-solenoidal startup via LHI on NSTX-U will require operation in the regime where helicity injection drive exceeds inductive and geometric changes at full size. A large-area multi-injector array will increase available helicity injection by 3-4 times and allow exploration of this helicity-dominated regime at Ip ~ 0 . 3 MA in PEGASUS. Comparison of model predictions with time-evolving magnetic equilibria is in progress for model validation. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

A new simple dynamo model for solar activity cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokoi, Nobumitsu; Schmitt, Dieter

2015-04-01

The solar magnetic activity cycle has been investigated in an elaborated manner with several types of dynamo models [1]. In most of the current mean-field approaches, the inhomogeneity of the large-scale flow is treated as an essential ingredient in the mean magnetic field equation whereas it is completely neglected in the turbulence equation. In this work, a new simple model for the solar activity cycle is proposed. The present model differs from the previous ones mainly in two points. First, in addition to the helicity coefficient α, we consider a term related to the cross helicity, which represents the effect of the inhomogeneous mean flow, in the turbulent electromotive force [2, 3]. Second, this transport coefficient (γ) is not treated as an adjustable parameter, but the evolution equation for γ is simultaneously solved. The basic scenario for the solar activity cycle in this approach is as follows: The toroidal field is induced by the toroidal rotation in mediation by the turbulent cross helicity. Then due to the α or helicity effect, the poloidal field is generated from the toroidal field. The poloidal field induced by the α effect produces a turbulent cross helicity whose sign is opposite to the original one (negative cross-helicity production). The cross helicity with this opposite sign induces a reversed toroidal field. Results of the eigenvalue analysis of the model equations are shown, which confirm the above scenario. References [1] Charbonneau, Living Rev. Solar Phys. 7, 3 (2010). [2] Yoshizawa, A. Phys. Fluids B 2, 1589 (1990). [3] Yokoi, N. Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn. 107, 114 (2013).

Investigating High Frequency Magnetic Activity During Local Helicity Injection on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richner, N. J.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Pachicano, J. L.; Perry, J. M.; Reusch, J. A.

2017-10-01

Understanding the current drive mechanism(s) of Local Helicity Injection (LHI) is needed for confident scaling to next-step devices. 3D resistive MHD NIMROD simulations ascribe large-scale reconnection events of helical injector current streams as a current drive mechanism. The events generate n = 1 B fluctuations on outboard Mirnov coils, consistent with experiment. New results suggest additional mechanisms are also active during LHI. Reconnection-driven ion heating is better correlated with high frequency activity than the n = 1 bursts. Experiments with inboard injectors can exhibit an abrupt ( 250 μs) transition to a reduced MHD state on outboard Mirnovs where the n = 1 feature vanishes, while still maintaining current growth and/or sustainment. A new insertable magnetics probe was developed to investigate these phenomena. It measures TeXBz up to 3.5 MHz at 15 points over a 14 cm radial extent (ΔR 1 cm). Measurements with this probe are consistent with the outboard Mirnovs when positioned far from the plasma boundary. However, measurements near the plasma edge lack the reduction in broadband power (up to 2 MHz) following the transition. The probe shows power is concentrated at higher frequencies during LHI, with mostly flat B spectra up to 600-800 kHz ( fci) at which there is a resonance-like feature; at higher frequencies, the power decreases. These measurements suggest short-wavelength activity may play a significant role in LHI current drive. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Structure-Property Relations in Carbon Nanotube Fibers by Downscaling Solution Processing.

PubMed

Headrick, Robert J; Tsentalovich, Dmitri E; Berdegué, Julián; Bengio, Elie Amram; Liberman, Lucy; Kleinerman, Olga; Lucas, Matthew S; Talmon, Yeshayahu; Pasquali, Matteo

2018-03-01

At the microscopic scale, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) combine impressive tensile strength and electrical conductivity; however, their macroscopic counterparts have not met expectations. The reasons are variously attributed to inherent CNT sample properties (diameter and helicity polydispersity, high defect density, insufficient length) and manufacturing shortcomings (inadequate ordering and packing), which can lead to poor transmission of stress and current. To efficiently investigate the disparity between microscopic and macroscopic properties, a new method is introduced for processing microgram quantities of CNTs into highly oriented and well-packed fibers. CNTs are dissolved into chlorosulfonic acid and processed into aligned films; each film can be peeled and twisted into multiple discrete fibers. Fibers fabricated by this method and solution-spinning are directly compared to determine the impact of alignment, twist, packing density, and length. Surprisingly, these discrete fibers can be twice as strong as their solution-spun counterparts despite a lower degree of alignment. Strength appears to be more sensitive to internal twist and packing density, while fiber conductivity is essentially equivalent among the two sets of samples. Importantly, this rapid fiber manufacturing method uses three orders of magnitude less material than solution spinning, expanding the experimental parameter space and enabling the exploration of unique CNT sources. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Heliconical smectic phases formed by achiral molecules

DOE PAGES

Abberley, Jordan P.; Killah, Ross; Walker, Rebecca; ...

2018-01-15

Chiral symmetry breaking in soft matter is a hot topic of current research. Recently, such a phenomenon was found in a fluidic phase showing orientational order of molecules - the nematic phase; although built of achiral molecules, the phase can exhibit structural chirality - average molecular direction follows a short-pitch helix. Here in this paper, we report a series of achiral asymmetric dimers with an odd number of atoms in the spacer, which form twisted structures in nematic as well as in lamellar phases. The tight pitch heliconical nematic (N TB) phase and heliconical tilted smectic C (SmC TB) phasemore » are formed. The formation of a variety of helical structures is accompanied by a gradual freezing of molecular rotation. In the lowest temperature smectic phase, HexI, the twist is expressed through the formation of hierarchical structure: nanoscale helices and mesoscopic helical filaments. The short-pitch helical structure in the smectic phases is confirmed by resonant X-ray measurements.« less

Control of the Helicity Content of a Gun-Generated Spheromak by Incorporating a Conducting Shell into a Magnetized Coaxial Plasma Gun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Tadafumi; Sekiguchi, Jun'ichi; Asai, Tomohiko

In the formation of magnetized plasmoid by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG), the magnetic helicity content of the generated plasmoid is one of the critical parameters. Typically, the bias coil to generate a poloidal flux is mounted either on the outer electrode or inside the inner electrode. However, most of the flux generated in the conventional method spreads even radially outside of the formation region. Thus, only a fraction of the total magnetic flux is actually exploited for helicity generation in the plasmoid. In the proposed system, the plasma gun incorporates a copper shell mounted on the outer electrode. By changing the rise time of the discharge bias coil current and the geometrical structure of the shell, the magnetic field structure and its time evolution can be controlled. The effect of the copper shell has been numerically simulated for the actual gun structure, and experimentally confirmed. This may increase the magnetic helicity content results, through increased poloidal magnetic field.

Heliconical smectic phases formed by achiral molecules

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abberley, Jordan P.; Killah, Ross; Walker, Rebecca

Chiral symmetry breaking in soft matter is a hot topic of current research. Recently, such a phenomenon was found in a fluidic phase showing orientational order of molecules - the nematic phase; although built of achiral molecules, the phase can exhibit structural chirality - average molecular direction follows a short-pitch helix. Here in this paper, we report a series of achiral asymmetric dimers with an odd number of atoms in the spacer, which form twisted structures in nematic as well as in lamellar phases. The tight pitch heliconical nematic (N TB) phase and heliconical tilted smectic C (SmC TB) phasemore » are formed. The formation of a variety of helical structures is accompanied by a gradual freezing of molecular rotation. In the lowest temperature smectic phase, HexI, the twist is expressed through the formation of hierarchical structure: nanoscale helices and mesoscopic helical filaments. The short-pitch helical structure in the smectic phases is confirmed by resonant X-ray measurements.« less

Sustainment Study of Flipped Spherical Torus Plasmas on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takamiya, T.; Nagata, M.; Kawami, K.; Hasegawa, H.; Fukumoto, N.; Uyama, T.; Masamune, S.; Iida, M.; Katsurai, M.

2003-10-01

We have discovered that helicity-driven ST plasmas relax toward the flipped state by decreasing the external toroidal field and reversing its sign in time [1]. From the viewpoint of coaxial helicity injection (CHI) current drive, it is conceivable that the flipped ST (F-ST), which consists of only closed flux surfaces, compares favorably with the normal ST. We have investigated the sustainment mechanism of the F-ST plasma. The helicity-driven relaxed theory shows that there exist the mixed states of ST and F-ST in the flux conserver. Helicity is transferred to F-ST through the ST with coupling with gun electrodes. It has been found that magnetic reconnection between the toroidal magnetic field plays important role in the sustainment of the F-ST. The magnetic field in the outer edge region shows regular oscillations which have a large amplitude of the n=1 mode. The core region of the F-ST seems to be relatively stable. [1] M. Nagata, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 225001 (2003)

Large-volume flux closure during plasmoid-mediated reconnection in coaxial helicity injection

DOE PAGES

Ebrahimi, F.; Raman, R.

2016-03-23

A large-volume flux closure during transient coaxial helicity injection (CHI) in NSTX-U is demonstrated through resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations. Several major improvements, including the improved positioning of the divertor poloidal field coils, are projected to improve the CHI start-up phase in NSTX-U. Simulations in the NSTX-U configuration with constant in time coil currents show that with strong flux shaping the injected open field lines (injector flux) rapidly reconnect and form large volume of closed flux surfaces. This is achieved by driving parallel current in the injector flux coil and oppositely directed currents in the flux shaping coils to form amore » narrow injector flux footprint and push the injector flux into the vessel. As the helicity and plasma are injected into the device, the oppositely directed field lines in the injector region are forced to reconnect through a local Sweet-Parker type reconnection, or to spontaneously reconnect when the elongated current sheet becomes MHD unstable to form plasmoids. In these simulations for the first time, it is found that the closed flux is over 70% of the initial injector flux used to initiate the discharge. Furthermore, these results could work well for the application of transient CHI in devices that employ super conducting coils to generate and sustain the plasma equilibrium.« less

Toward high-resolution computational design of helical membrane protein structure and function

PubMed Central

Barth, Patrick; Senes, Alessandro

2016-01-01

The computational design of α-helical membrane proteins is still in its infancy but has made important progress. De novo design has produced stable, specific and active minimalistic oligomeric systems. Computational re-engineering can improve stability and modulate the function of natural membrane proteins. Currently, the major hurdle for the field is not computational, but the experimental characterization of the designs. The emergence of new structural methods for membrane proteins will accelerate progress PMID:27273630

Toward high-resolution computational design of the structure and function of helical membrane proteins.

PubMed

Barth, Patrick; Senes, Alessandro

2016-06-07

The computational design of α-helical membrane proteins is still in its infancy but has already made great progress. De novo design allows stable, specific and active minimal oligomeric systems to be obtained. Computational reengineering can improve the stability and function of naturally occurring membrane proteins. Currently, the major hurdle for the field is the experimental characterization of the designs. The emergence of new structural methods for membrane proteins will accelerate progress.

Off-shell amplitudes as boundary integrals of analytically continued Wilson line slope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotko, P.; Serino, M.; Stasto, A. M.

2016-08-01

One of the methods to calculate tree-level multi-gluon scattering amplitudes is to use the Berends-Giele recursion relation involving off-shell currents or off-shell amplitudes, if working in the light cone gauge. As shown in recent works using the light-front perturbation theory, solutions to these recursions naturally collapse into gauge invariant and gauge-dependent components, at least for some helicity configurations. In this work, we show that such structure is helicity independent and emerges from analytic properties of matrix elements of Wilson line operators, where the slope of the straight gauge path is shifted in a certain complex direction. This is similar to the procedure leading to the Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten (BCFW) recursion, however we apply a complex shift to the Wilson line slope instead of the external momenta. While in the original BCFW procedure the boundary integrals over the complex shift vanish for certain deformations, here they are non-zero and are equal to the off-shell amplitudes. The main result can thus be summarized as follows: we derive a decomposition of a helicity-fixed off-shell current into gauge invariant component given by a matrix element of a straight Wilson line plus a reminder given by a sum of products of gauge invariant and gauge dependent quantities. We give several examples realizing this relation, including the five-point next-to-MHV helicity configuration.

Observations of nonlinear and nonuniform kink dynamics in a laboratory flux rope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sears, J.; Intrator, T.; Feng, Y.; Swan, H.; Gao, K.; Chapdelaine, L.

2013-12-01

A plasma column with axial magnetic field and current has helically twisted field lines. When current density in the column exceeds the kink instability threshold this magnetic configuration becomes unstable. Flux ropes in the solar wind and some solar prominences exhibit this topology, with their dynamics strongly and nonlinearly coupled to the ratio of axial current to magnetic field. The current-driven kink mode is ubiquitous in laboratory plasmas and well suited to laboratory study. In the Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX), nonlinear stability properties beyond the simple perturbative kink model are observed and readily diagnosed. We use a plasma gun to generate a single plasma column 0.50 m in length, in which we then drive an axial plasma current at the limit of marginal kink stability. With plasma current maintained at this threshold, we observe a deformation to a new dynamic equilibrium with finite gyration amplitude, where the currents and magnetic fields that support the force balance have surprising axial structure. Three dimensional measurements of magnetic field, plasma density, plasma potential, and ion flow velocity in the deformed plasma column show variation in the axial direction of the instability parameter and in the terms of the momentum equation. Likewise the pitch of the kink is measured to be nonuniform over the column length. In addition there is a return current antiparallel to the driven plasma current at distances up to 0.30 m from the gun that also modifies the force balance. These axial inhomogeneities, which are not considered in the model of an ideal kink, may be the terms that allow the deformed equilibrium of the RSX plasma to exist. Supported by DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under LANS contract DE-AC52-06NA25369, NASA Geospace NNHIOA044I, Basic. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Single-Molecule Titration in a Protein Nanoreactor Reveals the Protonation/Deprotonation Mechanism of a C:C Mismatch in DNA.

PubMed

Ren, Hang; Cheyne, Cameron G; Fleming, Aaron M; Burrows, Cynthia J; White, Henry S

2018-04-18

Measurement of single-molecule reactions can elucidate microscopic mechanisms that are often hidden from ensemble analysis. Herein, we report the acid-base titration of a single DNA duplex confined within the wild-type α-hemolysin (α-HL) nanopore for up to 3 h, while monitoring the ionic current through the nanopore. Modulation between two states in the current-time trace for duplexes containing the C:C mismatch in proximity to the latch constriction of α-HL is attributed to the base flipping of the C:C mismatch. As the pH is lowered, the rate for the C:C mismatch to flip from the intra-helical state to the extra-helical state ( k intra-extra ) decreases, while the rate for base flipping from the extra-helical state to the intra-helical state ( k extra-intra ) remains unchanged. Both k intra-extra and k extra-intra are on the order of 1 × 10 -2 s -1 to 1 × 10 -1 s -1 and remain stable over the time scale of the measurement (several hours). Analysis of the pH-dependent kinetics of base flipping using a hidden Markov kinetic model demonstrates that protonation/deprotonation occurs while the base pair is in the intra-helical state. We also demonstrate that the rate of protonation is limited by transport of H + into the α-HL nanopore. Single-molecule kinetic isotope experiments exhibit a large kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for k intra-extra ( k H / k D ≈ 5) but a limited KIE for k extra-intra ( k H / k D ≈ 1.3), supporting our model. Our experiments correspond to the longest single-molecule measurements performed using a nanopore, and demonstrate its application in interrogating mechanisms of single-molecule reactions in confined geometries.

Nuclear breeder reactor fuel element with silicon carbide getter

DOEpatents

Christiansen, David W.; Karnesky, Richard A.

1987-01-01

An improved cesium getter 28 is provided in a breeder reactor fuel element or pin in the form of an extended surface area, low density element formed in one embodiment as a helically wound foil 30 located with silicon carbide, and located at the upper end of the fertile material upper blanket 20.

Differential cross sections and spin density matrix elements for gamma p -> phi p from CLAS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Biplab Dey, Curtis A. Meyer

2011-10-01

Preliminary differential cross-sections and the {rho}{sub MM'}{sup 0} spin density matrix elements (SDME) for the reaction {gamma}p {yields} {phi} for both charged- ({phi} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}) and neutral-mode ({phi} {yields} K{sub L}{sup 0}K{sub S}{sup 0}) topologies obtained from CLAS are presented. Our kinematic coverage is from near production threshold ({radical}s {approx} 1.97more » $$ GeV) to {radical}s = 2.84$$ GeV, with a wide coverage in the production angle. As seen in previous LEPS results, the differential cross-sections show a localized 'bump' between {radical}s {approx} 2 and 2.2 GeV that is not expected from a simple Pomeron exchange picture. Comparisons between the charged- and neutral-mode results and possible effects from the K{sup +} {Lambda}(1520) channel are discussed. Our SDME results confirm the well-known deviations from t-channel helicity conservation (TCHC) for Pomeron exchange, but s-channel helicity conservation (SCHC) is also seen to be broken.« less

The Physics of the Dense Z-Pinch in Theory and in Experiment With Application to Fusion Reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haines, M. G.

1982-01-01

A new generation of Z-pinches employing high voltage, high current pulsed lines as power sources produce dense hot plasmas with enhanced stability properties. Three methods of Z-pinch formation are currently in use: (1) cylindrical collapse and compression of a pre-ionised gas; (2) laser initiation and Joule heating of a gas embedded pinch, and (3) hollow gas puff and subsequent collapse to the axis. The first method shows no dynamic bounce and no instability over about ten radial Alfvén transit times. The laser initiated Z-pinch shows benign helical structures, whilst the gas puff experiments are known for their high X-ray energy conversion associated with m = 0 instabilities. The first two experimental conditions are relevant for fusion. A calculation of energy balance for satisfying Lawson conditions with axial and radial energy losses and radiation loss shows that a current I of ~ 106 A and a line density N of 6 × 1018m-1 are required. This leads to two coincidences of physical quantities that are very favourable for controlled fusion. The first is that at this line density and under pressure balance the ratio of the ion Larmor radius to pinch radius is of order 1 so that a marked stabilisation of the configuration is expected. The second coincidence is that the current is only just below the Pease-Braginskii limit; this will permit the possibility of radiative collapse to attain the high density (~ 4 × 1027 m-3) and small radius (~ 20 μm) required for a compact (0.1 m long) discharge. The confining self-magnetic field is 104 T, the confinement time ~ 100 ns, and a matrix of pulsed discharges is envisaged in a moderator and breeding medium which does not have the wall-loading limitations of tokamaks.

Extended MHD Effects in High Energy Density Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyler, Charles

2016-10-01

The MHD model is the workhorse for computational modeling of HEDP experiments. Plasma models are inheritably limited in scope, but MHD is expected to be a very good model for studying plasmas at the high densities attained in HEDP experiments. There are, however, important ways in which MHD fails to adequately describe the results, most notably due to the omission of the Hall term in the Ohm's law (a form of extended MHD or XMHD). This talk will discuss these failings by directly comparing simulations of MHD and XMHD for particularly relevant cases. The methodology is to simulate HEDP experiments using a Hall-MHD (HMHD) code based on a highly accurate and robust Discontinuous Galerkin method, and by comparison of HMHD to MHD draw conclusions about the impact of the Hall term. We focus on simulating two experimental pulsed power machines under various scenarios. We examine the MagLIF experiment on the Z-machine at Sandia National Laboratories and liner experiments on the COBRA machine at Cornell. For the MagLIF experiment we find that power flow in the feed leads to low density plasma ablation into the region surrounding the liner. The inflow of this plasma compresses axial magnetic flux onto the liner. In MHD this axial flux tends to resistively decay, whereas in HMHD a force-free current layer sustains the axial flux on the liner leading to a larger ratio of axial to azimuthal flux. During the liner compression the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability leads to helical perturbations due to minimization of field line bending. Simulations of a cylindrical liner using the COBRA machine parameters can under certain conditions exhibit amplification of an axial field due to a force-free low-density current layer separated by some distance from the liner. This results in a configuration in which there is predominately axial field on the liner inside the current layer and azimuthal field outside the layer. We are currently attempting to experimentally verify the simulation results. Collaborator: Nathaniel D. Hamlin, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Inorganic SnIP-Type Double Helices in Main-Group Chemistry.

PubMed

Baumgartner, Maximilian; Weihrich, Richard; Nilges, Tom

2017-05-05

Inspired by the synthesis of the first atomic-scale double-helix semiconductor SnIP, this study deals with the question of whether more atomistic, inorganic double-helix compounds are accessible. With the aid of quantum chemical calculations, we have identified 31 candidates by a homoatomic substitution in MXPn, varying the Group 14 M-element from Si to Pb, the Group 17 X-element from F to I and replacing the pnictide (Pn) phosphorus by arsenic. The double-helical structure of SnIP has been used as the starting model for all candidates and the electronic structure and vibrational spectra were determined within the framework of density functional theory (DFT). Varying the outer MX or the inner Pn helix led to the conclusion that iodide- and bromide-containing MXPn compounds show similar structures to SnIP. Here, the calculations indicate interesting effects for electronic band-gap tuning. For the highly polarized fluorides, a segregation of the helices to more complex MX substructures is predicted. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Impact of plasma response on plasma displacements in DIII-D during application of external 3D perturbations

DOE PAGES

Wingen, Andreas; Ferraro, Nathaniel M.; Shafer, Morgan W.; ...

2014-05-23

The effects of applied non-axisymmetric resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) are predicted without and with self-consistent plasma response by modeling of the magnetic field structure and two-fluid MHD simulations, respectively. A synthetic diagnostic is used to simulate soft X-ray (SXR) emission within the steep gradient region of the pedestal, 0.98 > ψ > 0.94. The entire pedestal and edge region is characterized by large changes in plasma rotation and current density. Those parameters are expected to strongly affect the plasma response to RMPs. The M3D-C1 code takes into account this response self-consistently. The plasma response is investigated in detail and usedmore » in the forward modeling of the simulated local SXR emission, within the framework of the synthetic diagnostic. The resulting synthetic emission is compared to measured SXR data. The latter clearly shows helical m = 11 ± 1 displacements around the 11/3 rational surface of sizes up to 5 cm, which change with the poloidal angle. The synthetic emission with plasma response is used to explain the nature of the measured displacements. Different approaches are tested. One approach is based on the magnetic field structure to simulate local emission, which shows additional structures at the separatrix, that are caused by the lobes. Especially without plasma response, almost only separatrix structures are generated while no significant displacements are found further inside. Another approach to model local emission uses the fluid quantities electron density and temperature, as calculated by M3D-C1. Compared to the previous approach, based on the magnetic field structure, the emission simulated by the fluid approach with plasma response shows better agreement with the measured SXR data. To be specific, it has comparable displacements in the steep gradient region and no lobe structures at all. The helical displacements around the 11/3 surface are identified to be directly related to the kink response, caused by non-resonant amplification of various poloidal RMP modes due to plasma response. Regarding the latter, the role of different plasma parameters is investigated, but it appears that the electron rotation plays a key role in the formation of screening and resonant amplification, while the kinking appears to be sensitive to the edge current density. As a result, it is also hypothesised that the strength of the kink response is also correlated to edge-localized-mode (ELM) stability.« less

Transport phenomena in helical edge state interferometers: A Green's function approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzo, Bruno; Arrachea, Liliana; Moskalets, Michael

2013-10-01

We analyze the current and the shot noise of an electron interferometer made of the helical edge states of a two-dimensional topological insulator within the framework of nonequilibrium Green's functions formalism. We study, in detail, setups with a single and with two quantum point contacts inducing scattering between the different edge states. We consider processes preserving the spin as well as the effect of spin-flip scattering. In the case of a single quantum point contact, a simple test based on the shot-noise measurement is proposed to quantify the strength of the spin-flip scattering. In the case of two single point contacts with the additional ingredient of gate voltages applied within a finite-size region at the top and bottom edges of the sample, we identify two types of interference processes in the behavior of the currents and the noise. One such process is analogous to that taking place in a Fabry-Pérot interferometer, while the second one corresponds to a configuration similar to a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In the helical interferometer, these two processes compete.

Effect of the magnetic field on the supramolecular structure of chiral smectic C phases: (2)H NMR studies.

PubMed

Domenici, Valentina; Marini, Alberto; Veracini, Carlo Alberto; Zhang, Jing; Dong, Ronald Y

2007-12-21

We present a theoretical and experimental (2)H NMR study of the effect of external magnetic fields on the supramolecular organization of chiral smectic liquid-crystalline mesophases, such as SmC* and re-entrant SmC*. Three experimental cases in which the supramolecular helical structure of the smectic C* phase is unwound by a magnetic field (H), parallel to the helical axes of this phase, are discussed in detail. Unwinding of the helical structure is described by using a theoretical model based on the Landau-de Gennes theory, which allows us to explain the transition temperatures among the SmA, SmC*, and uSmC* phases. The energy-density behavior in the vicinity of the transitions and the value of the critical magnetic field H(C) for unwinding the helical structure are discussed by applying this model to three ferroelectric smectogens (MBHB, 11EB1M7, ZLL7/*), which are studied by (2)H NMR spectroscopy at different magnetic fields (from 2.4 to 9.4 Tesla). Furthermore, the tilt angle of the three smectogens in the SmC* phase has been directly evaluated, for the first time, by comparing the quadrupolar splittings at different magnetic fields. In one case, (2)H NMR angular measurements are used to obtain the tilt angle in the re-entrant smectic C phase.

Characteristics of Muti-pulsing CHI driven ST plasmas on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishihara, M.; Hanao, T.; Ito, K.; Matsumoto, K.; Higashi, T.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2011-10-01

The flux amplification and sustainment of the ST configurations by operating in Multi-pulsing Coaxial Helicity Injection (M-CHI) method have been demonstrated on HIST. The multi-pulsing experiment was demonstrated in the SSPX spheromak device at LLNL. In the double pulsing discharges, we have observed that the plasma current has been sustained much longer against the resistive decay as compared to the single CHI. We have measured the radial profiles of the flow velocities by using Ion Doppler Spectrometer and Mach probes. The result shows that poloidal shear flow exists between the open flux column and the most outer closed flux surface. The poloidal velocity shear at the interface may be caused by the ion diamagnetic drift, because of a steep density gradient there. The radial electric field is determined by the flow velocities and the ion pressure gradient through the radial momentum balance equation. We have investigated the contribution of ExB or the ion pressure gradient on the poloidal velocity shear by comparing the impurity ion flow obtained from the IDS with the bulk ion flow from the Mach probe. It should be noted that the diamagnetic drift velocity of the impurity is much smaller than ExB drift velocity. We will discuss characteristics of M-CHI-driven ST plasmas by varying TF coil current and the line averaged electron density.

A Novel Fast Helical 4D-CT Acquisition Technique to Generate Low-Noise Sorting Artifact–Free Images at User-Selected Breathing Phases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas, David, E-mail: dhthomas@mednet.ucla.edu; Lamb, James; White, Benjamin

2014-05-01

Purpose: To develop a novel 4-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) technique that exploits standard fast helical acquisition, a simultaneous breathing surrogate measurement, deformable image registration, and a breathing motion model to remove sorting artifacts. Methods and Materials: Ten patients were imaged under free-breathing conditions 25 successive times in alternating directions with a 64-slice CT scanner using a low-dose fast helical protocol. An abdominal bellows was used as a breathing surrogate. Deformable registration was used to register the first image (defined as the reference image) to the subsequent 24 segmented images. Voxel-specific motion model parameters were determined using a breathing motion model. Themore » tissue locations predicted by the motion model in the 25 images were compared against the deformably registered tissue locations, allowing a model prediction error to be evaluated. A low-noise image was created by averaging the 25 images deformed to the first image geometry, reducing statistical image noise by a factor of 5. The motion model was used to deform the low-noise reference image to any user-selected breathing phase. A voxel-specific correction was applied to correct the Hounsfield units for lung parenchyma density as a function of lung air filling. Results: Images produced using the model at user-selected breathing phases did not suffer from sorting artifacts common to conventional 4D-CT protocols. The mean prediction error across all patients between the breathing motion model predictions and the measured lung tissue positions was determined to be 1.19 ± 0.37 mm. Conclusions: The proposed technique can be used as a clinical 4D-CT technique. It is robust in the presence of irregular breathing and allows the entire imaging dose to contribute to the resulting image quality, providing sorting artifact–free images at a patient dose similar to or less than current 4D-CT techniques.« less

A novel fast helical 4D-CT acquisition technique to generate low-noise sorting artifact-free images at user-selected breathing phases.

PubMed

Thomas, David; Lamb, James; White, Benjamin; Jani, Shyam; Gaudio, Sergio; Lee, Percy; Ruan, Dan; McNitt-Gray, Michael; Low, Daniel

2014-05-01

To develop a novel 4-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) technique that exploits standard fast helical acquisition, a simultaneous breathing surrogate measurement, deformable image registration, and a breathing motion model to remove sorting artifacts. Ten patients were imaged under free-breathing conditions 25 successive times in alternating directions with a 64-slice CT scanner using a low-dose fast helical protocol. An abdominal bellows was used as a breathing surrogate. Deformable registration was used to register the first image (defined as the reference image) to the subsequent 24 segmented images. Voxel-specific motion model parameters were determined using a breathing motion model. The tissue locations predicted by the motion model in the 25 images were compared against the deformably registered tissue locations, allowing a model prediction error to be evaluated. A low-noise image was created by averaging the 25 images deformed to the first image geometry, reducing statistical image noise by a factor of 5. The motion model was used to deform the low-noise reference image to any user-selected breathing phase. A voxel-specific correction was applied to correct the Hounsfield units for lung parenchyma density as a function of lung air filling. Images produced using the model at user-selected breathing phases did not suffer from sorting artifacts common to conventional 4D-CT protocols. The mean prediction error across all patients between the breathing motion model predictions and the measured lung tissue positions was determined to be 1.19 ± 0.37 mm. The proposed technique can be used as a clinical 4D-CT technique. It is robust in the presence of irregular breathing and allows the entire imaging dose to contribute to the resulting image quality, providing sorting artifact-free images at a patient dose similar to or less than current 4D-CT techniques. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Initial Thomson Scattering Survey of Local Helicity Injection and Ohmic Plasmas at the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlossberg, D. J.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Winz, G. R.

2014-10-01

A multipoint Thomson scattering diagnostic has recently been installed on the Pegasus ST. The system utilizes a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser (λ0 ~ 532 nm), spectrometers with volume phase holographic gratings, and a gated, intensified CCD camera. It provides measurements of Te and ne at 8 spatial locations for each spectrometer once per discharge. A new multiple aperture and beam dump system has been implemented to mitigate interference from stray light. This system has provided initial measurements in the core region of plasmas initiated by local helicity injection (LHI), as well as conventional Ohmic L- and H-mode discharges. Multi-shot averages of low-density (ne ~ 3 ×1018 m-3) , Ip ~ 0 . 1 MA LHI discharges show central Te ~ 75 eV at the end of the helicity injection phase. Ip ~ 0 . 13 MA Ohmic plasmas at moderate densities (ne ~ 2 ×1019 m-3) have core Te ~ 150 eV in L-mode. Generally, these plasmas do not reach transport equilibrium in the short 25 ms pulse length available. After an L-H transition, strong spectral broadening indicates increasing Te, to values above the range of the present spectrometer system with a high-dispersion VPH grating. Near-term system upgrades will focus on deploying a second spectrometer, with a lower-dispersion grating capable of measuring the 0.1-1.0 keV range. The second spectrometer system will also increase the available number of spatial channels, enabling study of H-mode pedestal structure. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Observation of Turbulent Intermittency Scaling with Magnetic Helicity in an MHD Plasma Wind Tunnel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaffner, D. A.; Wan, A.; Brown, M. R.

2014-04-01

The intermittency in turbulent magnetic field fluctuations has been observed to scale with the amount of magnetic helicity injected into a laboratory plasma. An unstable spheromak injected into the MHD wind tunnel of the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment displays turbulent magnetic and plasma fluctuations as it relaxes into a Taylor state. The level of intermittency of this turbulence is determined by finding the flatness of the probability distribution function of increments for magnetic pickup coil fluctuations B˙(t). The intermittency increases with the injected helicity, but spectral indices are unaffected by this variation. While evidence is provided which supports the hypothesis that current sheets and reconnection sites are related to the generation of this intermittent signal, the true nature of the observed intermittency remains unknown.

Synthesis of Helical Carbon Fibers and Related Materials: A Review on the Past and Recent Developments

PubMed Central

Raghubanshi, Himanshu; Dikio, Ezekiel Dixon

2015-01-01

Helical carbon fibers (HCFs) have been widely studied due to their unique helical morphology and superior properties, which make them efficient materials for several potential applications. This review summarizes the past and current advancement on the synthesis of HCFs. The review focuses and discusses synthesis strategies and effect of experimental parameters on the growth of HCFs. The effect of preparation method of catalyst, catalyst nature, catalyst composition, catalyst size, catalyst initial and final shape, reaction temperature, reaction time, carbon source, impurities, and electromagnetic field on the growth of HCFs is reviewed. We also discuss the growth mechanism for HCFs and the synthesis of HCFs related materials. Finally, we conclude with a brief summary and an outlook on the challenges and future prospects of HCFs. PMID:28347045

Comparison of Image Quality and Radiation Dose of Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography Between Conventional Helical Scanning and a Strategy Incorporating Sequential Scanning

PubMed Central

Einstein, Andrew J.; Wolff, Steven D.; Manheimer, Eric D.; Thompson, James; Terry, Sylvia; Uretsky, Seth; Pilip, Adalbert; Peters, M. Robert

2009-01-01

Radiation dose from coronary computed tomography angiography may be reduced using a sequential scanning protocol rather than a conventional helical scanning protocol. Here we compare radiation dose and image quality from coronary computed tomography angiography in a single center between an initial period during which helical scanning with electrocardiographically-controlled tube current modulation was used for all patients (n=138) and after adoption of a strategy incorporating sequential scanning whenever appropriate (n=261). Using the sequential-if-appropriate strategy, sequential scanning was employed in 86.2% of patients. Compared to the helical-only strategy, this strategy was associated with a 65.1% dose reduction (mean dose-length product of 305.2 vs. 875.1 and mean effective dose of 14.9 mSv vs. 5.2 mSv, respectively), with no significant change in overall image quality, step artifacts, motion artifacts, or perceived image noise. For the 225 patients undergoing sequential scanning, the dose-length product was 201.9 ± 90.0 mGy·cm, while for patients undergoing helical scanning under either strategy, the dose-length product was 890.9 ± 293.3 mGy·cm (p<0.0001), corresponding to mean effective doses of 3.4 mSv and 15.1 mSv, respectively, a 77.5% reduction. Image quality was significantly greater for the sequential studies, reflecting the poorer image quality in patients undergoing helical scanning in the sequential-if-appropriate strategy. In conclusion, a sequential-if-appropriate diagnostic strategy reduces dose markedly compared to a helical-only strategy, with no significant difference in image quality. PMID:19892048

Performance analyses of helical coil heat exchangers. The effect of external coil surface modification on heat exchanger effectiveness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrzejczyk, Rafał; Muszyński, Tomasz

2016-12-01

The shell and coil heat exchangers are commonly used in heating, ventilation, nuclear industry, process plant, heat recovery and air conditioning systems. This type of recuperators benefits from simple construction, the low value of pressure drops and high heat transfer. In helical coil, centrifugal force is acting on the moving fluid due to the curvature of the tube results in the development. It has been long recognized that the heat transfer in the helical tube is much better than in the straight ones because of the occurrence of secondary flow in planes normal to the main flow inside the helical structure. Helical tubes show good performance in heat transfer enhancement, while the uniform curvature of spiral structure is inconvenient in pipe installation in heat exchangers. Authors have presented their own construction of shell and tube heat exchanger with intensified heat transfer. The purpose of this article is to assess the influence of the surface modification over the performance coefficient and effectiveness. The experiments have been performed for the steady-state heat transfer. Experimental data points were gathered for both laminar and turbulent flow, both for co current- and countercurrent flow arrangement. To find optimal heat transfer intensification on the shell-side authors applied the number of transfer units analysis.

An energy-harvesting power supply for underwater bridge scour monitoring sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yuli; Li, Yingjie; He, Longzhuang; Shamsi, Pourya; Zheng, Yahong R.

2018-03-01

The natural force of scouring has become one of the most critical risk endangering the endurance of bridges, thus leading to the necessity of deploying underwater monitoring sensors to actively detect potential scour holes under bridges. Due to the difficulty in re-charging batteries for underwater sensors, super capacitors with energy harvesting (EH) means are exploited to prolong the sustainability of underwater sensors. In this paper, an energy harvesting power supply based on a helical turbine is proposed to power underwater monitoring sensors. A small helical turbine is designed to convert water flow energy to electrical energy with favorable environmental robustness. A 3-inch diameter, 2.5-inch length and 3-bladed helical turbine was designed with two types of waterproof coupling with the sensor housing. Both designs were prototyped and tested under different flow conditions and we get valid voltage around 0.91 V which is enough to power monitoring sensor. The alternating current (AC) electrical energy generated by the helical turbine is then rectified and boosted to drive a DC charger for efficiently charging one super capacitor. The charging circuit was designed, prototyped and tested thoroughly with the helical turbine harvester. The results were promising, that the overall power supply can power an underwater sensor node with wireless transceivers for long-term operations

Comparison of electron-beam and ungated helical CT in detecting coronary arterial calcification by using a working heart phantom and artificial coronary arteries.

PubMed

Hopper, Kenneth D; Strollo, Diane C; Mauger, David T

2002-02-01

To determine the sensitivity and specificity of cardiac gated electron-beam computed tomography (CT) and ungated helical CT in detecting and quantifying coronary arterial calcification (CAC) by using a working heart phantom and artificial coronary arteries. A working heart phantom simulating normal cardiac motion and providing attenuation equal to that of an adult thorax was used. Thirty tubes with a 3-mm inner diameter were internally coated with pulverized human cortical bone mixed with epoxy glue to simulate minimal (n = 10), mild (n = 10), or severe (n = 10) calcified plaques. Ten additional tubes were not coated and served as normal controls. The tubes were attached to the same location on the phantom heart and scanned with electron-beam CT and helical CT in horizontal and vertical planes. Actual plaque calcium content was subsequently quantified with atopic spectroscopy. Two blinded experienced radiologic imaging teams, one for each CT system, separately measured calcium content in the model vessels by using a Hounsfield unit threshold of 130 or greater. The sensitivity and specificity of electron-beam CT in detecting CAC were 66.1% and 80.0%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of helical CT were 96.4% and 95.0%, respectively. Electron-beam CT was less reliable when vessels were oriented vertically (sensitivity and specificity, 71.4% and 70%; 95% CI: 39.0%, 75.0%) versus horizontally (sensitivity and specificity, 60.7% and 90.0%; 95% CI: 48.0%, 82.0%). When a correction factor was applied, the volume of calcified plaque was statistically better quantified with helical CT than with electron-beam CT (P =.004). Ungated helical CT depicts coronary arterial calcium better than does gated electron-beam CT. When appropriate correction factors are applied, helical CT is superior to electron-beam CT in quantifying coronary arterial calcium. Although further work must be done to optimize helical CT grading systems and scanning protocols, the data of this study demonstrated helical CT's inherent advantage over currently commercially available electron-beam CT systems in CAC detection and quantification.

U-shaped relationship between current and pitch in helicene molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Yan-Dong; Yan, Xiao-Hong; Xiao, Yang; Liu, Chun-Sheng

2015-11-01

The helicene is constructed by twisted benzene or other aromatic rings, exhibiting a helical structure. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the electronic transport of helicenes under stretching or compressing. Interestingly, a U-shaped curve of the current against d (the pitch of a helicene) is observed. Further analysis shows that, it is the result of the nonmonotonic change of HOMO-LUMO gap with d. The change of overlap between orbitals induced by conformational deformation is found to be the underlying mechanism. Moreover, the U-curve phenomenon is an intrinsic feature of the helicene molecules, being robust to the electrode materials or doping. This U-curve behavior is expected to be extended to helical graphene or other related structures, showing great application potential.

U-shaped relationship between current and pitch in helicene molecules.

PubMed

Guo, Yan-Dong; Yan, Xiao-Hong; Xiao, Yang; Liu, Chun-Sheng

2015-11-19

The helicene is constructed by twisted benzene or other aromatic rings, exhibiting a helical structure. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the electronic transport of helicenes under stretching or compressing. Interestingly, a U-shaped curve of the current against d (the pitch of a helicene) is observed. Further analysis shows that, it is the result of the nonmonotonic change of HOMO-LUMO gap with d. The change of overlap between orbitals induced by conformational deformation is found to be the underlying mechanism. Moreover, the U-curve phenomenon is an intrinsic feature of the helicene molecules, being robust to the electrode materials or doping. This U-curve behavior is expected to be extended to helical graphene or other related structures, showing great application potential.

Bracket formulations and energy- and helicity-preserving numerical methods for incompressible two-phase flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Yukihito

2018-03-01

A diffuse interface model for three-dimensional viscous incompressible two-phase flows is formulated within a bracket formalism using a skew-symmetric Poisson bracket together with a symmetric negative semi-definite dissipative bracket. The budgets of kinetic energy, helicity, and enstrophy derived from the bracket formulations are properly inherited by the finite difference equations obtained by invoking the discrete variational derivative method combined with the mimetic finite difference method. The Cahn-Hilliard and Allen-Cahn equations are employed as diffuse interface models, in which the equalities of densities and viscosities of two different phases are assumed. Numerical experiments on the motion of periodic arrays of tubes and those of droplets have been conducted to examine the properties and usefulness of the proposed method.

Unusual Circularly Polarized and Aggregation-Induced Near-Infrared Phosphorescence of Helical Platinum(II) Complexes with Tetradentate Salen Ligands.

PubMed

Song, Jintong; Wang, Man; Zhou, Xiangge; Xiang, Haifeng

2018-05-17

A series of chiral and helical Pt II -Salen complexes with 1,1'-binaphthyl linkers were synthesized and characterized. Owing to the restriction of intramolecular motions of central 1,1'-binaphthyls, the complexes exhibit unusual near-infrared aggregation-induced phosphorescence (AIP). The (R)/(S) enantiopure complexes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, circular dichroism spectra, time-dependent density functional theory calculations, and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). The present work explores the use of tetradentate ligands that can be easily prepared from commercially available enantiopure compounds, and the subsequent preparation of stable CPL-active square planar Pt II complexes with AIP effect that may have interest in many applications. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The unexplored avenues of human skin: electromagnetic properties in the sub-THz band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feldman, Y.; Safrai, E.; Ben Ishai, P.; Puzenko, A.; Agranat, A. J.; Caduff, A.

2012-03-01

Recent studies of the minute morphology of the skin by optical coherence tomography showed that the sweat ducts in human skin become helically shaped tubes in the Epidermis and are filled with an aqueous solution. When considered as entities embedded in a dielectric media, they resemble helical antennas. The spectral response obtained by our computer simulations coincides with the analytical prediction of antenna theory and support this hypothesis, if a fast enough current mechanism exists in the duct. In particular the strongest spectral response of the simulation was noted around the predicted frequencies (240 GHz and 380 GHz) for the respective normal and axial modes of the helical structure. Furthermore, circular dichroism of the reflected electromagnetic field is a characteristic property of such helical antennas and it was shown that it is indeed a characteristic of the simulation model. Fast proton hopping is posited as the current mechanism. Consequently experimental evidence is presented that the spectral response of the skin in the sub-Terahertz region is governed by the level of activity of the perspiration system. This in turn is moderated by the Sympathetic Nerve Response and is demonstrated by the correlation to physiological stress as manifested by the pulse rate and the systolic blood pressure. These physical relaxations are tonic in nature (lasting more than a minute). Could the phasic characteristic of emotional excitation also be evident in the reflection coefficient? By applying techniques borrowed from psychiatric science we hope to answer this point in our paper.

NIMROD Simulations of the HIT-SI and HIT-SI3 Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, Kyle; Jarboe, Tom; Hossack, Aaron; Chandra, Rian; Everson, Chris

2017-10-01

The Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI) experiment uses a set of inductively driven helicity injectors to apply non-axisymmetric current drive on the edge of the plasma, driving an axisymmetric spheromak equilibrium in a central confinement volume. Significant improvements have been made to extended MHD modeling of HIT-SI, with both the resolution of disagreement at high injector frequencies in HIT-SI in addition to successes with the new upgraded HIT-SI3 device. Previous numerical studies of HIT-SI, using a zero-beta eMHD model, focused on operations with a drive frequency of 14.5 kHz, and found reduced agreement with both the magnetic profile and current amplification at higher frequencies (30-70 kHz). HIT-SI3 has three helicity injectors which are able to operate with different mode structures of perturbations through the different relative temporal phasing of the injectors. Simulations that allow for pressure gradients have been performed in the parameter regimes of both devices using the NIMROD code and show improved agreement with experimental results, most notably capturing the observed Shafranov-shift due to increased beta observed at higher finj in HIT-SI and the variety of toroidal perturbation spectra available in HIT-SI3. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-FG02- 96ER54361.

Novel changes in discoidal high density lipoprotein morphology: a molecular dynamics study.

PubMed

Catte, Andrea; Patterson, James C; Jones, Martin K; Jerome, W Gray; Bashtovyy, Denys; Su, Zhengchang; Gu, Feifei; Chen, Jianguo; Aliste, Marcela P; Harvey, Stephen C; Li, Ling; Weinstein, Gilbert; Segrest, Jere P

2006-06-15

ApoA-I is a uniquely flexible lipid-scavenging protein capable of incorporating phospholipids into stable particles. Here we report molecular dynamics simulations on a series of progressively smaller discoidal high density lipoprotein particles produced by incremental removal of palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine via four different pathways. The starting model contained 160 palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholines and a belt of two antiparallel amphipathic helical lipid-associating domains of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I. The results are particularly compelling. After a few nanoseconds of molecular dynamics simulation, independent of the starting particle and method of size reduction, all simulated double belts of the four lipidated apoA-I particles have helical domains that impressively approximate the x-ray crystal structure of lipid-free apoA-I, particularly between residues 88 and 186. These results provide atomic resolution models for two of the particles produced by in vitro reconstitution of nascent high density lipoprotein particles. These particles, measuring 95 angstroms and 78 angstroms by nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, correspond in composition and in size/shape (by negative stain electron microscopy) to the simulated particles with molar ratios of 100:2 and 50:2, respectively. The lipids of the 100:2 particle family form minimal surfaces at their monolayer-monolayer interface, whereas the 50:2 particle family displays a lipid pocket capable of binding a dynamic range of phospholipid molecules.

Novel Changes in Discoidal High Density Lipoprotein Morphology: A Molecular Dynamics Study

PubMed Central

Catte, Andrea; Patterson, James C.; Jones, Martin K.; Jerome, W. Gray; Bashtovyy, Denys; Su, Zhengchang; Gu, Feifei; Chen, Jianguo; Aliste, Marcela P.; Harvey, Stephen C.; Li, Ling; Weinstein, Gilbert; Segrest, Jere P.

2006-01-01

ApoA-I is a uniquely flexible lipid-scavenging protein capable of incorporating phospholipids into stable particles. Here we report molecular dynamics simulations on a series of progressively smaller discoidal high density lipoprotein particles produced by incremental removal of palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine via four different pathways. The starting model contained 160 palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholines and a belt of two antiparallel amphipathic helical lipid-associating domains of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I. The results are particularly compelling. After a few nanoseconds of molecular dynamics simulation, independent of the starting particle and method of size reduction, all simulated double belts of the four lipidated apoA-I particles have helical domains that impressively approximate the x-ray crystal structure of lipid-free apoA-I, particularly between residues 88 and 186. These results provide atomic resolution models for two of the particles produced by in vitro reconstitution of nascent high density lipoprotein particles. These particles, measuring 95 Å and 78 Å by nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, correspond in composition and in size/shape (by negative stain electron microscopy) to the simulated particles with molar ratios of 100:2 and 50:2, respectively. The lipids of the 100:2 particle family form minimal surfaces at their monolayer-monolayer interface, whereas the 50:2 particle family displays a lipid pocket capable of binding a dynamic range of phospholipid molecules. PMID:16581834

Growth and field emission properties of tubular carbon cones.

PubMed

Li, J J; Wang, Q; Gu, C Z

2007-09-01

New forms of tubular carbon cone (TCC) were grown on gold wires by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD). They have a long-cone-shaped appearance with a herringbone hollow interior, surrounded by helical sheets of graphite that are coiled around it. It is considered that TCC formation results because the size of the catalyst particle located in the top of the TCC decreases continuously during growth, due to etching effects in the CVD plasma, reflecting competition between the growth and etching processes in the plasma. In addition, field emission measurements show that TCCs have a very low-threshold field of 0.27 V/microm, and that a stable macroscopic emitting current density of 1 mA/cm2 can be obtained at only 0.5 V/microm. TCCs have good field emission properties, compared to other forms of carbon field emitter, and may be good candidates for use in field emission display devices.

Coaxial Helicity Injection experiments in NSTX*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raman, R.; Jarboe, T. R.; Gates, D.; Mueller, D.; Schaffer, M. J.; Maqueda, R.; Nelson, B. A.; Menard, J.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Paul, S.; Jardin, S.; Skinner, C. H.; Sabbagh, S.; Paoletti, F.; Stutman, D.; Lao, L.; Nagata, M.

2001-10-01

Coaxial helicity injection (CHI) can potentially eliminate inductive startup and thus the induction solenoid in spherical tori (ST), thereby greatly improving the ST fusion concept. CHI experiments on NSTX have produced 360 kA of toroidal current using about 25 kA of injector current. These have been produced in the preferred 'narrow flux foot print' condition in pulses that were sustained for 300 ms. A rotating n=1 mode, previously observed in optimized discharges on smaller STs driven by CHI and deemed necessary for transporting edge driven current to the interior of the discharge, has been observed for the first time in NSTX CHI discharges. The flux utilization efficiency continues to be high, approaching 100%. EFIT and TSC codes are being used to assess flux closure. This work is supported by the US DOE contract numbers: DE-AC02-76CH03073 and DE-AC05-00R22725.

Magnetohydrodynamic simulations of noninductive helicity injection in the reversed-field pinch and tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sovinec, Carl R.

1995-11-01

Numerical computation is used to investigate resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluctuations in the reversed-field pinch (RFP) and in tokamak-like configurations driven solely by direct current (DC) helicity injection. A Lundquist number (S) scan of RFP turbulence without plasma pressure produces the weak scaling of S -0.18 for the root-mean-square magnetic fluctuation level for 2.5x10 3≤S≤4x10 4. The temporal behavior of fluctuations and the reversal parameter becomes more regular as S is increased, acquiring a "sawtooth" shape at the largest value of S. Simulations with plasma pressure and anisotropic thermal conduction demonstrate energy transport resulting from parallel heat fluctuations. To investigate meansmore » of improving RFP energy confinement, three forms of current profile modification are tested. Radio frequency (RF) current drive is modeled with an auxiliary electron force, and linear stability calculations are used.« less

Flux-transfer losses in helically wound superconducting power cables

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clem, John R; Malozemoff, A P

2013-06-25

Minimization of ac losses is essential for economic operation of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) ac power cables. A favorable configuration for the phase conductor of such cables has two counter-wound layers of HTS tape-shaped wires lying next to each other and helically wound around a flexible cylindrical former. However, if magnetic materials such as magnetic substrates of the tapes lie between the two layers, or if the winding pitch angles are not opposite and essentially equal in magnitude to each other, current distributes unequally between the two layers. Then, if at some point in the ac cycle the current of eithermore » of the two layers exceeds its critical current, a large ac loss arises from the transfer of flux between the two layers. A detailed review of the formalism, and its application to the case of paramagnetic substrates including the calculation of this flux-transfer loss, is presented.« less

The phosphorylation site in double helical amylopectin as investigated by a combined approach using chemical synthesis, crystallography and molecular modeling.

PubMed

Engelsen, Søren Balling; Madsen, Anders Østergaard; Blennow, Andreas; Motawia, Mohammed Saddik; Møller, Birger Lindberg; Larsen, Sine

2003-04-24

The only known in planta substitution of starch is phosphorylation. Whereas the function of starch phosphorylation is poorly understood, phosphorylated starch possesses improved functionality in vitro. Molecular models of native crystalline starch are currently being developed and the starch phosphorylating enzyme has recently been discovered. Accordingly, it is desirable to obtain a more exact description of the molecular structures of phosphorylated starch. We have determined the crystal structure of methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside 6-O-phosphate as its potassium salt which is thought to be the starch phosphate counterion in vivo. From this structure and previously known glucophosphate structures we describe the possible 6-O-phosphate geometries and through modeling extrapolate the results to the double helical structure of the crystalline part of amylopectin. The geometries of the existing crystal structures of 6-O-phosphate groups were found to belong to two main adiabatic valleys. One of these conformations could be fitted into the double helical amylopectin part without perturbing the double helical amylopectin structure and without creating steric problems for the hexagonal chain-chain packing.

A current-driven resistive instability and its nonlinear effects in simulations of coaxial helicity injection in a tokamak

DOE PAGES

Hooper, E. B.; Sovinec, C. R.

2016-10-06

An instability observed in whole-device, resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the driven phase of coaxial helicity injection in the National Spherical Torus eXperiment is identified as a current-driven resistive mode in an unusual geometry that transiently generates a current sheet. The mode consists of plasma flow velocity and magnetic field eddies in a tube aligned with the magnetic field at the surface of the injected magnetic flux. At low plasma temperatures (~10–20 eV), the mode is benign, but at high temperatures (~100 eV) its amplitude undergoes relaxation oscillations, broadening the layer of injected current and flow at the surface of themore » injected toroidal flux and background plasma. The poloidal-field structure is affected and the magnetic surface closure is generally prevented while the mode undergoes relaxation oscillations during injection. Furthermore, this study describes the mode and uses linearized numerical computations and an analytic slab model to identify the unstable mode.« less

Voltage dependence of a stochastic model of activation of an alpha helical S4 sensor in a K channel membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaccaro, S. R.

2011-09-01

The voltage dependence of the ionic and gating currents of a K channel is dependent on the activation barriers of a voltage sensor with a potential function which may be derived from the principal electrostatic forces on an S4 segment in an inhomogeneous dielectric medium. By variation of the parameters of a voltage-sensing domain model, consistent with x-ray structures and biophysical data, the lowest frequency of the survival probability of each stationary state derived from a solution of the Smoluchowski equation provides a good fit to the voltage dependence of the slowest time constant of the ionic current in a depolarized membrane, and the gating current exhibits a rising phase that precedes an exponential relaxation. For each depolarizing potential, the calculated time dependence of the survival probabilities of the closed states of an alpha helical S4 sensor are in accord with an empirical model of the ionic and gating currents recorded during the activation process.

Multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics in plasmas with slowly changing boundaries -- Resonant response of a plasma slab

DOE PAGES

Dewar, R. L.; Hudson, S. R.; Bhattacharjee, A.; ...

2017-04-03

The adiabatic limit of a recently proposed dynamical extension of Taylor relaxation, multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics (MRxMHD), is summarized, with special attention to the appropriate definition of a relative magnetic helicity. The formalism is illustrated using a simple two-region, sheared-magnetic-field model similar to the Hahm-Kulsrud-Taylor (HKT) rippled-boundary slab model. In MRxMHD, a linear Grad-Shafranov equation applies, even at finite ripple amplitude. The adiabatic switching on of boundary ripple excites a shielding current sheet opposing reconnection at a resonant surface. The perturbed magnetic field as a function of ripple amplitude is calculated by invoking the conservation of magnetic helicity in the twomore » regions separated by the current sheet. Here, at low ripple amplitude, "half islands" appear on each side of the current sheet, locking the rotational transform at the resonant value. Beyond a critical amplitude, these islands disappear and the rotational transform develops a discontinuity across the current sheet. Published by AIP Publishing.« less

Multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics in plasmas with slowly changing boundaries -- Resonant response of a plasma slab

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dewar, R. L.; Hudson, S. R.; Bhattacharjee, A.

The adiabatic limit of a recently proposed dynamical extension of Taylor relaxation, multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics (MRxMHD), is summarized, with special attention to the appropriate definition of a relative magnetic helicity. The formalism is illustrated using a simple two-region, sheared-magnetic-field model similar to the Hahm-Kulsrud-Taylor (HKT) rippled-boundary slab model. In MRxMHD, a linear Grad-Shafranov equation applies, even at finite ripple amplitude. The adiabatic switching on of boundary ripple excites a shielding current sheet opposing reconnection at a resonant surface. The perturbed magnetic field as a function of ripple amplitude is calculated by invoking the conservation of magnetic helicity in the twomore » regions separated by the current sheet. Here, at low ripple amplitude, "half islands" appear on each side of the current sheet, locking the rotational transform at the resonant value. Beyond a critical amplitude, these islands disappear and the rotational transform develops a discontinuity across the current sheet. Published by AIP Publishing.« less

Volumetric CT with sparse detector arrays (and application to Si-strip photon counters).

PubMed

Sisniega, A; Zbijewski, W; Stayman, J W; Xu, J; Taguchi, K; Fredenberg, E; Lundqvist, Mats; Siewerdsen, J H

2016-01-07

Novel x-ray medical imaging sensors, such as photon counting detectors (PCDs) and large area CCD and CMOS cameras can involve irregular and/or sparse sampling of the detector plane. Application of such detectors to CT involves undersampling that is markedly different from the commonly considered case of sparse angular sampling. This work investigates volumetric sampling in CT systems incorporating sparsely sampled detectors with axial and helical scan orbits and evaluates performance of model-based image reconstruction (MBIR) with spatially varying regularization in mitigating artifacts due to sparse detector sampling. Volumetric metrics of sampling density and uniformity were introduced. Penalized-likelihood MBIR with a spatially varying penalty that homogenized resolution by accounting for variations in local sampling density (i.e. detector gaps) was evaluated. The proposed methodology was tested in simulations and on an imaging bench based on a Si-strip PCD (total area 5 cm  ×  25 cm) consisting of an arrangement of line sensors separated by gaps of up to 2.5 mm. The bench was equipped with translation/rotation stages allowing a variety of scanning trajectories, ranging from a simple axial acquisition to helical scans with variable pitch. Statistical (spherical clutter) and anthropomorphic (hand) phantoms were considered. Image quality was compared to that obtained with a conventional uniform penalty in terms of structural similarity index (SSIM), image uniformity, spatial resolution, contrast, and noise. Scan trajectories with intermediate helical width (~10 mm longitudinal distance per 360° rotation) demonstrated optimal tradeoff between the average sampling density and the homogeneity of sampling throughout the volume. For a scan trajectory with 10.8 mm helical width, the spatially varying penalty resulted in significant visual reduction of sampling artifacts, confirmed by a 10% reduction in minimum SSIM (from 0.88 to 0.8) and a 40% reduction in the dispersion of SSIM in the volume compared to the constant penalty (both penalties applied at optimal regularization strength). Images of the spherical clutter and wrist phantoms confirmed the advantages of the spatially varying penalty, showing a 25% improvement in image uniformity and 1.8  ×  higher CNR (at matched spatial resolution) compared to the constant penalty. The studies elucidate the relationship between sampling in the detector plane, acquisition orbit, sampling of the reconstructed volume, and the resulting image quality. They also demonstrate the benefit of spatially varying regularization in MBIR for scenarios with irregular sampling patterns. Such findings are important and integral to the incorporation of a sparsely sampled Si-strip PCD in CT imaging.

Volumetric CT with sparse detector arrays (and application to Si-strip photon counters)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sisniega, A.; Zbijewski, W.; Stayman, J. W.; Xu, J.; Taguchi, K.; Fredenberg, E.; Lundqvist, Mats; Siewerdsen, J. H.

2016-01-01

Novel x-ray medical imaging sensors, such as photon counting detectors (PCDs) and large area CCD and CMOS cameras can involve irregular and/or sparse sampling of the detector plane. Application of such detectors to CT involves undersampling that is markedly different from the commonly considered case of sparse angular sampling. This work investigates volumetric sampling in CT systems incorporating sparsely sampled detectors with axial and helical scan orbits and evaluates performance of model-based image reconstruction (MBIR) with spatially varying regularization in mitigating artifacts due to sparse detector sampling. Volumetric metrics of sampling density and uniformity were introduced. Penalized-likelihood MBIR with a spatially varying penalty that homogenized resolution by accounting for variations in local sampling density (i.e. detector gaps) was evaluated. The proposed methodology was tested in simulations and on an imaging bench based on a Si-strip PCD (total area 5 cm  ×  25 cm) consisting of an arrangement of line sensors separated by gaps of up to 2.5 mm. The bench was equipped with translation/rotation stages allowing a variety of scanning trajectories, ranging from a simple axial acquisition to helical scans with variable pitch. Statistical (spherical clutter) and anthropomorphic (hand) phantoms were considered. Image quality was compared to that obtained with a conventional uniform penalty in terms of structural similarity index (SSIM), image uniformity, spatial resolution, contrast, and noise. Scan trajectories with intermediate helical width (~10 mm longitudinal distance per 360° rotation) demonstrated optimal tradeoff between the average sampling density and the homogeneity of sampling throughout the volume. For a scan trajectory with 10.8 mm helical width, the spatially varying penalty resulted in significant visual reduction of sampling artifacts, confirmed by a 10% reduction in minimum SSIM (from 0.88 to 0.8) and a 40% reduction in the dispersion of SSIM in the volume compared to the constant penalty (both penalties applied at optimal regularization strength). Images of the spherical clutter and wrist phantoms confirmed the advantages of the spatially varying penalty, showing a 25% improvement in image uniformity and 1.8  ×  higher CNR (at matched spatial resolution) compared to the constant penalty. The studies elucidate the relationship between sampling in the detector plane, acquisition orbit, sampling of the reconstructed volume, and the resulting image quality. They also demonstrate the benefit of spatially varying regularization in MBIR for scenarios with irregular sampling patterns. Such findings are important and integral to the incorporation of a sparsely sampled Si-strip PCD in CT imaging.

Volumetric CT with sparse detector arrays (and application to Si-strip photon counters)

PubMed Central

Sisniega, A; Zbijewski, W; Stayman, J W; Xu, J; Taguchi, K; Fredenberg, E; Lundqvist, Mats; Siewerdsen, J H

2016-01-01

Novel x-ray medical imaging sensors, such as photon counting detectors (PCDs) and large area CCD and CMOS cameras can involve irregular and/or sparse sampling of the detector plane. Application of such detectors to CT involves undersampling that is markedly different from the commonly considered case of sparse angular sampling. This work investigates volumetric sampling in CT systems incorporating sparsely sampled detectors with axial and helical scan orbits and evaluates performance of model-based image reconstruction (MBIR) with spatially varying regularization in mitigating artifacts due to sparse detector sampling. Volumetric metrics of sampling density and uniformity were introduced. Penalized-likelihood MBIR with a spatially varying penalty that homogenized resolution by accounting for variations in local sampling density (i.e. detector gaps) was evaluated. The proposed methodology was tested in simulations and on an imaging bench based on a Si-strip PCD (total area 5 cm × 25 cm) consisting of an arrangement of line sensors separated by gaps of up to 2.5 mm. The bench was equipped with translation/rotation stages allowing a variety of scanning trajectories, ranging from a simple axial acquisition to helical scans with variable pitch. Statistical (spherical clutter) and anthropomorphic (hand) phantoms were considered. Image quality was compared to that obtained with a conventional uniform penalty in terms of structural similarity index (SSIM), image uniformity, spatial resolution, contrast, and noise. Scan trajectories with intermediate helical width (~10 mm longitudinal distance per 360° rotation) demonstrated optimal tradeoff between the average sampling density and the homogeneity of sampling throughout the volume. For a scan trajectory with 10.8 mm helical width, the spatially varying penalty resulted in significant visual reduction of sampling artifacts, confirmed by a 10% reduction in minimum SSIM (from 0.88 to 0.8) and a 40% reduction in the dispersion of SSIM in the volume compared to the constant penalty (both penalties applied at optimal regularization strength). Images of the spherical clutter and wrist phantoms confirmed the advantages of the spatially varying penalty, showing a 25% improvement in image uniformity and 1.8 × higher CNR (at matched spatial resolution) compared to the constant penalty. The studies elucidate the relationship between sampling in the detector plane, acquisition orbit, sampling of the reconstructed volume, and the resulting image quality. They also demonstrate the benefit of spatially varying regularization in MBIR for scenarios with irregular sampling patterns. Such findings are important and integral to the incorporation of a sparsely sampled Si-strip PCD in CT imaging. PMID:26611740

Spirulina-Templated Metal Microcoils with Controlled Helical Structures for THz Electromagnetic Responses

PubMed Central

Kamata, Kaori; Piao, Zhenzi; Suzuki, Soichiro; Fujimori, Takahiro; Tajiri, Wataru; Nagai, Keiji; Iyoda, Tomokazu; Yamada, Atsushi; Hayakawa, Toshiaki; Ishiwara, Mitsuteru; Horaguchi, Satoshi; Belay, Amha; Tanaka, Takuo; Takano, Keisuke; Hangyo, Masanori

2014-01-01

Microstructures in nature are ultrafine and ordered in biological roles, which have attracted material scientists. Spirulina forms three-dimensional helical microstructure, one of remarkable features in nature beyond our current processing technology such as lithography in terms of mass-productivity and structural multiplicity. Spirulina varies its diameter, helical pitch, and/or length against growing environment. This unique helix is suggestive of a tiny electromagnetic coil, if composed of electro-conductive metal, which brought us main concept of this work. Here, we describe the biotemplating process onto Spirulina surface to fabricate metal microcoils. Structural parameters of the microcoil can be controlled by the cultivation conditions of Spirulina template and also purely one-handed microcoil can be fabricated. A microcoil dispersion sheet exhibited optically active response attributed to structural resonance in terahertz-wave region. PMID:24815190

Optical Diagnostics on HIT-SI3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Everson, Christopher; Jarboe, Thomas; Morgan, Kyle

2016-10-01

Interferometry and Thomson Scattering are implemented on the HIT-SI3 (Helicity Injected Torus - Steady Inductive 3) device to provide time resolved measurements of electron density and spatially resolved measurements of electron temperature, respectively. HIT-SI3 is a modification of the original HIT-SI apparatus that uses three injectors instead of two. The scientific aim of HIT-SI3 is to develop a deeper understanding of how injector behavior and interactions influence current drive and spheromak stability. The interferometer system makes use of an intermediate frequency between two parallel 184.3 μm Far-Infrared (FIR) laser cavities which are optically pumped by a CO2 laser. The phase shift in this beat frequency due to the plasma index of refraction is used to calculate the line-integrated electron density. To measure the electron temperature, Thomson Scattered light from a 20 J (1 GW pulse) Ruby laser off of free electrons in the HIT-SI3 plasma is measured simultaneously at four locations across the spheromak (nominally 23 cm minor radius). Polychromators bin the collected light into 3 spectral bands to detect the relative level of scattering. Work supported by the D.O.E.

Large-scale dynamo growth rates from numerical simulations and implications for mean-field theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Kiwan; Blackman, Eric G.; Subramanian, Kandaswamy

2013-05-01

Understanding large-scale magnetic field growth in turbulent plasmas in the magnetohydrodynamic limit is a goal of magnetic dynamo theory. In particular, assessing how well large-scale helical field growth and saturation in simulations match those predicted by existing theories is important for progress. Using numerical simulations of isotropically forced turbulence without large-scale shear with its implications, we focus on several additional aspects of this comparison: (1) Leading mean-field dynamo theories which break the field into large and small scales predict that large-scale helical field growth rates are determined by the difference between kinetic helicity and current helicity with no dependence on the nonhelical energy in small-scale magnetic fields. Our simulations show that the growth rate of the large-scale field from fully helical forcing is indeed unaffected by the presence or absence of small-scale magnetic fields amplified in a precursor nonhelical dynamo. However, because the precursor nonhelical dynamo in our simulations produced fields that were strongly subequipartition with respect to the kinetic energy, we cannot yet rule out the potential influence of stronger nonhelical small-scale fields. (2) We have identified two features in our simulations which cannot be explained by the most minimalist versions of two-scale mean-field theory: (i) fully helical small-scale forcing produces significant nonhelical large-scale magnetic energy and (ii) the saturation of the large-scale field growth is time delayed with respect to what minimalist theory predicts. We comment on desirable generalizations to the theory in this context and future desired work.

Large-scale dynamo growth rates from numerical simulations and implications for mean-field theories.

PubMed

Park, Kiwan; Blackman, Eric G; Subramanian, Kandaswamy

2013-05-01

Understanding large-scale magnetic field growth in turbulent plasmas in the magnetohydrodynamic limit is a goal of magnetic dynamo theory. In particular, assessing how well large-scale helical field growth and saturation in simulations match those predicted by existing theories is important for progress. Using numerical simulations of isotropically forced turbulence without large-scale shear with its implications, we focus on several additional aspects of this comparison: (1) Leading mean-field dynamo theories which break the field into large and small scales predict that large-scale helical field growth rates are determined by the difference between kinetic helicity and current helicity with no dependence on the nonhelical energy in small-scale magnetic fields. Our simulations show that the growth rate of the large-scale field from fully helical forcing is indeed unaffected by the presence or absence of small-scale magnetic fields amplified in a precursor nonhelical dynamo. However, because the precursor nonhelical dynamo in our simulations produced fields that were strongly subequipartition with respect to the kinetic energy, we cannot yet rule out the potential influence of stronger nonhelical small-scale fields. (2) We have identified two features in our simulations which cannot be explained by the most minimalist versions of two-scale mean-field theory: (i) fully helical small-scale forcing produces significant nonhelical large-scale magnetic energy and (ii) the saturation of the large-scale field growth is time delayed with respect to what minimalist theory predicts. We comment on desirable generalizations to the theory in this context and future desired work.

Aqueous solvation of polyalanine α-helices with specific water molecules and with the CPCM and SM5.2 aqueous continuum models using density functional theory.

PubMed

Marianski, Mateusz; Dannenberg, J J

2012-02-02

We present density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the X3LYP/D95(d,p) level on the solvation of polyalanine α-helices in water. The study includes the effects of discrete water molecules and the CPCM and AMSOL SM5.2 solvent continuum model both separately and in combination. We find that individual water molecules cooperatively hydrogen-bond to both the C- and N-termini of the helix, which results in increases in the dipole moment of the helix/water complex to more than the vector sum of their individual dipole moments. These waters are found to be more stable than in bulk solvent. On the other hand, individual water molecules that interact with the backbone lower the dipole moment of the helix/water complex to below that of the helix itself. Small clusters of waters at the termini increase the dipole moments of the helix/water aggregates, but the effect diminishes as more waters are added. We discuss the somewhat complex behavior of the helix with the discrete waters in the continuum models.

Helical image reconstruction of the outward-open human erythrocyte band 3 membrane domain in tubular crystals.

PubMed

Yamaguchi, Tomohiro; Fujii, Takashi; Abe, Yoshito; Hirai, Teruhisa; Kang, Dongchon; Namba, Keiichi; Hamasaki, Naotaka; Mitsuoka, Kaoru

2010-03-01

The C-terminal membrane domain of erythrocyte band 3 functions as an anion exchanger. Here, we report the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the membrane domain in an inhibitor-stabilized, outward-open conformation at 18A resolution. Unstained, frozen-hydrated tubular crystals containing the membrane domain of band 3 purified from human red blood cells (hB3MD) were examined using cryo-electron microscopy and iterative helical real-space reconstruction (IHRSR). The 3D image reconstruction of the tubular crystals showed the molecular packing of hB3MD dimers with dimensions of 60 x 110 A in the membrane plane and a thickness of 70A across the membrane. Immunoelectron microscopy and carboxyl-terminal digestion demonstrated that the intracellular surface of hB3MD was exposed on the outer surface of the tubular crystal. A 3D density map revealed that hB3MD consists of at least two subdomains and that the outward-open form is characterized by a large hollow area on the extracellular surface and continuous density on the intracellular surface. (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Amylopectin molecular structure reflected in macromolecular organization of granular starch.

PubMed

Vermeylen, Rudi; Goderis, Bart; Reynaers, Harry; Delcour, Jan A

2004-01-01

For lintners with negligible amylose retrogradation, crystallinity related inversely to starch amylose content and, irrespective of starch source, incomplete removal of amorphous material was shown. The latter was more pronounced for B-type than for A-type starches. The two predominant lintner populations, with modal degrees of polymerization (DP) of 13-15 and 23-27, were best resolved for amylose-deficient and A-type starches. Results indicate a more specific hydrolysis of amorphous lamellae in such starches. Small-angle X-ray scattering showed a more intense 9-nm scattering peak for native amylose-deficient A-type starches than for their regular or B-type analogues. The experimental evidence indicates a lower contrasting density within the "crystalline" shells of the latter starches. A higher density in the amorphous lamellae, envisaged by the lamellar helical model, explains the relative acid resistance of linear amylopectin chains with DP > 20, observed in lintners of B-type starches. Because amylopectin chain length distributions were similar for regular and amylose-deficient starches of the same crystal type, we deduce that the more dense (and ordered) packing of double helices into lamellar structures in amylose-deficient starches is due to a different amylopectin branching pattern.

Aqueous Solvation of Polyalanine α-Helices with Specific Water Molecules and with the CPCM and SM5.2 Aqueous Continuum Models using Density Functional Theory

PubMed Central

Marianski, Mateusz

2012-01-01

We present density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the X3LYP/D95(d,p) level on the solvation of polyalanine α-helices in water. The study includes the effects of discrete water molecules and the CPCM and AMSOL SM5.2 solvent continuum model both separately and in combination. We find that individual water molecules cooperatively hydrogen-bond to both the C- and N-termini of the helix, which results in increases in the dipole moment of the helix/water complex to more than the vector sum of their individual dipole moments. These waters are found to be more stable than in bulk solvent. On the other hand, individual water that interact with the backbone lower the dipole moment of the helix/water complex to below that of the helix, itself. Small clusters of waters at the termini increase the dipole moments of the helix/water aggregates, but the effect diminishes as more waters are added. We discuss the somewhat complex behavior of the helix with the discrete waters in the continuum models. PMID:22201227

Three dimensional equilibrium solutions for a current-carrying reversed-field pinch plasma with a close-fitting conducting shell

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koliner, J. J.; Boguski, J., E-mail: boguski@wisc.edu; Anderson, J. K.

2016-03-15

In order to characterize the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) reversed-field pinch (RFP) plasmas that bifurcate to a helical equilibrium, the V3FIT equilibrium reconstruction code was modified to include a conducting boundary. RFP plasmas become helical at a high plasma current, which induces large eddy currents in MST's thick aluminum shell. The V3FIT conducting boundary accounts for the contribution from these eddy currents to external magnetic diagnostic coil signals. This implementation of V3FIT was benchmarked against MSTFit, a 2D Grad-Shafranov solver, for axisymmetric plasmas. The two codes both fit B{sub θ} measurement loops around the plasma minor diameter with qualitative agreementmore » between each other and the measured field. Fits in the 3D case converge well, with q-profile and plasma shape agreement between two distinct toroidal locking phases. Greater than 60% of the measured n = 5 component of B{sub θ} at r = a is due to eddy currents in the shell, as calculated by the conducting boundary model.« less

Three dimensional equilibrium solutions for a current-carrying reversed-field pinch plasma with a close-fitting conducting shell

DOE PAGES

Koliner, J. J.; Boguski, J.; Anderson, J. K.; ...

2016-03-25

In order to characterize the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) reversed-field pinch(RFP)plasmas that bifurcate to a helical equilibrium, the V3FIT equilibrium reconstruction code was modified to include a conducting boundary. RFPplasmas become helical at a high plasma current, which induces large eddy currents in MST's thick aluminum shell. The V3FIT conducting boundary accounts for the contribution from these eddy currents to external magnetic diagnostic coil signals. This implementation of V3FIT was benchmarked against MSTFit, a 2D Grad-Shafranov solver, for axisymmetric plasmas. The two codes both fit B measurement loops around the plasma minor diameter with qualitative agreement between each other andmore » the measured field. Fits in the 3D case converge well, with q-profile and plasma shape agreement between two distinct toroidal locking phases. Greater than 60% of the measured n = 5 component of B at r = a is due to eddy currents in the shell, as calculated by the conducting boundary model.« less

Two-fluid (plasma-neutral) Extended-MHD simulations of spheromak configurations in the HIT-SI experiment with PSI-Tet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutherland, D. A.; Hansen, C. J.; Jarboe, T. R.

2017-10-01

A self-consistent, two-fluid (plasma-neutral) dynamic neutral model has been implemented into the 3-D, Extended-MHD code PSI-Tet. A monatomic, hydrogenic neutral fluid reacts with a plasma fluid through elastic scattering collisions and three inelastic collision reactions: electron-impact ionization, radiative recombination, and resonant charge-exchange. Density, momentum, and energy are evolved for both the plasma and neutral species. The implemented plasma-neutral model in PSI-Tet is being used to simulate decaying spheromak configurations in the HIT-SI experimental geometry, which is being compare to two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence measurements (TALIF) made on the HIT-SI3 experiment. TALIF is used to measure the absolute density and temperature of monatomic deuterium atoms. Neutral densities on the order of 1015 m-3 and neutral temperatures between 0.6-1.7 eV were measured towards the end of decay of spheromak configurations with initial toroidal currents between 10-12 kA. Validation results between TALIF measurements and PSI-Tet simulations with the implemented dynamic neutral model will be presented. Additionally, preliminary dynamic neutral simulations of the HIT-SI/HIT-SI3 spheromak plasmas sustained with inductive helicity injection will be presented. Lastly, potential benefits of an expansion of the two-fluid model into a multi-fluid model that includes multiple neutral species and tracking of charge states will be discussed.

Modeling all-electrical detection of the inverse Edelstein effect by spin-polarized tunneling in a topological-insulator/ferromagnetic-metal heterostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dey, Rik; Register, Leonard F.; Banerjee, Sanjay K.

2018-04-01

The spin-momentum locking of the surface states in a three-dimensional topological insulator (TI) allows a charge current on the surface of the TI induced by an applied spin current onto the surface, which is known as the inverse Edelstein effect (IEE), that could be achieved either by injecting pure spin current by spin-pumping from a ferromagnetic metal (FM) layer or by injecting spin-polarized charge current by direct tunneling of electrons from the FM to the TI. Here, we present a theory of the observed IEE effect in a TI-FM heterostructure for the spin-polarized tunneling experiments. If an electrical current is passed from the FM to the surface of the TI, because of density-of-states polarization of the FM, an effective imbalance of spin-polarized electrons occurs on the surface of the TI. Due to the spin-momentum helical locking of the surface states in the TI, a difference of transverse charge accumulation appears on the TI surface in a direction orthogonal to the direction of the magnetization of the FM, which is measured as a voltage difference. Here, we derive the two-dimensional transport equations of electrons on the surface of a diffusive TI, coupled to a FM, starting from the quantum kinetic equation, and analytically solve the equations for a rectangular geometry to calculate the voltage difference.

The Nature of Bonding in Bulk Tellurium Composed of One-Dimensional Helical Chains.

PubMed

Yi, Seho; Zhu, Zhili; Cai, Xiaolin; Jia, Yu; Cho, Jun-Hyung

2018-05-07

Bulk tellurium (Te) is composed of one-dimensional (1D) helical chains which have been considered to be coupled by van der Waals (vdW) interactions. However, on the basis of first-principles density functional theory calculations, we here propose a different bonding nature between neighboring chains: i.e., helical chains made of normal covalent bonds are connected together by coordinate covalent bonds. It is revealed that the lone pairs of electrons of Te atoms participate in forming coordinate covalent bonds between neighboring chains, where each Te atom behaves as both an electron donor to neighboring chains and an electron acceptor from neighboring chains. This ligand-metal-like bonding nature in bulk Te results in the same order of bulk moduli along the directions parallel and perpendicular to the chains, contrasting with the large anisotropy of bulk moduli in vdW crystals. We further find that the electron effective masses parallel and perpendicular to the chains are almost the same as each other, consistent with the observed nearly isotropic electrical resistivity. It is thus demonstrated that the normal/coordinate covalent bonds parallel/perpendicular to the chains in bulk Te lead to a minor anisotropy in structural and transport properties.

Two-component gelator isomers with different combination of amine and acid: Helical/non-helical morphology and selective adsorption of dyes.

PubMed

Han, Xiaoyu; Liu, Jiahui; Zhao, Chaoyue; Zhang, Bao; Xu, Xiufang; Song, Jian

2018-09-01

Hydrogels induced by two-component gelator isomers based on the different amine/acid interactions were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images of the xerogel obtained from the two hydrogels revealed different assembly morphologies. While left-handed helical fibers were observed for the amine-acid based xerogel, acid-amine underwent self-assembly to afford smooth fibers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence, and X-ray diffraction measurements combined with density functional theory calculations suggested that the different self-assembly patterns of gelators resulted in opposite electric charges on the xerogel surfaces, in line with Zeta potential measurements. Based on these opposite charges resulting from their different self-assemblies, both xerogels demonstrated efficient dye adsorption abilities with different selectivities. Interestingly, the adsorption performance was not influenced by the salt in the dye solution. Furthermore, the xerogels still showed high dye adsorption efficiency after four cycles. These results provide a two-component hydrogel method for the purification of dye-polluted water systems, while also paving the way for future design of functionalized supramolecular self-assembly systems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental and theoretical developments in the Mochi project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, Setthivoine; von der Linden, Jens; Vereen, Keon; Lavine, Eric Sander; Carroll, Evan; Card, Alexander; Azuara-Rosales, Manuel; Quinley, Morgan; Yun, Gunsu

2015-11-01

The Mochi project investigates the interaction between magnetic fields and plasma flows in cylindrical and toroidal geometries. The configuration is designed to tailor the radial electric field profile with three annular electrodes and allow for shear helical flows in magnetized plasma jets or merging spheromaks. First plasma has been achieved and characterization is in progress with images, magnetic probes, an energy analyzer, an interferometer, a fast ion gauge, and optical and RF spectroscopy. Vector tomography of ion Doppler spectroscopy is progressing with the design of the custom fiber bundle and implementation of the numerical code. The first experiments are investigating the coupling of sausage and kink instabilities, comparing measurements to a new stability criterion and a numerical stability code. A new canonical field theory has been developed to help interpret the dynamics of plasma self-organization. The theory augments the Lagrangian of general dynamical systems to rigourously demonstrate that canonical helicity transport is valid across single particle, kinetic and fluid regimes, that dynamical equations can be re-formulated as a form of Maxwell's equations, and that helicity is conserved only when density gradients are shallow. This work is supported by US DOE Grant DE-SC0010340.

Escape of magnetic toroids from the Sun

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bieber, John W.; Rust, David M.

1995-01-01

Analysis of heliospheric magnetic fields at 1 AU shows that 10(exp 24) Mx of net azimuthal flux escapes from the Sun per solar cycle. This rate is consistent with rates derived from other indicators of flux escape, including coronal mass ejections and filament eruptions. The toroidal flux escape rate is compared with the apparent rate of flux emergence at the solar surface, and it is concluded that escaping toroids will remove at least 20% of the emerging flux, and may remove as much as 100% of emerging flux if multiple eruptions occur on the toroids. The data imply that flux escapes the Sun with an efficiency far exceeding Parker's upper limit estimate of 3%. Toroidal flux escape is almost certainly the source of the observed overwinding of the interplanetary magnetic field spiral. Two mechanisms to facilitate net flux escape are discussed: helicity charging to push open the fields and flux transport with reconnection to close them off. We estimate the Sun will shed approximately 2 x 10(exp 45) of magnetic helicity per solar cycle, leading to a mean helicity density of 100 Mx(exp 2)cm(exp -3) at 1 AU, which agrees well with observations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foster, R; Ding, C; Jiang, S

Purpose Spine SRS/SAbR treatment plans typically require very steep dose gradients to meet spinal cord constraints and it is crucial that the dose distribution be accurate. However, these plans are typically calculated on helical free-breathing CT scans, which often contain motion artifacts. While the spine itself doesn’t exhibit very much intra-fraction motion, tissues around the spine, particularly the liver, do move with respiration. We investigated the dosimetric effect of liver motion on dose distributions calculated on helical free-breathing CT scans for spine SAbR delivered to the T and L spine. Methods We took 5 spine SAbR plans and used densitymore » overrides to simulate an average reconstruction CT image set, which would more closely represent the patient anatomy during treatment. The value used for the density override was 0.66 g/cc. All patients were planned using our standard beam arrangement, which consists of 13 coplanar step and shoot IMRT beams. The original plan was recalculated with the same MU on the “average” scan and target coverage and spinal cord dose were compared to the original plan. Results The average changes in minimum PTV dose, PTV coverage, max cord dose and volume of cord receiving 10 Gy were 0.6%, 0.8%, 0.3% and 4.4% (0.012 cc), respectively. Conclusion SAbR spine plans are surprisingly robust relative to surrounding organ motion due to respiration. Motion artifacts in helical planning CT scans do not cause clinically significant differences when these plans are re-calculated on pseudo-average CT reconstructions. This is likely due to the beam arrangement used because only three beams pass through the liver and only one beam passes completely through the density override. The effect of the respiratory motion on VMAT plans for spine SAbR is being evaluated.« less

Double Current Sheet Instabilities and the Transition to Turbulence.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pucci, F.; Velli, M.; Biferale, L.; Sahoo, G.

2016-12-01

The double tearing instability has often been studied as a proxy for the m=1 kink mode in cylindrical plasma. In this paper we describe the results of 3D simulations of an initially periodic double current sheet described by Harris equilibria with a guide field in two cases: 1) zero net helicity and an average magnetic field and 2) a well defined helicity (force free but non constant alpha). We study and contrast the de-stabilization and transition to turbulence for these two cases: we describe spectra, cascades, and possible application to heliospheric phenomena, in particular CME evolution and relaxation. The research leading to these results has received fund- ing from the European Union's Seventh Framework Pro- gramme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No. 339032

Current-carrying element based on second-generation high-temperature superconductor for the magnet system of a fusion neutron source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novikov, M. S.; Ivanov, D. P.; Novikov, S. I.; Shuvaev, S. A.

2015-12-01

Application of current-carrying elements (CCEs) made of second-generation high-temperature superconductor (2G HTS) in magnet systems of a fusion neutron source (FNS) and other fusion devices will allow their magnetic field and thermodynamic stability to be increased substantially in comparison with those of low-temperature superconductor (LTS) magnets. For a toroidal magnet of the FNS, a design of a helical (partially transposed) CCE made of 2G HTS is under development with forced-flow cooling by helium gas, a current of 20-30 kA, an operating temperature of 10-20 K, and a magnetic field on the winding of 12-15 T (prospectively ~20 T). Short-sized samples of the helical flexible heavy-current CCE are being fabricated and investigated; a pilot-line unit for production of long-sized CCE pieces is under construction. The applied fabrication technique allows the CCE to be produced which combines a high operating current, thermal and mechanical stability, manufacturability, and low losses in the alternating modes. The possibility of fabricating the CCE with the outer dimensions and values of the operating parameter required for the FNS (and with a significant margin) using already available serial 2G HTS tapes is substantiated. The maximum field of toroidal magnets with CCEs made of 2G HTS will be limited only by mechanical properties of the magnet's casing and structure, while the thermal stability will be approximately two orders of magnitude higher than that of toroidal magnets with LTS-based CCEs. The helical CCE made of 2G HTS is very promising for fusion and hybrid electric power plants, and its design and technologies of production, as well as the prototype coils made of it for the FNS and other tokamaks, are worth developing now.

Cotton-Mouton polarimeter with HCN laser on CHS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akiyama, T.; Kawahata, K.; Ito, Y.

Polarimeters based on the Cotton-Mouton effect hold promise for electron density measurements. We have designed and installed a Cotton-Mouton polarimeter on the Compact Helical System. The Cotton-Mouton effect is measured as the phase difference between probe and reference beams. In this system, an interferometric measurement can be performed simultaneously with the same probe chord. The light source is a HCN laser (wavelength of 337 {mu}m). Digital complex demodulation is adopted for small phase analysis. The line averaged density evaluated from the polarimeter along a plasma center chord is almost consistent with that from the interferometer.

Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition for the dilute planar rotator model on a triangular lattice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sun Yunzhou; Yi Lin; Wysin, G. M.

2008-10-15

The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition for the dilute planar rotator model on a triangular lattice is studied by using a hybrid Monte Carlo method. The phase-transition temperatures for different nonmagnetic impurity densities are obtained by three approaches: finite-size scaling of plane magnetic susceptibility, helicity modulus, and Binder's fourth cumulant. It is found that the phase-transition temperature decreases with increasing impurity density {rho} and the BKT phase transition vanishes when the magnetic occupancy falls to the site percolation threshold: 1-{rho}{sub c}=p{sub c}=0.5.

Multi-Point Thomson Scattering Diagnostic for the Helicity Injected Torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liptac, J. E.; Smith, R. J.; Hoffman, C. S.; Jarboe, T. R.; Nelson, B. A.; Leblanc, B. P.; Phillips, P.

1999-11-01

The multi-point Thomson scattering system on the Helicity Injected Torus--II can determine electron temperature and density at 11 radial positions at a single time during the plasma discharge. The system includes components on loan from both PPPL and from the University of Texas. The collection optics and Littrow spectrometer from Princeton, and the 1 GW laser and multi-anode microchannel plate detector from Texas have been integrated into a compact structure, creating a mobile and reliable diagnostic. The mobility of the system allows alignment to occur in a room adjacent to the experiment, greatly reducing the disturbance to normal machine operation. The four main parts of the Thomson scattering system, namely, the laser, the beam line, the collection optics, and the mobile structure are presented and discussed.

Stokesian swimming of a helical swimmer across an interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godinez, Francisco; Ramos, Armando; Zenit, Roberto

2016-11-01

Microorganisms swim in flows dominated by viscous effects but in many instances the motion occurs across heterogeneous environments where the fluid properties may vary. To our knowledge, the effect of such in-homogeneity has not been addressed in depth. We conduct experiments in which a magnetic self-propelled helical swimmer displaces across the interface between two immiscible density stratified fluids. As the swimmer crosses the interface, at a fixed rotation rate, its speed is reduced and a certain volume of the lower fluid is dragged across. We quantify the drift volume and the change of swimming speed for different swimming speeds and different fluid combinations. We relate the reduction of the swimming speed with the interfacial tension of the interface. We also compare the measurements of the drift volume with some recent calculations found in the literature.

Bacterial flagellar microhydrodynamics: Laminar flow over complex flagellar filaments, analog archimedean screws and cylinders, and its perturbations.

PubMed

Trachtenberg, Shlomo; Fishelov, Dalia; Ben-Artzi, Matania

2003-09-01

The flagellar filament, the bacterial organelle of motility, is the smallest rotary propeller known. It consists of 1), a basal body (part of which is the proton driven rotary motor), 2), a hook (universal joint-allowing for off-axial transmission of rotary motion), and 3), a filament (propeller-a long, rigid, supercoiled helical assembly allowing for the conversion of rotary motion into linear thrust). Helically perturbed (so-called "complex") filaments have a coarse surface composed of deep grooves and ridges following the three-start helical lines. These surface structures, reminiscent of a turbine or Archimedean screw, originate from symmetry reduction along the six-start helical lines due to dimerization of the flagellin monomers from which the filament self assembles. Using high-resolution electron microscopy and helical image reconstruction methods, we calculated three-dimensional density maps of the complex filament of Rhizobium lupini H13-3 and determined its surface pattern and boundaries. The helical symmetry of the filament allows viewing it as a stack of identical slices spaced axially and rotated by constant increments. Here we use the closed outlines of these slices to explore, in two dimensions, the hydrodynamic effect of the turbine-like boundaries of the flagellar filament. In particular, we try to determine if, and under what conditions, transitions from laminar to turbulent flow (or perturbations of the laminar flow) may occur on or near the surface of the bacterial propeller. To address these questions, we apply the boundary element method in a manner allowing the handling of convoluted boundaries. We tested the method on several simple, well-characterized cylindrical structures before applying it to real, highly convoluted biological surfaces and to simplified mechanical analogs. Our results indicate that under extreme structural and functional conditions, and at low Reynolds numbers, a deviation from laminar flow might occur on the flagellar surface. These transitions, and the conditions enabling them, may affect flagellar polymorphism and the formation and dispersion of flagellar bundles-factors important in the chemotactic response.

NMR structural and dynamic characterization of the acid-unfolded state of apomyoglobin provides insights into the early events in protein folding.

PubMed

Yao, J; Chung, J; Eliezer, D; Wright, P E; Dyson, H J

2001-03-27

Apomyoglobin forms a denatured state under low-salt conditions at pH 2.3. The conformational propensities and polypeptide backbone dynamics of this state have been characterized by NMR. Nearly complete backbone and some side chain resonance assignments have been obtained, using a triple-resonance assignment strategy tailored to low protein concentration (0.2 mM) and poor chemical shift dispersion. An estimate of the population and location of residual secondary structure has been made by examining deviations of (13)C(alpha), (13)CO, and (1)H(alpha) chemical shifts from random coil values, scalar (3)J(HN,H)(alpha) coupling constants and (1)H-(1)H NOEs. Chemical shifts constitute a highly reliable indicator of secondary structural preferences, provided the appropriate random coil chemical shift references are used, but in the case of acid-unfolded apomyoglobin, (3)J(HN,H)(alpha) coupling constants are poor diagnostics of secondary structure formation. Substantial populations of helical structure, in dynamic equilibrium with unfolded states, are formed in regions corresponding to the A and H helices of the folded protein. In addition, the deviation of the chemical shifts from random coil values indicates the presence of helical structure encompassing the D helix and extending into the first turn of the E helix. The polypeptide backbone dynamics of acid-unfolded apomyoglobin have been investigated using reduced spectral density function analysis of (15)N relaxation data. The spectral density J(omega(N)) is particularly sensitive to variations in backbone fluctuations on the picosecond to nanosecond time scale. The central region of the polypeptide spanning the C-terminal half of the E helix, the EF turn, and the F helix behaves as a free-flight random coil chain, but there is evidence from J(omega(N)) of restricted motions on the picosecond to nanosecond time scale in the A and H helix regions where there is a propensity to populate helical secondary structure in the acid-unfolded state. Backbone fluctuations are also restricted in parts of the B and G helices due to formation of local hydrophobic clusters. Regions of restricted backbone flexibility are generally associated with large buried surface area. A significant increase in J(0) is observed for the NH resonances of some residues located in the A and G helices of the folded protein and is associated with fluctuations on a microsecond to millisecond time scale that probably arise from transient contacts between these distant regions of the polypeptide chain. Our results indicate that the equilibrium unfolded state of apomyoglobin formed at pH 2.3 is an excellent model for the events that are expected to occur in the earliest stages of protein folding, providing insights into the regions of the polypeptide that spontaneously undergo local hydrophobic collapse and sample nativelike secondary structure.

Single-molecule magnet behavior in an octanuclear dysprosium(iii) aggregate inherited from helical triangular Dy3 SMM-building blocks.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Zhang, Peng; Zhao, Lang; Wu, Jianfeng; Guo, Mei; Tang, Jinkui

2016-06-28

An unprecedented octanuclear dysprosium(iii) cluster with the formula [Dy8L6(μ3-OH)4(μ2-CH3O)2(CH3OH)6(H2O)2]·6H2O·10CH3OH·2CH3CN () based on a nonlinearly tritopic aroylhydrazone ligand H3L has been isolated, realizing the successful linking of pairwise interesting triangular Dy3 SMMs. It is noteworthy that two enantiomers (Λ and Δ configurations) individually behaving as a coordination-induced chirality presented in the Dy3 helicate are connected in the meso Dy8 cluster. Remarkably, alternating-current magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed that the Dy8 cluster shows typical SMM behavior inherited from its Dy3 helical precursor. It is one of the rare polynuclear Lnn SMMs (n > 7) under zero dc field.

Chandrasekhar-Kendall modes and Taylor relaxation in an axisymmetric torus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tang, X.Z.; Boozer, A.H.; Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027

2005-10-01

The helicity-conserving Taylor relaxation of a plasma in a toroidal chamber to a force-free configuration, which means j=(j{sub parallel})/B)B with j{sub parallel}/B independent of position, can be generalized to include the external injection of magnetic helicity. When this is done, j{sub parallel}/B has resonant values, which can be understood using the eigenmodes of Taylor-relaxed plasmas enclosed by a perfectly conducting toroidal shell. These eigenmodes include a toroidal generalization of those found by Chandrasekhar and Kendall (CK) [Astrophys. J. 126, 457 (1957)] for a spherical chamber, which has no externally produced magnetic flux. It is shown that the CK modes inmore » an axisymmetric torus are of three types: (1) helical modes as well as axisymmetric modes that have (2) and have no (3) net toroidal flux. Yoshida and Giga (YG) [Math. Z. 204, 235 (1990)] published a fourth class of modes: axisymmetric modes that have no net toroidal flux in the chamber due to toroidal flux produced by a net poloidal current in the shell canceling the net toroidal flux from the plasma currents. Jensen and Chu [Phys. Fluids 27, 2881 (1984)], as well as Taylor [Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 741 (1986)], considered modes in which the vector potential was zero on the axisymmetric toroidal chamber. It is shown that these Jensen-Chu-Taylor modes include only the CK helical modes and the CK axisymmetric modes without net toroidal flux. If the toroidal chamber is perfectly conducting except for a cut that prevents a net poloidal current from flowing, resonances in j{sub parallel}/B occur at the eigenvalues of the axisymmetric CK modes. Jensen and Chu studied this type of resonance. Without the cut, so a poloidal current flows to conserve the net toroidal flux, it is shown that j{sub parallel}/B resonances occur at the eigenvalues of the CK modes that have no net toroidal flux and at the eigenvalues of the YG modes, which are upshifted from the eigenvalues of the axisymmetric CK modes that carry net toroidal flux.« less

Detection of terahertz radiation in metamaterials: giant plasmonic ratchet effect (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudin, Sergey; Rupper, Greg; Kachorovski, Valentin; Shur, Michael S.

2017-05-01

The electromagnetic wave impinging on the spatially modulated two-dimensional electron liquid (2DEL) induces a direct current (DC) when the wave amplitude modulated with the same wave vector as the 2DEL but is shifted in phase (the ratchet effect). The recent theory of this phenomenon predicted a dramatic enhancement at the plasmonic resonances and a non-trivial polarization dependence [1]. We will present the results of the numerical simulations using a hydrodynamic model exploring the helicity dependence of the DC current for silicon, InGaAs, and GaN metamaterial structures at cryogenic and room temperatures. In particular we will report on the effect of the DEL viscosity and explore the nonlinear effects at large amplitudes of the helical electromagnetic radiation impinging on the ratchet structures. We will then discuss the applications of the ratchet effect for terahertz metamaterials in order to realize ultra-sensitive terahertz (THz) radiation detectors, modulators, phase shifters, and delay lines with cross sections matching the terahertz wavelength and capable of determining the electromagnetic wave polarization and helicity. To this end, we propose and analyze the four contact ratchet devices capable of registering the two perpendicular components of the electric currents induced by the elliptically or circularly polarized radiation and analyze the load impedance effects in the structures optimized for the ratchet metamaterial THz components. The analysis is based on the hydrodynamic model suitable for the multi-gated semiconductor structures, coupled self-consistently with Poisson's equation for the electric potential. The model accounts for the effects of pressure gradients and 2DEL viscosity. Our numerical solutions are applicable to the wide ranges of electron mobility and terahertz power. [1] I. V. Rozhansky, V. Yu. Kachorovskii, and M. S. Shur, Helicity-Driven Ratchet Effect Enhanced by Plasmons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 246601, 15 June 2015

Effects of the resistivity profile on the formation of a reversed configuration and single helicity states in compressible simulations of the reversed-field pinch

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Onofri, M.; Malara, F.

2013-10-15

Compressible magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the reversed-field pinch (RFP) are presented. Previous simulations of the RFP, including density and pressure evolution, showed that a stationary state with a reversed toroidal magnetic field could not be obtained, contrary to the results produced with numerical codes neglecting density and pressure dynamics. The simulations described in the present paper show that including density and pressure evolution, a stationary RFP configuration can be obtained if the resistivity has a radial profile steeply increasing close to the wall. Such resistivity profile is more realistic than a uniform resistivity, since the temperature at the wall is lowermore » than in the plasma core.« less

Dynamo-driven plasmoid formation from a current-sheet instability

DOE PAGES

Ebrahimi, F.

2016-12-15

Axisymmetric current-carrying plasmoids are formed in the presence of nonaxisymmetric fluctuations during nonlinear three-dimensional resistive MHD simulations in a global toroidal geometry. In this study, we utilize the helicity injection technique to form an initial poloidal flux in the presence of a toroidal guide field. As helicity is injected, two types of current sheets are formed from the oppositely directed field lines in the injector region (primary reconnecting current sheet), and the poloidal flux compression near the plasma edge (edge current sheet). We first find that nonaxisymmetric fluctuations arising from the current-sheet instability isolated near the plasma edge have tearingmore » parity but can nevertheless grow fast (on the poloidal Alfven time scale). These modes saturate by breaking up the current sheet. Second, for the first time, a dynamo poloidal flux amplification is observed at the reconnection site (in the region of the oppositely directed magnetic field). This fluctuation-induced flux amplification increases the local Lundquist number, which then triggers a plasmoid instability and breaks the primary current sheet at the reconnection site. Finally, the plasmoids formation driven by large-scale flux amplification, i.e., a large-scale dynamo, observed here has strong implications for astrophysical reconnection as well as fast reconnection events in laboratory plasmas.« less

Reversed Field Pinch helical self-organization studies with the volume preserving field line tracing code NEMATO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfiglio, D.; Veranda, M.; Cappello, S.; Chacon, L.; Escande, D. F.; Piovesan, P.

2009-11-01

The existence of a Reversed Field Pinch (RFP) dynamo as a (laminar) helical self-organization was anticipated by MHD numerical studies [1]. High current operation in RFX-mod experiment shows such a helical self-organization: strong internal electron transport barriers (ITB) appear and magnetic chaos healing is diagnosed when Single Helical Axis (SHAx) regimes are achieved [2]. We present results of the field line tracing code NEMATO [3] applied to study the magnetic topology resulting from 3D MHD simulations, with the aim of clarifying the conditions for chaos healing in SHAx states. First tests confirm the basic picture: the magnetic chaos due to island overlap is significantly reduced after the expulsion of the dominant mode separatrix. The possible synergy with the presence of magnetic and/or flow shear at the SHAx ITB will also be discussed [4].[4pt] [1] S. Cappello, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion (2004) & references therein [0pt] [2] R. Lorenzini et al., Nature Phys. (2009) [0pt] [3] J. M. Finn and L. Chacon, Phys. Plasmas (2005) [0pt] [4] M.E. Puiatti et al invited presentation EPS 2009 conference, submitted to Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

Improving the output voltage waveform of an intense electron-beam accelerator based on helical type Blumlein pulse forming line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Xin-Bing; Liu, Jin-Liang; Zhang, Hong-Bo; Feng, Jia-Huai; Qian, Bao-Liang

2010-07-01

The Blumlein pulse forming line (BPFL) consisting of an inner coaxial pulse forming line (PFL) and an outer coaxial PFL is widely used in the field of pulsed power, especially for intense electron-beam accelerators (IEBA). The output voltage waveform determines the quality and characteristics of the output beam current of the IEBA. Comparing with the conventional BPFL, an IEBA based on a helical type BPFL can increase the duration of the output voltage in the same geometrical volume. However, for the helical type BPFL, the voltage waveform on a matched load may be distorted which influences the electron-beam quality. In this paper, an IEBA based on helical type BPFL is studied theoretically. Based on telegrapher equations of the BPFL, a formula for the output voltage of IEBA is obtained when the transition section is taken into account, where the transition section is between the middle cylinder of BPFL and the load. From the theoretical analysis, it is found that the wave impedance and transit time of the transition section influence considerably the main pulse voltage waveform at the load, a step is formed in front of the main pulse, and a sharp spike is also formed at the end of the main pulse. In order to get a well-shaped square waveform at the load and to improve the electron-beam quality of such an accelerator, the wave impedance of the transition section should be equal to that of the inner PFL of helical type BPFL and the transit time of the transition section should be designed as short as possible. Experiments performed on an IEBA with the helical type BPFL show reasonable agreement with theoretical analysis.

A second-generation superconducting undulator cryostat for the APS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuerst, J.; Hasse, Q.; Ivanyushenkov, Y.; Kasa, M.; Shiroyanagi, Y.

2017-12-01

A second-generation cryocooler-based cryostat has been designed and built to support a new helically wound superconducting undulator (SCU) magnet for the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The design represents an evolution of existing SCU cryostats currently in operation in the APS storage ring. Value engineering and lessons learned have resulted in a smaller, cheaper, and simpler cryostat design compatible with existing planar magnets as well as the new helically wound device. We describe heat load and quench response results, design and operational details, and the “build-to-spec” procurement strategy.

Measurements of Doppler-ion temperature and flow in the multi-pulsing CHI experiment on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanao, T.; Ishihara, M.; Hirono, H.; Hyobu, T.; Ito, K.; Matsumoto, K.; Nakayama, T.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2012-10-01

The steady-state current sustainment of spherical torus (ST) configurations is expected to be achieved by Multi-pulsing Coaxial Helicity Injection (M-CHI) method. In the double-pulsing discharges, the plasma current can be sustained much longer against the resistive decay compared to the single CHI. The M-CHI has capabilities as a static ion heating method. Ion Doppler Spectrometer (IDS) measurements confirmed a significant increase in the ion temperature after the second CHI pulse. The ion heating mechanism is an important issue to be explored in the M-CHI experiments. It is considered due to the magnetic reconnection process of plasmoids and/or the damping of the Alfven wave. The ion heating becomes suppressed around the separatrix layer in the high field side where the amplitude of the magnetic fluctuations is minimized due to the poloidal flow shear. The shear flow generation is caused by ExB drift and ion diamagnetic drift. The contribution from the diamagnetic drift on the shear flow can be evaluated by measuring the flow velocity of hydrogen and impurity ions by using Mach probe and IDS. We will discuss the dependence of the ion heating characteristics on the variation of the density gradient by varying TF coil current.

Non-Solenoidal Startup via Helicity Injection in the Pegasus ST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bongard, M. W.; Bodner, G. M.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Pachicano, J. L.; Perry, J. M.; Pierren, C.; Richner, N. J.; Rodriguez Sanchez, C.; Schlossberg, D. J.; Reusch, J. A.; Weberski, J. D.

2017-10-01

Research on the A 1 . 2 Pegasus ST is developing the physics and technology basis for optimal non-solenoidal tokamak startup. Recent work explores startup via Local Helicity Injection (LHI) using compact, multi-MW current sources placed at the plasma edge in the lower divertor region. This minimizes inductive drive from poloidal fields and dynamic shaping. Plasmas with Ip <= 200 kA, Δtpulse 20 ms and BT <= 0 . 15 T are produced to date, sustained by two injectors with Ainj = 4 cm2 , Vinj 1 . 5 kV, and Iinj 8 kA, facilitated by improvements to the injectors, limiters, and divertor plates that mitigate deleterious PMI. These plasmas feature anomalous, reconnection-driven ion heating with Ti >=Te >= 50 - 100 eV and large-amplitude MHD activity driven by the injectors. Under some conditions, MHD fluctuations abruptly decrease by over an order of magnitude without loss of LHI drive, improving realized Ip , and suggesting short-wavelength modes may relate to the current drive mechanism. The high IN >= 10 , ion heating, and low li driven by LHI, and the favorable stability of A 1 STs allows access to record βt 100 % and high βN 6 . 5 . Such high-βt plasmas have a minimum | B | well spanning 50 % of the plasma volume. Enhancements to the Pegasus facility are considered to increase BT towards NSTX-U levels; establish coaxial helicity injection capabilities; and add auxiliary heating and current drive. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Multi-pulse power injection and spheromak sustainment in SSPX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stallard, B. W.; Hill, D. N.; Hooper, E. B.; Bulmer, R. H.; McLean, H. S.; Wood, R. D.; Woodruff, S.; Sspx Team

2000-10-01

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA. Spheromak formation (gun injection phase) and sustainment experiments are now routine in SSPX using a multi-bank power system. Gun voltage, impedance, and power coupling show a clear current threshold dependence on gun flux (I_th~=λ_0φ_gun/μ_0), increasing with current above the threshold, and are compared with CTX results. The characteristic gun inductance, L_gun~=0.6 μH, derived from the gun voltage dependence on di/dt, is larger than expected from Corsica modeling of the spheromak equilibrium. It’s value is consistent with the n=1 ‘doughook’ mode structure reported in SPHEX and believed important for helicity injection and toroidal current drive. Results of helicity and power balance calculations of spheromak poloidal field buildup are compared with experiment and used to project sustainment with a future longer pulse power supply. This work was performed under the auspices of US DOE by the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48.

Lessons from a tarantula: new insights into muscle thick filament and myosin interacting-heads motif structure and function.

PubMed

Alamo, Lorenzo; Koubassova, Natalia; Pinto, Antonio; Gillilan, Richard; Tsaturyan, Andrey; Padrón, Raúl

2017-10-01

The tarantula skeletal muscle X-ray diffraction pattern suggested that the myosin heads were helically arranged on the thick filaments. Electron microscopy (EM) of negatively stained relaxed tarantula thick filaments revealed four helices of heads allowing a helical 3D reconstruction. Due to its low resolution (5.0 nm), the unambiguous interpretation of densities of both heads was not possible. A resolution increase up to 2.5 nm, achieved by cryo-EM of frozen-hydrated relaxed thick filaments and an iterative helical real space reconstruction, allowed the resolving of both heads. The two heads, "free" and "blocked", formed an asymmetric structure named the "interacting-heads motif" (IHM) which explained relaxation by self-inhibition of both heads ATPases. This finding made tarantula an exemplar system for thick filament structure and function studies. Heads were shown to be released and disordered by Ca 2+ -activation through myosin regulatory light chain phosphorylation, leading to EM, small angle X-ray diffraction and scattering, and spectroscopic and biochemical studies of the IHM structure and function. The results from these studies have consequent implications for understanding and explaining myosin super-relaxed state and thick filament activation and regulation. A cooperative phosphorylation mechanism for activation in tarantula skeletal muscle, involving swaying constitutively Ser35 mono-phosphorylated free heads, explains super-relaxation, force potentiation and post-tetanic potentiation through Ser45 mono-phosphorylated blocked heads. Based on this mechanism, we propose a swaying-swinging, tilting crossbridge-sliding filament for tarantula muscle contraction.

Investigation on the Characteristics of Pellet Ablation in a Toroidal Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, K. N.; Sakakita, H.; Fujita, H.

2003-06-01

Characteristics of a cloud ablated from an ice pellet has been investigated in detail in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak plasma by utilizing a new scheme of pellet injection system, "the injection-angle controllable system". A long "helical tail" of ablation light has been observed using CCD cameras and a high speed framing photograph in the case of on-axis and off-axis injection with the injection angle smaller than a certain value. The direction of the helical tail is found to be independent to that of the total magnetic field lines of the torus. From the experiments with the combination of two toroildal filed directions and two plasma current directions, it is considered that the tail seems to rotate, in most cases, to the electron diamagnetic direction poloidally, and to the opposite to the plasma current direction toroidally. Consideration on various cross sections including charge exchange, ionization and elastic collisions leads us to the conclusion that the tail-shaped phenomena may come from the situation of charge exchange equilibrium of hydrogen ions and neutrals at extremely high density regime in the cloud. The relation of ablation behavior with plasma potential and rotation has also been studied. Potential measurements of pellet-injected plasmas using heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) method were carried out for the first time. In the case of an injection angle to be anti-parallel to the electron diamagnetic direction in the poloidal plane, the result shows that the direction of potential change is negative, and consequently the potential after the injection should be negative because it has been measured to be negative in usual ohmic plasmas without pellet injection. Thus, the direction of the "tail" structure seems to be consistent to that of the plasma potential measured, if it is considered that tail structure may be caused by the effect of the plasma potential and the rotation.

Influence of the resonant magnetic perturbations on transport in the Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakubowski, M. W.; Drewelow, P.; Masuzaki, S.; Tanaka, K.; Pedersen, T. S.; Akiyama, T.; Bozhenkov, S.; Dinklage, A.; Kobayashi, M.; Narushima, Y.; Sakakibara, S.; Suzuki, Y.; Wolf, R.; Yamada, H.; the LHD Experimental Group

2013-11-01

The purpose of this study is the investigation of the non-linear plasma response of transport due to stochastic effects. On the Large Helical Device, perturbation coils create a resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) with the m/n = 1/1 and 2/1 Fourier components. Depending on the plasma conditions, the perturbation either enhances or heals the natural m/n = 1/1 magnetic island. For the case of an amplified island the enhanced heat and particle transport across the island causes a rather significant reduction in the confinement. For a healed island, there is a small decrease in beta with increasing perturbation current. These changes coincide with an increasing width of the open stochastic volume at the plasma edge near the x-point. Systematic experiments are performed, changing the amplitude of the perturbation linearly with IRMP in the range from 0 to 2.7 kA. Two scenarios are investigated: first, the discharge is ramped up with an external perturbation already superimposed on the main magnetic field. Second, the external perturbation is applied to the plasma already ignited (similar to experiments with RMPs in tokamaks). As will be shown, there is a clear difference in the size of the 1/1 island and the dependence of ne and Te on the perturbation when comparing these two scenarios. A hysteresis is observed up to a certain amplitude of the external perturbation. The particle transport and confinement are affected substantially in the discharges with a pre-existing magnetic perturbation. Interestingly, a global reduction in Te and ne is observed above a certain value of perturbation current in both cases. However, for the same island width, the plasma reacts differently to the applied perturbation depending on the direction of the ramp. For ramp-downs, we observe steeper electron density and temperature gradients, which leads to better plasma performance.

Measurements of dynamo effect on double-CHI pulse ST plasmas on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, K.; Hanao, T.; Ishihara, M.; Matsumoto, K.; Higashi, T.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2011-10-01

Coaxial Helicity injection (CHI) is an efficient current-drive method used in spheromak and spherical torus (ST) experiments. An anticipated issue for CHI is achieving good energy confinement, since it relies on the magnetic relaxation and dynamo. This is essentially because CHI cannot drive a dynamo directly inside a closed magnetic flux surface. Thus, it is an important issue to investigate dynamo effect to explore CHI current drive mechanisms in a new approach such as Multi-pulsing CHI method. To study the dynamo model with two-fluid Hall effects, we have started from the generalized Ohm law. We have measured each MHD dynamo term and Hall dynamo term separately by using Mach probe and Hall probe involving 3-axis magnetic pick-up coils. The result shows that the induced electric field due to MHD dynamo is large enough to sustain the mean toroidal current against resistive decay in the core region. In the other hand, the anti-dynamo effect in the MHD dynamo term is observed in the central open flux column (OFC) region. From the viewpoint of two-fluid theory, ion diamagnetic drift is opposite to the electron diamagnetic drift, maybe resulting in the anti-dynamo effect. Hall dynamo may arise from the fluctuating electron diamagnetic current due to high electron density gradient which is large in the OFC region.

Current systems of coronal loops in 3D MHD simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warnecke, J.; Chen, F.; Bingert, S.; Peter, H.

2017-11-01

Aims: We study the magnetic field and current structure associated with a coronal loop. Through this we investigate to what extent the assumptions of a force-free magnetic field break down and where they might be justified. Methods: We analyze a three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of the solar corona in an emerging active region with the focus on the structure of the forming coronal loops. The lower boundary of this simulation is taken from a model of an emerging active region. As a consequence of the emerging magnetic flux and the horizontal motions at the surface a coronal loop forms self-consistently. We investigate the current density along magnetic field lines inside (and outside) this loop and study the magnetic and plasma properties in and around this loop. The loop is defined as the bundle of field lines that coincides with enhanced emission in extreme UV. Results: We find that the total current along the emerging loop changes its sign from being antiparallel to parallel to the magnetic field. This is caused by the inclination of the loop together with the footpoint motion. Around the loop, the currents form a complex non-force-free helical structure. This is directly related to a bipolar current structure at the loop footpoints at the base of the corona and a local reduction of the background magnetic field (I.e., outside the loop) caused by the plasma flow into and along the loop. Furthermore, the locally reduced magnetic pressure in the loop allows the loop to sustain a higher density, which is crucial for the emission in extreme UV. The action of the flow on the magnetic field hosting the loop turns out to also be responsible for the observed squashing of the loop. Conclusions: The complex magnetic field and current system surrounding it can only be modeled in 3D MHD models where the magnetic field has to balance the plasma pressure. A one-dimensional coronal loop model or a force-free extrapolation cannot capture the current system and the complex interaction of the plasma and the magnetic field in the coronal loop, despite the fact that the loop is under low-β conditions.

Modeling activities on the negative-ion-based Neutral Beam Injectors of the Large Helical Device

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agostinetti, P.; Antoni, V.; Chitarin, G.

2011-09-26

At the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) large-scaled negative ion sources have been widely used for the Neutral Beam Injectors (NBIs) mounted on the Large Helical Device (LHD), which is the world-largest superconducting helical system. These injectors have achieved outstanding performances in terms of beam energy, negative-ion current and optics, and represent a reference for the development of heating and current drive NBIs for ITER.In the framework of the support activities for the ITER NBIs, the PRIMA test facility, which includes a RF-drive ion source with 100 keV accelerator (SPIDER) and a complete 1 MeV Neutral Beam system (MITICA)more » is under construction at Consorzio RFX in Padova.An experimental validation of the codes has been undertaken in order to prove the accuracy of the simulations and the soundness of the SPIDER and MITICA design. To this purpose, the whole set of codes have been applied to the LHD NBIs in a joint activity between Consorzio RFX and NIFS, with the goal of comparing and benchmarking the codes with the experimental data. A description of these modeling activities and a discussion of the main results obtained are reported in this paper.« less

Consensus Prediction of Charged Single Alpha-Helices with CSAHserver.

PubMed

Dudola, Dániel; Tóth, Gábor; Nyitray, László; Gáspári, Zoltán

2017-01-01

Charged single alpha-helices (CSAHs) constitute a rare structural motif. CSAH is characterized by a high density of regularly alternating residues with positively and negatively charged side chains. Such segments exhibit unique structural properties; however, there are only a handful of proteins where its existence is experimentally verified. Therefore, establishing a pipeline that is capable of predicting the presence of CSAH segments with a low false positive rate is of considerable importance. Here we describe a consensus-based approach that relies on two conceptually different CSAH detection methods and a final filter based on the estimated helix-forming capabilities of the segments. This pipeline was shown to be capable of identifying previously uncharacterized CSAH segments that could be verified experimentally. The method is available as a web server at http://csahserver.itk.ppke.hu and also a downloadable standalone program suitable to scan larger sequence collections.

Neutrino quantum kinetic equations: The collision term

DOE PAGES

Blaschke, Daniel N.; Cirigliano, Vincenzo

2016-08-01

We derive the collision term relevant for neutrino quantum kinetic equations in the early universe and compact astrophysical objects, displaying its full matrix structure in both flavor and spin degrees of freedom. We include in our analysis neutrino-neutrino processes, scattering and annihilation with electrons and positrons, and neutrino scattering off nucleons (the latter in the low-density limit). After presenting the general structure of the collision terms, we take two instructive limiting cases. The one-flavor limit highlights the structure in helicity space and allows for a straightforward interpretation of the off-diagonal entries in terms of the product of scattering amplitudes ofmore » the two helicity states. As a result, the isotropic limit is relevant for studies of the early universe: in this case the terms involving spin coherence vanish and the collision term can be expressed in terms of two-dimensional integrals, suitable for computational implementation.« less

Performance optimization of a miniature Joule-Thomson cryocooler using numerical model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ardhapurkar, P. M.; Atrey, M. D.

2014-09-01

The performance of a miniature Joule-Thomson cryocooler depends on the effectiveness of the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger used in such cryocooler is Hampson-type recuperative heat exchanger. The design of the efficient heat exchanger is crucial for the optimum performance of the cryocooler. In the present work, the heat exchanger is numerically simulated for the steady state conditions and the results are validated against the experimental data available from the literature. The area correction factor is identified for the calculation of effective heat transfer area which takes into account the effect of helical geometry. In order to get an optimum performance of the cryocoolers, operating parameters like mass flow rate, pressure and design parameters like heat exchanger length, helical diameter of coil, fin dimensions, fin density have to be identified. The present work systematically addresses this aspect of design for miniature J-T cryocooler.

Microwave Imaging in Large Helical Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshinaga, T.; Nagayama, Y.; Tsuchiya, H.; Kuwahara, D.; Tsuji-Iio, S.; Akaki, K.; Mase, A.; Kogi, Y.; Yamaguchi, S.; Shi, Z. B.; Hojo, H.

2011-02-01

Microwave imaging reflectometry (MIR) system and electron cyclotron emission imaging (ECEI) system are under development for the simultaneous reconstruction of the electron density and temperature fluctuation structures in the Large Helical Device (LHD). The MIR observes three-dimensional structure of disturbed cutoff surfaces by using the two-dimensionally distributed horn-antenna mixer array (HMA) of 5 × 7 channels in combination with the simultaneous projection of microwaves with four different frequency components (60.410, 61.808, 63.008 and 64.610 GHz). The ECEI is designed to observe two-dimensional structure of electron temperature by detecting second-harmonic ECE at 97-107 GHz with the one-dimensional HMA (7 channels) in the common optics with MIR system. Both the MIR and the ECEI are realized by the HMA and the band-pass filter (BPF) arrays, which are fabricated by micro-strip-line technique at low-cost.

Crystal structure of a designed, thermostable, heterotrimeric coiled coil.

PubMed Central

Nautiyal, S.; Alber, T.

1999-01-01

Electrostatic interactions are often critical for determining the specificity of protein-protein complexes. To study the role of electrostatic interactions for assembly of helical bundles, we previously designed a thermostable, heterotrimeric coiled coil, ABC, in which charged residues were employed to drive preferential association of three distinct, 34-residue helices. To investigate the basis for heterotrimer specificity, we have used multiwavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD) analysis to determine the 1.8 A resolution crystal structure of ABC. The structure shows that ABC forms a heterotrimeric coiled coil with the intended arrangement of parallel chains. Over half of the ion pairs engineered to restrict helix associations were apparent in the experimental electron density map. As seen in other trimeric coiled coils, ABC displays acute knobs-into-holes packing and a buried anion coordinated by core polar amino acids. These interactions validate the design strategy and illustrate how packing and polar contacts determine structural uniqueness. PMID:10210186

Precise structural analysis of α-helical polypeptide by quantum-chemical calculation related to reciprocal side-chain combination of two L-phenylalanine residues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niimura, Subaru; Kurosu, Hiromichi; Shoji, Akira

2010-04-01

To clarify the positive role of side-chain conformation in the stability of protein secondary structure (main-chain conformation), we successfully calculated the optimization structure of a series of well-defined α-helical octadecapeptides composed of two L-phenylalanine (Phe) and 16 L-alanine (Ala) residues, based on the molecular orbital calculation with density functional theory (DFT/B3LYP/6-31G(d)). From the total energy calculation and the precise secondary structural analysis, we found that the conformational stability of the α-helix is closely related to the reciprocal side-chain combinations (such as positional relation and side-chain conformation) of two Phe residues in this system. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the 1H, 13C, 15N and 17O isotropic chemical shifts of each Phe residue depend on the respective side-chain conformations of the Phe residue.

The Qweak experimental apparatus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allison, T.; Anderson, M.; Androić, D.; Armstrong, D. S.; Asaturyan, A.; Averett, T.; Averill, R.; Balewski, J.; Beaufait, J.; Beminiwattha, R. S.; Benesch, J.; Benmokhtar, F.; Bessuille, J.; Birchall, J.; Bonnell, E.; Bowman, J. D.; Brindza, P.; Brown, D. B.; Carlini, R. D.; Cates, G. D.; Cavness, B.; Clark, G.; Cornejo, J. C.; Dusa, S. Covrig; Dalton, M. M.; Davis, C. A.; Dean, D. C.; Deconinck, W.; Diefenbach, J.; Dow, K.; Dowd, J. F.; Dunne, J. A.; Dutta, D.; Duvall, W. S.; Echols, J. R.; Elaasar, M.; Falk, W. R.; Finelli, K. D.; Finn, J. M.; Gaskell, D.; Gericke, M. T. W.; Grames, J.; Gray, V. M.; Grimm, K.; Guo, F.; Hansknecht, J.; Harrison, D. J.; Henderson, E.; Hoskins, J. R.; Ihloff, E.; Johnston, K.; Jones, D.; Jones, M.; Jones, R.; Kargiantoulakis, M.; Kelsey, J.; Khan, N.; King, P. M.; Korkmaz, E.; Kowalski, S.; Kubera, A.; Leacock, J.; Leckey, J. P.; Lee, A. R.; Lee, J. H.; Lee, L.; Liang, Y.; MacEwan, S.; Mack, D.; Magee, J. A.; Mahurin, R.; Mammei, J.; Martin, J. W.; McCreary, A.; McDonald, M. H.; McHugh, M. J.; Medeiros, P.; Meekins, D.; Mei, J.; Michaels, R.; Micherdzinska, A.; Mkrtchyan, A.; Mkrtchyan, H.; Morgan, N.; Musson, J.; Mesick, K. E.; Narayan, A.; Ndukum, L. Z.; Nelyubin, V.; Nuruzzaman; van Oers, W. T. H.; Opper, A. K.; Page, S. A.; Pan, J.; Paschke, K. D.; Phillips, S. K.; Pitt, M. L.; Poelker, M.; Rajotte, J. F.; Ramsay, W. D.; Roberts, W. R.; Roche, J.; Rose, P. W.; Sawatzky, B.; Seva, T.; Shabestari, M. H.; Silwal, R.; Simicevic, N.; Smith, G. R.; Sobczynski, S.; Solvignon, P.; Spayde, D. T.; Stokes, B.; Storey, D. W.; Subedi, A.; Subedi, R.; Suleiman, R.; Tadevosyan, V.; Tobias, W. A.; Tvaskis, V.; Urban, E.; Waidyawansa, B.; Wang, P.; Wells, S. P.; Wood, S. A.; Yang, S.; Zhamkochyan, S.; Zielinski, R. B.

2015-05-01

The Jefferson Lab Qweak experiment determined the weak charge of the proton by measuring the parity-violating elastic scattering asymmetry of longitudinally polarized electrons from an unpolarized liquid hydrogen target at small momentum transfer. A custom apparatus was designed for this experiment to meet the technical challenges presented by the smallest and most precise e → p asymmetry ever measured. Technical milestones were achieved at Jefferson Lab in target power, beam current, beam helicity reversal rate, polarimetry, detected rates, and control of helicity-correlated beam properties. The experiment employed 180 μA of 89% longitudinally polarized electrons whose helicity was reversed 960 times per second. The electrons were accelerated to 1.16 GeV and directed to a beamline with extensive instrumentation to measure helicity-correlated beam properties that can induce false asymmetries. Møller and Compton polarimetry were used to measure the electron beam polarization to better than 1%. The electron beam was incident on a 34.4 cm liquid hydrogen target. After passing through a triple collimator system, scattered electrons between 5.8° and 11.6° were bent in the toroidal magnetic field of a resistive copper-coil magnet. The electrons inside this acceptance were focused onto eight fused silica Cherenkov detectors arrayed symmetrically around the beam axis. A total scattered electron rate of about 7 GHz was incident on the detector array. The detectors were read out in integrating mode by custom-built low-noise pre-amplifiers and 18-bit sampling ADC modules. The momentum transfer Q2=0.025 GeV2 was determined using dedicated low-current (~ 100 pA) measurements with a set of drift chambers before (and a set of drift chambers and trigger scintillation counters after) the toroidal magnet.

NMR structure and localization of a large fragment of the SARS-CoV fusion protein: Implications in viral cell fusion.

PubMed

Mahajan, Mukesh; Chatterjee, Deepak; Bhuvaneswari, Kannaian; Pillay, Shubhadra; Bhattacharjya, Surajit

2018-02-01

The lethal Coronaviruses (CoVs), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-associated Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and most recently Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, (MERS-CoV) are serious human health hazard. A successful viral infection requires fusion between virus and host cells carried out by the surface spike glycoprotein or S protein of CoV. Current models propose that the S2 subunit of S protein assembled into a hexameric helical bundle exposing hydrophobic fusogenic peptides or fusion peptides (FPs) for membrane insertion. The N-terminus of S2 subunit of SARS-CoV reported to be active in cell fusion whereby FPs have been identified. Atomic-resolution structure of FPs derived either in model membranes or in membrane mimic environment would glean insights toward viral cell fusion mechanism. Here, we have solved 3D structure, dynamics and micelle localization of a 64-residue long fusion peptide or LFP in DPC detergent micelles by NMR methods. Micelle bound structure of LFP is elucidated by the presence of discretely folded helical and intervening loops. The C-terminus region, residues F42-Y62, displays a long hydrophobic helix, whereas the N-terminus is defined by a short amphipathic helix, residues R4-Q12. The intervening residues of LFP assume stretches of loops and helical turns. The N-terminal helix is sustained by close aromatic and aliphatic sidechain packing interactions at the non-polar face. 15 N{ 1 H}NOE studies indicated dynamical motion, at ps-ns timescale, of the helices of LFP in DPC micelles. PRE NMR showed that insertion of several regions of LFP into DPC micelle core. Together, the current study provides insights toward fusion mechanism of SARS-CoV. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Emergency department CT screening of patients with nontraumatic neurological symptoms referred to the posterior fossa: comparison of thin versus thick slice images.

PubMed

Kamalian, Shervin; Atkinson, Wendy L; Florin, Lauren A; Pomerantz, Stuart R; Lev, Michael H; Romero, Javier M

2014-06-01

Evaluation of the posterior fossa (PF) on 5-mm-thick helical CT images (current default) has improved diagnostic accuracy compared to 5-mm sequential CT images; however, 5-mm-thick images may not be ideal for PF pathology due to volume averaging of rapid changes in anatomy in the Z-direction. Therefore, we sought to determine if routine review of 1.25-mm-thin helical CT images has superior accuracy in screening for nontraumatic PF pathology. MRI proof of diagnosis was obtained within 6 h of helical CT acquisition for 90 consecutive ED patients with, and 88 without, posterior fossa lesions. Helical CT images were post-processed at 1.25 and 5-mm-axial slice thickness. Two neuroradiologists blinded to the clinical/MRI findings reviewed both image sets. Interobserver agreement and accuracy were rated using Kappa statistics and ROC analysis, respectively. Of the 90/178 (51 %) who were MR positive, 60/90 (66 %) had stroke and 30/90 (33 %) had other etiologies. There was excellent interobserver agreement (κ > 0.97) for both thick and thin slice assessments. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for 1.25-mm images were 65, 44, and 84 %, respectively, and for 5-mm images were 67, 45, and 85 %, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy was not significantly different (p > 0.5). In this cohort of patients with nontraumatic neurological symptoms referred to the posterior fossa, 1.25-mm-thin slice CT reformatted images do not have superior accuracy compared to 5-mm-thick images. This information has implications on optimizing resource utilizations and efficiency in a busy emergency room. Review of 1.25-mm-thin images may help diagnostic accuracy only when review of 5-mm-thick images as current default is inconclusive.

Plasmoids formation in a laboratory and large-volume flux closure during simulations of Coaxial Helicity Injection in NSTX-U

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebrahimi, Fatima

2016-10-01

In NSTX-U, transient Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) is the primary method for current generation without reliance on the solenoid. A CHI discharge is generated by driving current along open field lines (the injector flux) that connect the inner and outer divertor plates on NSTX/NSTX-U, and has generated over 200 kA of toroidal current on closed flux surfaces in NSTX. Extrapolation of the concept to larger devices requires an improved understanding of the physics of flux closure and the governing parameters that maximizes the fraction of injected flux that is converted to useful closed flux. Here, through comprehensive resistive MHD NIMROD simulations conducted for the NSTX and NSTX-U geometries, two new major findings will be reported. First, formation of an elongated Sweet-Parker current sheet and a transition to plasmoid instability has for the first time been demonstrated by realistic global simulations. This is the first observation of plasmoid instability in a laboratory device configuration predicted by realistic MHD simulations and then supported by experimental camera images from NSTX. Second, simulations have now, for the first time, been able to show large fraction conversion of injected open flux to closed flux in the NSTX-U geometry. Consistent with the experiment, simulations also show that reconnection could occur at every stage of the helicity injection phase. The influence of 3D effects, and the parameter range that supports these important new findings is now being studied to understand the impact of toroidal magnetic field and the electron temperature, both of which are projected to increase in larger ST devices. Work supported by DOE DE-SC0010565.

Evaporation-based method for preparing gelatin foams with aligned tubular pore structures.

PubMed

Frazier, Shane D; Srubar, Wil V

2016-05-01

Gelatin-based foams with aligned tubular pore structures were prepared via liquid-to-gas vaporization of tightly bound water in dehydrated gelatin hydrogels. This study elucidates the mechanism of the foaming process by investigating the secondary (i.e., helical) structure, molecular interactions, and water content of gelatin films before and after foaming using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. Experimental data from gelatin samples prepared at various gelatin-to-water concentrations (5-30 wt.%) substantiate that resulting foam structures are similar in pore diameter (approximately 350 μm), shape, and density (0.05-0.22 g/cm(3)) to those fabricated using conventional methods (e.g., freeze-drying). Helical structures were identified in the films but were not evident in the foamed samples after vaporization (~150 °C), suggesting that the primary foaming mechanism is governed by the vaporization of water that is tightly bound in secondary structures (i.e., helices, β-turns, β-sheets) that are present in dehydrated gelatin films. FTIR and TGA data show that the foaming process leads to more disorder and reduced hydrogen bonding to hydroxyl groups in gelatin and that no thermal degradation of gelatin occurs before or after foaming. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Probing spin helical surface states in topological HgTe nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, J.; Kozlovsky, R.; Gorini, C.; Liu, M.-H.; Weishäupl, S.; Maier, H.; Fischer, R.; Kozlov, D. A.; Kvon, Z. D.; Mikhailov, N.; Dvoretsky, S. A.; Richter, K.; Weiss, D.

2018-01-01

Nanowires with helical surface states represent key prerequisites for observing and exploiting phase-coherent topological conductance phenomena, such as spin-momentum locked quantum transport or topological superconductivity. We demonstrate in a joint experimental and theoretical study that gated nanowires fabricated from high-mobility strained HgTe, known as a bulk topological insulator, indeed preserve the topological nature of the surface states, that moreover extend phase-coherently across the entire wire geometry. The phase-coherence lengths are enhanced up to 5 μ m when tuning the wires into the bulk gap, so as to single out topological transport. The nanowires exhibit distinct conductance oscillations, both as a function of the flux due to an axial magnetic field and of a gate voltage. The observed h /e -periodic Aharonov-Bohm-type modulations indicate surface-mediated quasiballistic transport. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of the scaling of the observed gate-dependent conductance oscillations reveals the topological nature of these surface states. To this end we combined numerical tight-binding calculations of the quantum magnetoconductance with simulations of the electrostatics, accounting for the gate-induced inhomogeneous charge carrier densities around the wires. We find that helical transport prevails even for strongly inhomogeneous gating and is governed by flux-sensitive high-angular momentum surface states that extend around the entire wire circumference.

In silico studies of the properties of water hydrating a small protein

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, Sudipta Kumar; Jana, Madhurima; Chakraborty, Kausik; Bandyopadhyay, Sanjoy

2014-12-01

Atomistic molecular dynamics simulation of an aqueous solution of the small protein HP-36 has been carried out with explicit solvent at room temperature. Efforts have been made to explore the influence of the protein on the relative packing and ordering of water molecules around its secondary structures, namely, three α-helices. The calculations reveal that the inhomogeneous water ordering and density distributions around the helices are correlated with their relative hydrophobicity. Importantly, we have identified the existence of a narrow relatively dehydrated region containing randomly organized "quasi-free" water molecules beyond the first layer of "bound" waters at the protein surface. These water molecules with relatively weaker binding energies form the transition state separating the "bound" and "free" water molecules at the interface. Further, increased contribution of solid-like caging motions of water molecules around the protein is found to be responsible for reduced fluidity of the hydration layer. Interestingly, we notice that the hydration layer of helix-3 is more fluidic with relatively higher entropy as compared to the hydration layers of the other two helical segments. Such characteristics of helix-3 hydration layer correlate well with the activity of HP-36, as helix-3 contains the active site of the protein.

Observation of the ballooning mode that limits the operation space of the high-density super-dense-core plasma in the LHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohdachi, S.; Watanabe, K. Y.; Tanaka, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Takemura, Y.; Sakakibara, S.; Du, X. D.; Bando, T.; Narushima, Y.; Sakamoto, R.; Miyazawa, J.; Motojima, G.; Morisaki, T.; LHD Experiment Group

2017-06-01

The central beta of the super-dense-core (SDC) plasma in the large helical device (LHD) is limited by a large scale MHD event called ‘core density collapse’ (CDC). The detailed measurement reveals that a new type of ballooning mode, quite localized in space and destabilized from the 3D nature of Heliotron devices, is the cause of the CDC. It is the first observation of an unstable mode in a region with global negative magnetic shear. Avoidance of the excitation of this mode is a key to expand the operational limit of the LHD.

Transverse spin and transverse momentum in scattering of plane waves.

PubMed

Saha, Sudipta; Singh, Ankit K; Ray, Subir K; Banerjee, Ayan; Gupta, Subhasish Dutta; Ghosh, Nirmalya

2016-10-01

We study the near field to the far field evolution of spin angular momentum (SAM) density and the Poynting vector of the scattered waves from spherical scatterers. The results show that at the near field, the SAM density and the Poynting vector are dominated by their transverse components. While the former (transverse SAM) is independent of the helicity of the incident circular polarization state, the latter (transverse Poynting vector) depends upon the polarization state. It is further demonstrated that the interference of the transverse electric and transverse magnetic scattering modes enhances both the magnitudes and the spatial extent of the transverse SAM and the transverse momentum components.

On the effect of the neutral Hydrogen density on the 26 day variations of galactic cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engelbrecht, Nicholas; Burger, Renier; Ferreira, Stefan; Hitge, Mariette

Preliminary results of a 3D, steady-state ab-initio cosmic ray modulation code are presented. This modulation code utilizes analytical expressions for the parallel and perpendicular mean free paths based on the work of Teufel and Schlickeiser (2003) and Shalchi et al. (2004), incorporating Breech et al. (2008)'s model for the 2D variance, correlation scale, and normalized cross helicity. The effects of such a model for basic turbulence quantities, coupled with a 3D model for the neutral Hydrogen density on the 26-day variations of cosmic rays, is investigated, utilizing a Schwadron-Parker hybrid heliospheric magnetic field.

Short-interval multi-laser Thomson scattering measurements of hydrogen pellet ablation in LHD.

PubMed

Yasuhara, R; Sakamoto, R; Yamada, I; Motojima, G; Hayashi, H

2014-11-01

Thomson scattering forms an important aspect of measuring the electron density and temperature profiles of plasmas. In this study, we demonstrate Thomson scattering measurements obtained over a short interval (<1 ms) by using an event triggering system with a multi-laser configuration. We attempt to use our system to obtain the electron temperature and density profiles before and immediately after pellet injection into the large helical device. The obtained profiles exhibit dramatic changes after pellet injection as per our shot-by-shot measurements. We believe that this measurement technique will contribute towards a better understanding of the physics of the pellet deposition.

Short-interval multi-laser Thomson scattering measurements of hydrogen pellet ablation in LHD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yasuhara, R., E-mail: yasuhara@nifs.ac.jp; Sakamoto, R.; Yamada, I.

2014-11-15

Thomson scattering forms an important aspect of measuring the electron density and temperature profiles of plasmas. In this study, we demonstrate Thomson scattering measurements obtained over a short interval (<1 ms) by using an event triggering system with a multi-laser configuration. We attempt to use our system to obtain the electron temperature and density profiles before and immediately after pellet injection into the large helical device. The obtained profiles exhibit dramatic changes after pellet injection as per our shot-by-shot measurements. We believe that this measurement technique will contribute towards a better understanding of the physics of the pellet deposition.

TEM heat transport and fluctuations in the HSX stellarator: experiments and comparison with gyrokinetic simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smoniewski, J.; Faber, B. J.; Sánchez, E.; Calvo, I.; Pueschel, M. J.; Likin, K. M.; Deng, C. B.; Talmadge, J. N.

2017-10-01

The Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX) has demonstrated reduced neoclassical transport in the plasma core with quasi-symmetry [Lore Thesis 2010], while outside this region the electron thermal diffusivity is well above the neoclassical level, likely due to the Trapped Electron Mode (TEM) [Weir PoP 2015, Faber PoP 2015]. We compare gyrokinetic simulations of the TEM to experimental heat flux and density fluctuation measurements for two configurations: Quasi-Helical Symmetry (QHS) and broken symmetry (Mirror). Both experiment and simulation show that the heat flux for Mirror is larger than for QHS by about a factor of two. Initial interferometer measurements provide evidence that density-gradient-driven TEMs are driving turbulence. Calculations of the collisionless damping of zonal flows provide another perspective into the difference between geometries. Similar to other stellarators [Monreal PPCF 2016], the zonal flow residual goes to zero at long wavelengths in both configurations. Additionally, the very short time decay of the zonal flow due to neoclassical polarization is constant between configurations. However, the collisionless damping time is longer and the zonal flow oscillation frequency is smaller in QHS than Mirror, consistent with reduced radial particle drifts. Work supported by the US DOE under Grant DE-FG02-93ER54222.

An Overview of NSTX Research Facility and Recent Experimental Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ono, Masayuki

2006-10-01

The 2006 NSTX experimental campaign yielded significant new experimental results in many areas. Improved plasma control achieved the highest elongation of 2.9 and plasma shape factor q95Ip/aBT = 42 MA/m.T. Active feedback correction of error fields sustained the plasma rotation and increased the pulse length of high beta discharges. Active feedback stabilization of the resistive wall mode in high-beta, low-rotation plasmas was demonstrated for ˜100 resistive wall times. Operation at higher toroidal field showed favorable plasma confinement and HHFW heating efficiency trends with the field. A broader current profile, measured by the 12-channel MSE diagnostic in high beta discharges revealed an outward anomalous diffusivity of energetic ions due to the n=1 MHD modes. A tangential microwave scattering diagnostic measured localized electron gyro-scale fluctuations in L-mode, H-mode and reversed-shear plasmas. Evaporation of lithium onto plasma facing surfaces yielded lower density, higher temperature and improved confinement. A strong dependence of the divertor heat load and ELM behavior on the plasma triangularity was observed. Coaxial helicity injection produced a start-up current of 160 kA on closed flux surfaces.

A quantity characterizing variation of observed magnetic twist in solar active regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Yu

2018-03-01

An alternative parameter RJz is introduced as the ratio of one of two kinds of opposite-sign current to the total current and is used to investigate the relationship between this quantity and the hemispheric helicity sign rule (HSR) that has been established by a series of previous statistical studies. The classification of current in each hemisphere obeys the following rule: if the product of the current and the corresponding longitudinal field component contributes a consistent sign with respect to the HSR, it is called “HSR-compliant” current, otherwise it is called “HSR-noncompliant” current. Firstly, consistency between the butterfly diagram of RJz and current helicity was obtained in a statistical study. Active regions with RJz smaller than 0.5 tend to obey the HSR whereas those with RJz greater than 0.5 tend to disobey it. The “HSR-compliant” current systems have a 60% probability of realization compared to 40% for “HSR-noncompliant” current systems. Overall, the HSR is violated for active regions in which the “HSR-noncompliant” current is greater than the “HSR-compliant” current. Secondly, the parameter RJz was subsequently used to study the evolution of current systems in the case analyses of flare-productive active regions NOAA AR 11158 and AR 11283. It is found that there is a “RJz -quasi-stationary” phase that is relatively flare quiescent and “RJz -dynamic” phase that is characterized by the occurrence of large flares.

Apex Dips of Experimental Flux Ropes: Helix or Cusp?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wongwaitayakornkul, Pakorn; Haw, Magnus A.; Li, Hui; Li, Shengtai; Bellan, Paul M.

2017-10-01

We present a new theory for the presence of apex dips in certain experimental flux ropes. Previously such dips were thought to be projections of a helical loop axis generated by the kink instability. However, new evidence from experiments and simulations suggest that the feature is a 2D cusp rather than a 3D helix. The proposed mechanism for cusp formation is a density pileup region generated by nonlinear interaction of neutral gas cones emitted from fast-gas nozzles. The results indicate that density perturbations can result in large distortions of an erupting flux rope, even in the absence of significant pressure or gravitational forces. The density pileup at the apex also suppresses the m = 1 kink mode by acting as a stationary node. Consequently, more accurate density profiles should be considered when attempting to model the stability and shape of solar and astrophysical flux ropes.

Apex Dips of Experimental Flux Ropes: Helix or Cusp?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wongwaitayakornkul, Pakorn; Haw, Magnus A.; Bellan, Paul M.

We present a new theory for the presence of apex dips in certain experimental flux ropes. Previously such dips were thought to be projections of a helical loop axis generated by the kink instability. However, new evidence from experiments and simulations suggest that the feature is a 2D cusp rather than a 3D helix. The proposed mechanism for cusp formation is a density pileup region generated by nonlinear interaction of neutral gas cones emitted from fast-gas nozzles. The results indicate that density perturbations can result in large distortions of an erupting flux rope, even in the absence of significant pressuremore » or gravitational forces. The density pileup at the apex also suppresses the m = 1 kink mode by acting as a stationary node. Consequently, more accurate density profiles should be considered when attempting to model the stability and shape of solar and astrophysical flux ropes.« less

Hounsfield unit density accurately predicts ESWL success.

PubMed

Magnuson, William J; Tomera, Kevin M; Lance, Raymond S

2005-01-01

Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a commonly used non-invasive treatment for urolithiasis. Helical CT scans provide much better and detailed imaging of the patient with urolithiasis including the ability to measure density of urinary stones. In this study we tested the hypothesis that density of urinary calculi as measured by CT can predict successful ESWL treatment. 198 patients were treated at Alaska Urological Associates with ESWL between January 2002 and April 2004. Of these 101 met study inclusion with accessible CT scans and stones ranging from 5-15 mm. Follow-up imaging demonstrated stone freedom in 74.2%. The overall mean Houndsfield density value for stone-free compared to residual stone groups were significantly different ( 93.61 vs 122.80 p < 0.0001). We determined by receiver operator curve (ROC) that HDV of 93 or less carries a 90% or better chance of stone freedom following ESWL for upper tract calculi between 5-15mm.

The propagation of ion-acoustic waves carrying orbital angular momentum in the electron-positron-ion plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehdian, H.; Nobahar, D.; Hajisharifi, K.

2018-02-01

Ion-acoustic (IA) waves carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) are investigated in an unmagnetized, uniform, and collisionless electron-positron-ion (e-p-i) plasma system. Employing the hydrodynamic theory, the paraxial equation in term of ion perturbed number density is derived and discussed about its Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam solutions. Obtaining an approximate solution for the electrostatic potential, the IA wave characteristics including helical electric field structure, energy density, and OAM density are theoretically studied. Based on the numerical analysis, the effects of positron concentration, radial and angular mode number as well as beam waist on the obtained potential profile are investigated. It is shown that the depth (height) and width of the LG potential profile wells (barriers) are considerably modify by the variation of positron concentration.

A Solid-State Fibriform Supercapacitor Boosted by Host-Guest Hybridization between the Carbon Nanotube Scaffold and MXene Nanosheets.

PubMed

Yu, Chenyang; Gong, Yujiao; Chen, Ruyi; Zhang, Mingyi; Zhou, Jinyuan; An, Jianing; Lv, Fan; Guo, Shaojun; Sun, Gengzhi

2018-06-25

Fiber-shaped supercapacitors with improved specific capacitance and high rate capability are a promising candidate as power supply for smart textiles. However, the synergistic interaction between conductive filaments and active nanomaterials remains a crucial challenge, especially when hydrothermal or electrochemical deposition is used to produce a core (fiber)-shell (active materials) fibrous structure. On the other hand, although 2D pseudocapacitive materials, e.g., Ti 3 C 2 T x (MXene), have demonstrated high volumetric capacitance, high electrical conductivity, and hydrophilic characteristics, MXene-based electrodes normally suffer from poor rate capability owing to the sheet restacking especially when the loading level is high and solid-state gel is used as electrolyte. Herein, by hosting MXene nanosheets (Ti 3 C 2 T x ) in the corridor of a scrolled carbon nanotube (CNT) scaffold, a MXene/CNT fiber with helical structure is successfully fabricated. These features offer open spaces for rapid ion diffusion and guarantee fast electron transport. The solid-state supercapacitor based on such hybrid fibers with gel electrolyte coating exhibits a volumetric capacitance of 22.7 F cm -3 at 0.1 A cm -3 with capacitance retention of 84% at current density of 1.0 A cm -3 (19.1 F cm -3 ), improved volumetric energy density of 2.55 mWh cm -3 at the power density of 45.9 mW cm -3 , and excellent mechanical robustness. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Secondary Circulation Asymmetry in a Meandering, Partially Stratified Estuary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pein, J.; Valle-Levinson, A.; Stanev, E. V.

2018-03-01

Numerical model experiments are used to study the effects of multiple channel bends on estuarine dynamics and, in particular, on secondary flows. These effects are demonstrated by comparing experiments with two different idealized trumpet-shaped estuaries, one straight and another one with a ˜8 km meandering section in the middle of the estuary. Meanders complicate the flow field by introducing secondary processes. For instance, meanders increase turbulence and associated mixing locally within the water column, as well as outside the meandering portion. Furthermore, meanders transform up to 30% of the along-channel momentum into secondary circulation. Production of turbulence and secondary currents is different at flood and ebb tidal phases. At flood, meanders lead to unstable stratification and increased turbulence. At ebb, the flow develops a helical pattern and adjusts to the channel curvature with minimal decrease in density stability. The secondary circulation asymmetry is caused by an interplay between the across-channel baroclinic pressure gradient force and the centrifugal force. During ebb both forces enhance each other, whereas they oppose during flood. As a consequence of this interaction between baroclinic forcing and curving morphology, ebb flows and horizontal buoyancy fluxes increase relative to flood. The enhanced ebb dominance shifts a density front toward the mouth of the estuary, thus reducing salt intrusion.

Initial results from the rebuilt EXTRAP T2R RFP device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunsell, P. R.; Bergsåker, H.; Cecconello, M.; Drake, J. R.; Gravestijn, R. M.; Hedqvist\\ad{2 }, A.; Malmberg, J.-A.

2001-11-01

The EXTRAP T2R thin shell reversed-field pinch (RFP) device has recently resumed operation after a major rebuild including the replacement of the graphite armour with molybdenum limiters, a fourfold increase of the shell time constant, and the replacement of the helical coil used for the toroidal field with a conventional solenoid-type coil. Wall-conditioning using hydrogen glow discharge cleaning was instrumental for successful RFP operation. Carbon was permanently removed from the walls during the first week of operation. The initial results from RFP operation with relatively low plasma currents in the range Ip = 70-100 kA are reported. RFP discharges are sustained for more than three shell times. Significant improvements in plasma parameters are observed, compared to operation before the rebuild. There is a substantial reduction in the carbon impurity level. The electron density behaviour is more shot-to-shot reproducible. The typical density is ne = 0.5-1×1019 m-3. Monitors of Hα line radiation indicate that the plasma wall interaction is more toroidally symmetric and that there is less transient gas release from the wall. The minimum loop voltage is in the range Vt = 28-35 V, corresponding to a reduction by a factor of two to three compared to the value before the rebuild.

Statistical analyses and computational prediction of helical kinks in membrane proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Y.-H.; Chen, C.-M.

2012-10-01

We have carried out statistical analyses and computer simulations of helical kinks for TM helices in the PDBTM database. About 59 % of 1562 TM helices showed a significant kink, and 38 % of these kinks are associated with prolines in a range of ±4 residues. Our analyses show that helical kinks are more populated in the central region of helices, particularly in the range of 1-3 residues away from the helix center. Among 1,053 helical kinks analyzed, 88 % of kinks are bends (change in helix axis without loss of helical character) and 12 % are disruptions (change in helix axis and loss of helical character). It is found that proline residues tend to cause larger kink angles in helical bends, while this effect is not observed in helical disruptions. A further analysis of these kinked helices suggests that a kinked helix usually has 1-2 broken backbone hydrogen bonds with the corresponding N-O distance in the range of 4.2-8.7 Å, whose distribution is sharply peaked at 4.9 Å followed by an exponential decay with increasing distance. Our main aims of this study are to understand the formation of helical kinks and to predict their structural features. Therefore we further performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations under four simulation scenarios to investigate kink formation in 37 kinked TM helices and 5 unkinked TM helices. The representative models of these kinked helices are predicted by a clustering algorithm, SPICKER, from numerous decoy structures possessing the above generic features of kinked helices. Our results show an accuracy of 95 % in predicting the kink position of kinked TM helices and an error less than 10° in the angle prediction of 71.4 % kinked helices. For unkinked helices, based on various structure similarity tests, our predicted models are highly consistent with their crystal structure. These results provide strong supports for the validity of our method in predicting the structure of TM helices.

SiC MOSFET Switching Power Amplifier Project Summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Kenneth E.; Ziemba, Timothy; Prager, James; Slobodov, Ilia; Henson, Alex

2017-10-01

Eagle Harbor Technologies has completed a Phase I/II program to develop SiC MOSFET based Switching Power Amplifiers (SPA) for precision magnet control in fusion science applications. During this program, EHT developed several units have been delivered to the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) experiment at the University of Washington to drive both the voltage and flux circuits of the helicity injectors. These units are capable of switching 700 V at 100 kHz with an adjustable duty cycle from 10 - 90% and a combined total output current of 96 kA for 4 ms (at max current). The SPAs switching is controlled by the microcontroller at HIT, which adjusts the duty cycle to maintain a specific waveform in the injector. The SPAs include overcurrent and shoot-through protection circuity. EHT will present an overview of the program including final results for the SPA waveforms. With support of DOE SBIR.

Scale Effects on Magnet Systems of Heliotron-Type Reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

S, Imagawa; A, Sagara

2005-02-01

For power plants heliotron-type reactors have attractive advantages, such as no current-disruptions, no current-drive, and wide space between helical coils for the maintenance of in-vessel components. However, one disadvantage is that a major radius has to be large enough to obtain large Q-value or to produce sufficient space for blankets. Although the larger radius is considered to increase the construction cost, the influence has not been understood clearly, yet. Scale effects on superconducting magnet systems have been estimated under the conditions of a constant energy confinement time and similar geometrical parameters. Since the necessary magnetic field with a larger radius becomes lower, the increase rate of the weight of the coil support to the major radius is less than the square root. The necessary major radius will be determined mainly by the blanket space. The appropriate major radius will be around 13 m for a reactor similar to the Large Helical Device (LHD).

Functionalized α-Helical Peptide Hydrogels for Neural Tissue Engineering

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Trauma to the central and peripheral nervous systems often lead to serious morbidity. Current surgical methods for repairing or replacing such damage have limitations. Tissue engineering offers a potential alternative. Here we show that functionalized α-helical-peptide hydrogels can be used to induce attachment, migration, proliferation and differentiation of murine embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs). Specifically, compared with undecorated gels, those functionalized with Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS) peptides increase the proliferative activity of NSCs; promote their directional migration; induce differentiation, with increased expression of microtubule-associated protein-2, and a low expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein; and lead to the formation of larger neurospheres. Electrophysiological measurements from NSCs grown in RGDS-decorated gels indicate developmental progress toward mature neuron-like behavior. Our data indicate that these functional peptide hydrogels may go some way toward overcoming the limitations of current approaches to nerve-tissue repair. PMID:26240838

Magnetic Reconnections in Mast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turri, G.; Buttery, R. J.; Hastie, R. J.; Gimblett, C. G.; Cowley, S. C.; Lehane, I.

2004-11-01

In MAST the appearance of a spontaneous snake in the plasma core has many of the properties of a full reconnection. Analysis of SXR and TS data indicates a strongly radiating core with high impurity levels forming before the onset of the snake. Following the appearance of an x-point (island on the q=1 surface) the former core is hypothesised to move off axis and shrink, appearing as a radiative region with flux-tube-like rotating helical structure (the snake). A code has been developed to compare this with a slow full Kadomtsev type reconnection process including effects of impurities, density and temperature perturbations, current profile evolution and transport. The code reproduces many of the trends and effects seen in the data, confirming the event as consistent with full reconnection. The time-scale of the event is also consistent with estimates of hybrid growth times for such a reconnection process. Further analysis will be presented exploring the physics of this process in more detail.

Air core notch-coil magnet with variable geometry for fast-field-cycling NMR.

PubMed

Kruber, S; Farrher, G D; Anoardo, E

2015-10-01

In this manuscript we present details on the optimization, construction and performance of a wide-bore (71 mm) α-helical-cut notch-coil magnet with variable geometry for fast-field-cycling NMR. In addition to the usual requirements for this kind of magnets (high field-to-power ratio, good magnetic field homogeneity, low inductance and resistance values) a tunable homogeneity and a more uniform heat dissipation along the magnet body are considered. The presented magnet consists of only one machined metallic cylinder combined with two external movable pieces. The optimal configuration is calculated through an evaluation of the magnetic flux density within the entire volume of interest. The magnet has a field-to-current constant of 0.728 mT/A, allowing to switch from zero to 0.125 T in less than 3 ms without energy storage assistance. For a cylindrical sample volume of 35 cm(3) the effective magnet homogeneity is lower than 130 ppm. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The STPX Spheromak System: Recent Measurements and Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, R. L.; Clark, J.; Richardson, M.; Williams, R. E.

2016-10-01

We present results of recent measurements made to characterize the plasma formed in the STPX* Spheromak plasma device installed at the Florida A. and M University. The toroidal plasma is formed using a pulsed cylindrical gun discharge and, when fully operational, is designed to approach a density of 1021 /m3 and electron temperatures in the range of 100-350 eV. The diagnostic devices used for these recent measurements include Langmuir probes, electrostatic triple probes, optical spectrometers, CCD detectors, laser probes and magnetic field coils. These probes have been tested using both a static and the pulsed discharges created in the device, and we report the latest measurements. The voltage and current profiles of the pulsed discharge as well as the pulsed magnetic field coils are discussed. Progress in modeling this spheromak using NIMROD and other simulation codes will be discussed. Our recent results of an ongoing study of the topology of magnetic helicity are presented in a separate poster. Spheromak Turbulent Physics Experiment.

Direct Detection of the Helical Magnetic Field Geometry from 3D Reconstruction of Prominence Knot Trajectories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zapiór, Maciej; Martínez-Gómez, David

2016-02-01

Based on the data collected by the Vacuum Tower Telescope located in the Teide Observatory in the Canary Islands, we analyzed the three-dimensional (3D) motion of so-called knots in a solar prominence of 2014 June 9. Trajectories of seven knots were reconstructed, giving information of the 3D geometry of the magnetic field. Helical motion was detected. From the equipartition principle, we estimated the lower limit of the magnetic field in the prominence to ≈1-3 G and from the Ampère’s law the lower limit of the electric current to ≈1.2 × 109 A.

Computational model for simulation of sequences of helicity and angular momentum transfer in turbid tissue-like scattering medium (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doronin, Alexander; Meglinski, Igor

2017-02-01

Current report considers development of a unified Monte Carlo (MC) -based computational model for simulation of propagation of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams in turbid tissue-like scattering medium. With a primary goal to proof the concept of using complex light for tissue diagnosis we explore propagation of LG beams in comparison with Gaussian beams for both linear and circular polarization. MC simulations of radially and azimuthally polarized LG beams in turbid media have been performed, classic phenomena such as preservation of the orbital angular momentum, optical memory and helicity flip are observed, detailed comparison is presented and discussed.

Silica biomineralization via the self-assembly of helical biomolecules.

PubMed

Liu, Ben; Cao, Yuanyuan; Huang, Zhehao; Duan, Yingying; Che, Shunai

2015-01-21

The biomimetic synthesis of relevant silica materials using biological macromolecules as templates via silica biomineralization processes attract rapidly rising attention toward natural and artificial materials. Biomimetic synthesis studies are useful for improving the understanding of the formation mechanism of the hierarchical structures found in living organisms (such as diatoms and sponges) and for promoting significant developments in the biotechnology, nanotechnology and materials chemistry fields. Chirality is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature and is an inherent feature of biomolecular components in organisms. Helical biomolecules, one of the most important types of chiral macromolecules, can self-assemble into multiple liquid-crystal structures and be used as biotemplates for silica biomineralization, which renders them particularly useful for fabricating complex silica materials under ambient conditions. Over the past two decades, many new silica materials with hierarchical structures and complex morphologies have been created using helical biomolecules. In this review, the developments in this field are described and the recent progress in silica biomineralization templating using several classes of helical biomolecules, including DNA, polypeptides, cellulose and rod-like viruses is summarized. Particular focus is placed on the formation mechanism of biomolecule-silica materials (BSMs) with hierarchical structures. Finally, current research challenges and future developments are discussed in the conclusion. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Helical core reconstruction of a DIII-D hybrid scenario tokamak discharge

DOE PAGES

Cianciosa, Mark; Wingen, Andreas; Hirshman, Steven P.; ...

2017-05-18

Our paper presents the first fully 3-dimensional (3D) equilibrium reconstruction of a helical core in a tokamak device. Using a new parallel implementation of the Variational Moments Equilibrium Code (PARVMEC) coupled to V3FIT, 3D reconstructions can be performed at resolutions necessary to produce helical states in nominally axisymmetric tokamak equilibria. In a flux pumping experiment performed on DIII-D, an external n=1 field was applied while a 3/2 neoclassical tearing mode was suppressed using ECCD. The externally applied field was rotated past a set of fixed diagnostics at a 20 Hz frequency. Furthermore, the modulation, were found to be strongest in the core SXR and MSE channels, indicates a localized rotating 3D structure locked in phase with the applied field. Signals from multiple time slices are converted to a virtual rotation of modeled diagnostics adding 3D signal information. In starting from an axisymmetric equilibrium reconstruction solution, the reconstructed broader current profile flattens the q-profile, resulting in an m=1, n=1 perturbation of the magnetic axis that ismore » $$\\sim 50\\times $$ larger than the applied n=1 deformation of the edge. Error propagation confirms that the displacement of the axis is much larger than the uncertainty in the axis position validating the helical equilibrium.« less

Resolving the 3D spatial orientation of helix I in the closed state of the colicin E1 channel domain by FRET. Insights into the integration mechanism.

PubMed

Lugo, Miguel R; Ho, Derek; Merrill, A Rod

2016-10-15

Current evidence suggests that the closed-state membrane model for the channel-forming domain of colicin E1 involves eight amphipathic α-helices (helices I-VII and X) that adopt a two-dimensional arrangement on the membrane surface. Two central hydrophobic α-helices in colicin E1 (VIII and IX) adopt a transmembrane location-the umbrella model. Helices I and II have been shown to participate in the channel by forming a transmembrane segment (TM1) in the voltage-induced open channel state. Consequently, it is paramount to determine the relative location and orientation of helix I in the two-dimensional arrangement of the membrane. A new, low-resolution, three-dimensional model of the closed state of the colicin E1 channel was constructed based on FRET measurements between three naturally occurring Trp residues and three sites in helix I, in addition to previously reported FRET distances for the channel domain. Furthermore, a new mechanism for the channel integration process involving the transition of the soluble to membrane-bound form is presented based on a plethora of kinetic data for this process. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolution of sausage and helical modes in magnetized thin-foil cylindrical liners driven by a Z-pinch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yager-Elorriaga, D. A.; Lau, Y. Y.; Zhang, P.; Campbell, P. C.; Steiner, A. M.; Jordan, N. M.; McBride, R. D.; Gilgenbach, R. M.

2018-05-01

In this paper, we present experimental results on axially magnetized (Bz = 0.5 - 2.0 T), thin-foil (400 nm-thick) cylindrical liner-plasmas driven with ˜600 kA by the Michigan Accelerator for Inductive Z-Pinch Experiments, which is a linear transformer driver at the University of Michigan. We show that: (1) the applied axial magnetic field, irrespective of its direction (e.g., parallel or anti-parallel to the flow of current), reduces the instability amplitude for pure magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes [defined as modes devoid of the acceleration-driven magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instability]; (2) axially magnetized, imploding liners (where MHD modes couple to MRT) generate m = 1 or m = 2 helical modes that persist from the implosion to the subsequent explosion stage; (3) the merging of instability structures is a mechanism that enables the appearance of an exponential instability growth rate for a longer than expected time-period; and (4) an inverse cascade in both the axial and azimuthal wavenumbers, k and m, may be responsible for the final m = 2 helical structure observed in our experiments. These experiments are particularly relevant to the magnetized liner inertial fusion program pursued at Sandia National Laboratories, where helical instabilities have been observed.

Computational study of packing a collagen-like molecule: quasi-hexagonal vs "Smith" collagen microfibril model.

PubMed

Lee, J; Scheraga, H A; Rackovsky, S

1996-01-01

The lateral packing of a collagen-like molecule, CH3CO-(Gly-L-Pro-L-Pro)4-NHCH3, has been examined by energy minimization with the ECEPP/3 force field. Two current packing models, the Smith collagen microfibril twisted equilateral pentagonal model and the quasi-hexagonal packing model, have been extensively investigated. In treating the Smith microfibril model, energy minimization was carried out on various conformations including those with the symmetry of equivalent packing, i.e., in which the triple helices were arranged equivalently with respect to each other. Both models are based on the experimental observation of the characteristic axial periodicity, D = 67 nm, of light and dark bands, indicating that, if any superstructure exists, it should consist of five triple helices. The quasi-hexagonal packing structure is found to be energetically more favorable than the Smith microfibril model by as much as 31.2 kcal/mol of five triple helices. This is because the quasi-hexagonal packing geometry provides more nonbonded interaction possibilities between triple helices than does the Smith microfibril geometry. Our results are consistent with recent x-ray studies with synthetic collagen-like molecules and rat tail tendon, in which the data were interpreted as being consistent with either a quasi-hexagonal or a square-triangular structure.

Carbon Nanotubes: On the Origin of Helicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harutyunyan, Avetik

2015-03-01

The mechanism of helicity formation of carbon nanotubes still remains elusive that hinders their applications. Current explanations mainly rely on the planar interrelationship between the structure of nanotube and corresponding facet of catalyst in 2D geometry that could amend the structure of grown carbon layer, specifically due to the epitaxial interaction. Yet, the structure of carbon nanotube and circumference of the rims assume involvement of more than one facet i.e. it is 3D problem. By aiming this problem we find that the nanotube nucleation is initiated by cap formation via evolving of graphene embryo across the adjacent facets of catalyst particle. As a result the graphene embryos incorporate in their hexagonic network various polygons to accommodate the curved 3D geometry that initiates cap formation following by elongation of the circumferential rims. Based on these results, also on the census of nanotube caps and the fact that given cap fit only one nanotube wall, we consider carbon cap responsible for the helicity of carbon nanotube. This understanding could provide new avenues towards engineering particles to explicitly accommodate certain helicities via exploitation of the angular distribution of catalyst adjacent facets. Our recent progresses in production of carbon nanotubes, nanotube reinforced composites and their potential applications also will be presented.

Helical core reconstruction of a DIII-D hybrid scenario tokamak discharge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cianciosa, Mark; Wingen, Andreas; Hirshman, Steven P.

Our paper presents the first fully 3-dimensional (3D) equilibrium reconstruction of a helical core in a tokamak device. Using a new parallel implementation of the Variational Moments Equilibrium Code (PARVMEC) coupled to V3FIT, 3D reconstructions can be performed at resolutions necessary to produce helical states in nominally axisymmetric tokamak equilibria. In a flux pumping experiment performed on DIII-D, an external n=1 field was applied while a 3/2 neoclassical tearing mode was suppressed using ECCD. The externally applied field was rotated past a set of fixed diagnostics at a 20 Hz frequency. Furthermore, the modulation, were found to be strongest in the core SXR and MSE channels, indicates a localized rotating 3D structure locked in phase with the applied field. Signals from multiple time slices are converted to a virtual rotation of modeled diagnostics adding 3D signal information. In starting from an axisymmetric equilibrium reconstruction solution, the reconstructed broader current profile flattens the q-profile, resulting in an m=1, n=1 perturbation of the magnetic axis that ismore » $$\\sim 50\\times $$ larger than the applied n=1 deformation of the edge. Error propagation confirms that the displacement of the axis is much larger than the uncertainty in the axis position validating the helical equilibrium.« less

Impurity transport in enhanced confinement regimes in RFX-mod Reversed Field Pinch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carraro, Lorella; Menmuir, Sheena; Fassina, Alessandro

2010-11-01

The results of impurity transport studies in RFX-mod enhanced confinement quasi-single helicity (QSH) and single helical axis (SHAx) regimes are presented and discussed. The impurity diffusion coefficient and pinch velocity are obtained through comparing experimental emission pattern (line emission and SXR time evolutions, SXR profiles) with the results of a 1-D impurity transport code. Previous analysis [S. Menmuir et al. to be published in Plasma Phys. Contr. Fus.] of impurity transport in RFX-mod standard discharges showed that the impurity pinch velocity, always directed outwards, features a barrier with high values around r/a = 0.8, where the diffusion coefficient decreases by one order of magnitude. In the QSH regime, the transition region in D and v is more internal and the barrier in velocity is wider and stronger. New results have been obtained in experiments with Ni laser blow-off (LBO) injection in high current discharges (Ip>1.5 MA) with long lasting QSH, to better characterize the Ni behavior inside the helical magnetic topology.

Formation and Sustainment of Flipped Spherical Torus Plasmas on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oguro, T.; Jinno, T.; Hasegawa, H.; Nagata, M.; Fukumoto, N.; Uyama, T.; Masamune, S.; Iida, M.; Katsurai, M.

2002-11-01

In order to understand comprehensively the relaxation and self-organization in the coaxial helicity injection system, we have investigated dynamics of ST plasmas produced in the HIST device by decreasing the external toroidal field (TF) and reversing its sign in time. In results, we have discovered that the ST relaxes towards flipped/reversed ST configurations. Surprisingly, it has been observed that not only toroidal flux but also poloidal flux reverses sign spontaneously during the relaxation process. This self-reversal of the poloidal field is thought to be evidence for global helicity conservation. Taylor helicity-driven relaxed theory predicts that there exists the relaxed state of the flipped ST plasma when the TF current is reversed. We found that when q_axis passes through the q_axis =1 rational barrier in the initial phase, the ST plasma becomes unstable and relaxes to flipped states through RFP states. The n=1 mode activities are essential in the formation and sustainment of the flipped ST.

Design and testing of a coil-unit barrel for helical coil electromagnetic launcher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Dong; Liu, Zhenxiang; Shu, Ting; Yang, Lijia; Ouyang, Jianming

2018-01-01

A coil-unit barrel for a helical coil electromagnetic launcher is described. It provides better features of high structural strength and flexible adjustability. It is convenient to replace the damaged coil units and easy to adjust the number of turns in the stator coils due to the modular design. In our experiments, the highest velocity measured for a 4.5-kg projectile is 47.3 m/s and the mechanical reinforcement of the launcher could bear 35 kA peak current. The relationship between the energy conversion efficiency and the inductance gradient of the launcher is also studied. In the region of low inductance gradient, the efficiency is positively correlated with the inductance gradient. However, in the region of high inductance gradient, the inter-turn arc erosion becomes a major problem of limiting the efficiency and velocity of the launcher. This modular barrel allows further studies in the inter-turn arc and the variable inductance gradient helical coil launcher.

Design and testing of a coil-unit barrel for helical coil electromagnetic launcher.

PubMed

Yang, Dong; Liu, Zhenxiang; Shu, Ting; Yang, Lijia; Ouyang, Jianming

2018-01-01

A coil-unit barrel for a helical coil electromagnetic launcher is described. It provides better features of high structural strength and flexible adjustability. It is convenient to replace the damaged coil units and easy to adjust the number of turns in the stator coils due to the modular design. In our experiments, the highest velocity measured for a 4.5-kg projectile is 47.3 m/s and the mechanical reinforcement of the launcher could bear 35 kA peak current. The relationship between the energy conversion efficiency and the inductance gradient of the launcher is also studied. In the region of low inductance gradient, the efficiency is positively correlated with the inductance gradient. However, in the region of high inductance gradient, the inter-turn arc erosion becomes a major problem of limiting the efficiency and velocity of the launcher. This modular barrel allows further studies in the inter-turn arc and the variable inductance gradient helical coil launcher.

Evaluation of helicity generation in the tropical storm Gonu

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farahani, Majid M.; Khansalari, Sakineh; Azadi, Majid

2017-06-01

Helicity is a valuable dynamical concept for the study of rotating flows. Consequently helicity flux, indicative of the source or sink of helicity, owns comparable importance. In this study, while reviewing the existing methods, a mathematical relation between helicity and helicity-flux is introduced, discussed and examined. The computed values of helicity and helicity fluxes in an actual case, using the classical and this proposed method are compared. The down-stream helicity flux including sources and sinks of helicity is considered for the tropical storm Gonu that occurred over the coasts of Oman and Iran on June 2-7, 2007. Results show that the buoyancy, through the upper troposphere down to a height within boundary layer, is the main source in producing helicity, and surface friction from earth surface up to a height within boundary layer, is the main dissipating element of helicity. The dominance of buoyancy forcing over the dissipative friction forcing results in generation of vortex or enhancement of it after bouncing the land. Furthermore, the increase (decrease) of helicity results in an increase (decrease) in the height of the level in which maximum helicity flux occurs. It is suggested that the maximum helicity flux occurs at the top of the turbulent boundary layer, so that the height of boundary layer could be obtained.

Electron density measurement of non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma using dispersion interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshimura, Shinji; Kasahara, Hiroshi; Akiyama, Tsuyoshi

2017-10-01

Medical applications of non-equilibrium atmospheric plasmas have recently been attracting a great deal of attention, where many types of plasma sources have been developed to meet the purposes. For example, plasma-activated medium (PAM), which is now being studied for cancer treatment, has been produced by irradiating non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma with ultrahigh electron density to a culture medium. Meanwhile, in order to measure electron density in magnetic confinement plasmas, a CO2 laser dispersion interferometer has been developed and installed on the Large Helical Device (LHD) at the National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan. The dispersion interferometer has advantages that the measurement is insensitive to mechanical vibrations and changes in neutral gas density. Taking advantage of these properties, we applied the dispersion interferometer to electron density diagnostics of atmospheric pressure plasmas produced by the NU-Global HUMAP-WSAP-50 device, which is used for producing PAM. This study was supported by the Grant of Joint Research by the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS).

Power Balance Modeling and Validation for ST Startup Using Local Helicity Injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barr, J. L.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Perry, J. M.; Reusch, J. A.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2015-11-01

Local Helicity Injection (LHI) uses localized current injectors for routine Ip<0.18 MA non-solenoidal startup on the Pegasus ST. A power-balance model is under development for predictive Ip t using helicity-balance to quantify LHI's effective current drive, Veff. Analytic formulas for low-A plasma inductance and vertical field are used to account for the inductive effects of dynamic shape evolution. These formulas are being validated against magnetic reconstructions of LHI discharges with varied shape evolutions. Initial results match experimental Ip t within 20 kA with assumed shaping and average resistivity (Spitzer, Te = 60 eV). Geometric effects and inductive drive provide 2.0 V along with Veff = 0.3 V to balance 1.1 V of resistive losses and 1.2 V inductive reactance to ramping Ip. The model is especially sensitive to resistivity when Te<150 eV. Initial Thomson Scattering results give core Te = 72 +/-22 eV, and at times suggest higher central electron energies. Spatial and temporal scans are underway to quantify LHI plasma resistivity and transport. MA-class startup in NSTX-U will require increased area (Ainj >= 40 cm2) LHI systems that play a larger role in current drive than geometric effects, with Veff dropping from >10 V to on-par with inductive effects. This regime is accessed in Pegasus at Ip ≅ 300 kA. Work supported by US DOE grants DE-FG02-96ER54375 and DE-SC0006928.

ON THE STRENGTH OF THE HEMISPHERIC RULE AND THE ORIGIN OF ACTIVE-REGION HELICITY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Y.-M., E-mail: yi.wang@nrl.navy.mil

Vector magnetograph and morphological observations have shown that the solar magnetic field tends to have negative (positive) helicity in the northern (southern) hemisphere, although only ∼60%-70% of active regions appear to obey this 'hemispheric rule'. In contrast, at least ∼80% of quiescent filaments and filament channels that form during the decay of active regions follow the rule. We attribute this discrepancy to the difficulty in determining the helicity sign of newly emerged active regions, which are dominated by their current-free component; as the transverse field is canceled at the polarity inversion lines, however, the axial component becomes dominant there, allowingmore » a more reliable determination of the original active-region chirality. We thus deduce that the hemispheric rule is far stronger than generally assumed, and cannot be explained by stochastic processes. Earlier studies have shown that the twist associated with the axial tilt of active regions is too small to account for the observed helicity; here, both tilt and twist are induced by the Coriolis force acting on the diverging flow in the emerging flux tube. However, in addition to this east-west expansion about the apex of the loop, each of its legs must expand continually in cross section during its rise through the convection zone, thereby acquiring a further twist through the Coriolis force. Since this transverse pressure effect is not limited by drag or tension forces, the final twist depends mainly on the rise time, and may be large enough to explain the observed active-region helicity.« less

Bearing capacity of helical pile foundation in peat soil from different, diameter and spacing of helical plates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fatnanta, F.; Satibi, S.; Muhardi

2018-03-01

In an area dominated by thick peat soil layers, driven piles foundation is often used. These piles are generally skin friction piles where the pile tips do not reach hard stratum. Since the bearing capacity of the piles rely on the resistance of their smooth skin, the bearing capacity of the piles are generally low. One way to increase the bearing capacity of the piles is by installing helical plates around the pile tips. Many research has been performed on helical pile foundation. However, literature on the use of helical pile foundation on peat soil is still hardly found. This research focus on the study of axial bearing capacity of helical pile foundation in peat soil, especially in Riau Province. These full-scale tests on helical pile foundation were performed in a rectangular box partially embedded into the ground. The box is filled with peat soil, which was taken from Rimbo Panjang area in the district of Kampar, Riau Province. Several helical piles with different number, diameter and spacing of the helical plates have been tested and analysed. The tests result show that helical pile with three helical plates of uniform diameter has better bearing capacity compared to other helical piles with varying diameter and different number of helical plates. The bearing capacity of helical pile foundation is affected by the spacing between helical plates. It is found that the effective helical plates spacing for helical pile foundation with diameter of 15cm to 35cm is between 20cm to 30cm. This behaviour may be considered to apply to other type of helical pile foundations in peat soil.

Physics of Plasma Cathode Current Injection During LHI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinson, E. T.; Barr, J.; Bongard, M.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R.; Perry, J.

2015-11-01

Localized helicity injection (LHI) ST startup employs current sources at the tokamak edge. Max Ip in LHI scales with injection voltage Vinj, requiring an understanding of injector impedance. For the arc-plasma cathode electron injectors in Pegasus, impedance is plasma-determined, and typically Vinj>1kV for Iinj = 2kA. At low Iinj, Iinj Vinj3 / 2 , an indication of a double layer (DL) common to such devices. However, at Iinj> 1kA, Iinj Vinj1 / 2 occurs, a scaling expected for limited launched beam density, nb ≡Iinj / (e√{ 2eVinj /me }Ainj) Iinj /Vinj1 / 2 . An ohmic discharge injection target was created to test this hypothesis. Langmuir probe data showed Iinj/Vinj1 / 2 nedge at low nedge, consistent with a limit (nedge >=ne , b) imposed by quasineutrality. If edge fueling maintained nedge >=ne , b , spectroscopic measurements of source density narc indicated Iinj/Vinj1 / 2 narc , as expected from DL expansion. Thus nb established by narc or nedge determines Vinj up to the onset of cathode spot (CS) arcing. Technology development has increased obtainable Vinj and reduced CS damage using new ring shielding and a cathode design drawing CS's away from insulators. This involved a novel optimization of conical frustum geometry. Finally, consistent with NIMROD predictions of coherent streams in the edge during LHI, pairwise triangulation of outboard Mirnov data assuming beam m =1 motion has allowed an estimate of beam R(t), Z(t) location that is near the injector R, and consistent across the array. Supported by U.S. DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Experimental Study of Magnetic Field Production and Dielectric Breakdown of Auto-Magnetizing Liners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipley, Gabriel; Awe, Thomas; Hutchinson, Trevor; Hutsel, Brian; Slutz, Stephen; Lamppa, Derek

2017-10-01

AutoMag liners premagnetize the fuel in MagLIF targets and provide enhanced x-ray diagnostic access and increased current delivery without requiring external field coils. AutoMag liners are composite liners made with discrete metallic helical conduction paths separated by insulating material. First, a low dI/dt ``foot'' current pulse (1 MA in 100 ns) premagnetizes the fuel. Next, a higher dI/dt pulse with larger induced electric field initiates breakdown on the composite liner's; surface, switching the current from helical to axial to implode the liner. Experiments on MYKONOS have tested the premagnetization and breakdown phases of AutoMag and demonstrate axial magnetic fields above 90 Tesla for a 550 kA peak current pulse. Electric fields of 17 MV/m have been generated before breakdown. AutoMag may enhance MagLIF performance by increasing the premagnetization strength significantly above 30 T, thus reducing thermal-conduction losses and mitigating anomalous diffusion of magnetic field out of hotter fuel regions, by, for example, the Nernst thermoelectric effect. This project was funded in part by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (Projects No. 200169 and 195306).

The inductive, steady-state sustainment of stable spheromaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossack, A. C.; Jarboe, T. R.; Morgan, K. D.; Sutherland, D. A.; Hansen, C. J.; Everson, C. J.; Penna, J. M.; Nelson, B. A.

2016-10-01

Inductive helicity injection current drive with imposed perturbations has led to the breakthrough of spheromak sustainment while maintaining stability. Sustained spheromaks show coherent, imposed plasma motion and low plasma-generated mode activity, indicating stability. Additionally, record current gain of 3.9 has been achieved with evidence of pressure confinement. The Helicity Injected Torus - Steady Inductive (HIT-SI) experiment studies efficient, steady-state current drive for magnetic confinement plasmas using a novel experimental method which is ideal for low aspect ratio, toroidal geometries and is compatible with closed flux surfaces. Analysis of surface magnetic probes indicates large n = 0 and 1 toroidal Fourier mode amplitudes and little energy in higher modes. Biorthogonal decomposition shows that almost all of the n = 1 energy is imposed by the injectors, rather than plasma-generated. Ion Doppler spectroscopy (IDS) measurements show coherent, imposed plasma motion of +/-2.5 cm in the region inside r 10 cm (a = 23 cm) and the size of the separate spheromak is consistent with that predicted by Imposed-dynamo Current Drive (IDCD). Coherent motion indicates that the spheromak is stable and a lack of plasma-generated n = 1 energy indicates that the maximum q is maintained below 1 for stability during sustainment.

A motional Stark effect diagnostic analysis routine for improved resolution of iota in the core of the large helical device.

PubMed

Dobbins, T J; Ida, K; Suzuki, C; Yoshinuma, M; Kobayashi, T; Suzuki, Y; Yoshida, M

2017-09-01

A new Motional Stark Effect (MSE) analysis routine has been developed for improved spatial resolution in the core of the Large Helical Device (LHD). The routine was developed to reduce the dependency of the analysis on the Pfirsch-Schlüter (PS) current in the core. The technique used the change in the polarization angle as a function of flux in order to find the value of diota/dflux at each measurement location. By integrating inwards from the edge, the iota profile can be recovered from this method. This reduces the results' dependency on the PS current because the effect of the PS current on the MSE measurement is almost constant as a function of flux in the core; therefore, the uncertainty in the PS current has a minimal effect on the calculation of the iota profile. In addition, the VMEC database was remapped from flux into r/a space by interpolating in mode space in order to improve the database core resolution. These changes resulted in a much smoother iota profile, conforming more to the physics expectations of standard discharge scenarios in the core of the LHD.

MAGNETAR GIANT FLARES AND THEIR PRECURSORS-FLUX ROPE ERUPTIONS WITH CURRENT SHEETS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yu Cong; Huang Lei, E-mail: cyu@ynao.ac.cn, E-mail: muduri@shao.ac.cn

2013-07-10

We propose a catastrophic magnetospheric model for magnetar precursors and their successive giant flares. Axisymmetric models of the magnetosphere, which contain both a helically twisted flux rope and a current sheet, are established based on force-free field configurations. In this model, the helically twisted flux rope would lose its equilibrium and erupt abruptly in response to the slow and quasi-static variations at the ultra-strongly magnetized neutron star's surface. In a previous model without current sheets, only one critical point exists in the flux rope equilibrium curve. New features show up in the equilibrium curves for the flux rope when currentmore » sheets appear in the magnetosphere. The causal connection between the precursor and the giant flare, as well as the temporary re-entry of the quiescent state between the precursor and the giant flare, can be naturally explained. Magnetic energy would be released during the catastrophic state transitions. The detailed energetics of the model are also discussed. The current sheet created by the catastrophic loss of equilibrium of the flux rope provides an ideal place for magnetic reconnection. We point out the importance of magnetic reconnection for further enhancement of the energy release during eruptions.« less

Generation and detection of dissipationless spin current in a MgO/Si bilayer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Paul C.; Kumar, Sandeep

2018-04-01

Spintronics is an analogue to electronics where the spin of the electron rather than its charge is functionally controlled for devices. The generation and detection of spin current without ferromagnetic or exotic/scarce materials are two of the biggest challenges for spintronics devices. In this study, we report a solution to the two problems of spin current generation and detection in Si. Using non-local measurement, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of helical dissipationless spin current using the spin-Hall effect. Contrary to the theoretical prediction, we observe the spin-Hall effect in both n-doped and p-doped Si. The helical spin current is attributed to the site-inversion asymmetry of the diamond cubic lattice of Si and structure inversion asymmetry in a MgO/Si bilayer. The spin to charge conversion in Si is insignificant due to weak spin-orbit coupling. For the efficient detection of spin current, we report spin to charge conversion at the MgO (1 nm)/Si (2 µm) (p-doped and n-doped) thin film interface due to Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We detected the spin current at a distance of  >100 µm, which is an order of magnitude larger than the longest spin diffusion length measured using spin injection techniques. The existence of spin current in Si is verified from the coercivity reduction in a Co/Pd multilayer due to spin-orbit torque generated by spin current from Si.

Role of helicity in triad interactions in three-dimensional turbulence investigated by a new shell model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rathmann, Nicholas M.; Ditlevsen, Peter D.

2016-09-01

Fully developed homogeneous isotropic turbulence in two dimensions is fundamentally different from that in three dimensions. In two dimensions, the simultaneous inviscid conservation of both kinetic energy and enstrophy within the inertial range of scales leads to a forward cascade of enstrophy and a reverse cascade of energy. In three dimensions, helicity, the integral of the scalar product of velocity and vorticity, is also an inviscid flow invariant along with the energy. Unlike the enstrophy, however, the helicity does not block the forward cascade of energy to small scales. Energy and helicity are conserved not only globally but also within each nonlinear triadic interaction between three plane waves in the spectral form of the Navier-Stokes equation (NSE). By decomposing each plane wave into two helical modes of opposite helicities, each triadic interaction is split into a set of eight helical triadic interactions between helical modes [F. Waleffe, Phys. Fluids A 4, 350 (1992), 10.1063/1.858309]. Recently it was found that a subset of these helical interactions, which render both signs of helicity separately conserved (enstrophy-like), leads to an inverse cascade of (part of) the energy [L. Biferale et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 164501 (2012), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.164501]. Motivated by this finding we introduce a new shell model, obtained from the NSE expressed in the helical basis, allowing the eight helical interactions to be coupled as in the NSE and their relative contributions evaluated as a function of both the net helicity input and triad geometry. By numerically integrating the new model, we find that the intermittency of the energy cascade decreases with the net helicity input. Studying the partitioning of the energy cascade between the eight helical interactions, we find that the decrease in intermittency is related to a shift in the dominating helical interactions when helically forced, two of which exhibit a larger cascade intermittency than the other six interactions. Among the relatively local triad geometries considered here, the partitioning of the energy and helicity cascades between the eight helical interactions shows no sign of change with triad geometry.

Alternative RF coupling configurations for H{sup −} ion sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Briefi, S.; Fantz, U.; AG Experimentelle Plasmaphysik, Universität Augsburg, 86135 Augsburg

2015-04-08

RF heated sources for negative hydrogen ions both for fusion and accelerators require very high RF powers in order to achieve the required H{sup −} current what poses high demands on the RF generators and the RF circuit. Therefore it is highly desirable to improve the RF efficiency of the sources. This could be achieved by applying different RF coupling concepts than the currently used inductive coupling via a helical antenna, namely Helicon coupling or coupling via a planar ICP antenna enhanced with ferrites. In order to investigate the feasibility of these concepts, two small laboratory experiments have been setmore » up. The PlanICE experiment, where the enhanced inductive coupling is going to be investigated, is currently under assembly. At the CHARLIE experiment systematic measurements concerning Helicon coupling in hydrogen and deuterium are carried out. The investigations show that a prominent feature of Helicon discharges occurs: the so-called low-field peak. This is a local improvement of the coupling efficiency at a magnetic field strength of a few mT which results in an increased electron density and dissociation degree. The full Helicon mode has not been achieved yet due to the limited available RF power and magnetic field strength but it might be sufficient for the application of the coupling concept to ion sources to operate the discharge in the low-field-peak region.« less

Alternative RF coupling configurations for H- ion sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briefi, S.; Gutmann, P.; Fantz, U.

2015-04-01

RF heated sources for negative hydrogen ions both for fusion and accelerators require very high RF powers in order to achieve the required H- current what poses high demands on the RF generators and the RF circuit. Therefore it is highly desirable to improve the RF efficiency of the sources. This could be achieved by applying different RF coupling concepts than the currently used inductive coupling via a helical antenna, namely Helicon coupling or coupling via a planar ICP antenna enhanced with ferrites. In order to investigate the feasibility of these concepts, two small laboratory experiments have been set up. The PlanICE experiment, where the enhanced inductive coupling is going to be investigated, is currently under assembly. At the CHARLIE experiment systematic measurements concerning Helicon coupling in hydrogen and deuterium are carried out. The investigations show that a prominent feature of Helicon discharges occurs: the so-called low-field peak. This is a local improvement of the coupling efficiency at a magnetic field strength of a few mT which results in an increased electron density and dissociation degree. The full Helicon mode has not been achieved yet due to the limited available RF power and magnetic field strength but it might be sufficient for the application of the coupling concept to ion sources to operate the discharge in the low-field-peak region.

Self-assembly of a double-helical complex of sodium.

PubMed

Bell, T W; Jousselin, H

1994-02-03

Spontaneous self-organization of helical and multiple-helical molecular structures occurs on several levels in living organisms. Key examples are alpha-helical polypeptides, double-helical nucleic acids and helical protein structures, including F-actin, microtubules and the protein sheath of the tobacco mosaic virus. Although the self-assembly of double-helical transition-metal complexes bears some resemblance to the molecular organization of double-stranded DNA, selection between monohelical, double-helical and triple-helical structures is determined largely by the size and geometrical preference of the tightly bound metal. Here we present an example of double-helical assembly induced by the weaker and non-directional interactions of an alkali-metal ion with an organic ligand that is pre-organized into a coil. We have characterized the resulting complex by two-dimensional NMR and fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry. These results provide a step toward the creation of molecular tubes or ion channels consisting of intertwined coils.

Magnetic design constraints of helical solenoids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lopes, M. L.; Krave, S. T.; Tompkins, J. C.

2015-01-30

Helical solenoids have been proposed as an option for a Helical Cooling Channel for muons in a proposed Muon Collider. Helical solenoids can provide the required three main field components: solenoidal, helical dipole, and a helical gradient. In general terms, the last two are a function of many geometric parameters: coil aperture, coil radial and longitudinal dimensions, helix period and orbit radius. In this paper, we present design studies of a Helical Solenoid, addressing the geometric tunability limits and auxiliary correction system.

Magnetohydrodynamic Models of Molecular Tornadoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Au, Kelvin; Fiege, Jason D.

2017-07-01

Recent observations near the Galactic Center (GC) have found several molecular filaments displaying striking helically wound morphology that are collectively known as molecular tornadoes. We investigate the equilibrium structure of these molecular tornadoes by formulating a magnetohydrodynamic model of a rotating, helically magnetized filament. A special analytical solution is derived where centrifugal forces balance exactly with toroidal magnetic stress. From the physics of torsional Alfvén waves we derive a constraint that links the toroidal flux-to-mass ratio and the pitch angle of the helical field to the rotation laws, which we find to be an important component in describing the molecular tornado structure. The models are compared to the Ostriker solution for isothermal, nonmagnetic, nonrotating filaments. We find that neither the analytic model nor the Alfvén wave model suffer from the unphysical density inversions noted by other authors. A Monte Carlo exploration of our parameter space is constrained by observational measurements of the Pigtail Molecular Cloud, the Double Helix Nebula, and the GC Molecular Tornado. Observable properties such as the velocity dispersion, filament radius, linear mass, and surface pressure can be used to derive three dimensionless constraints for our dimensionless models of these three objects. A virial analysis of these constrained models is studied for these three molecular tornadoes. We find that self-gravity is relatively unimportant, whereas magnetic fields and external pressure play a dominant role in the confinement and equilibrium radial structure of these objects.

Biomechanical characterisation of osteosyntheses for proximal femur fractures: helical blade versus screw.

PubMed

Al-Munajjed, Amir A; Hammer, Joachim; Mayr, Edgar; Nerlich, Michael; Lenich, Andreas

2008-01-01

Proximal femur fractures are of main concern for elderly and especially osteoporotic patients. Despite advanced implant modifications and surgical techniques, serious mechanical complication rates between 4-18% are found in conventional osteosyntheses of proximal femur fractures. Clinical complications such as the rotation of the femoral head and the cut-out phenomenon of the fracture fixation bolt are often diagnosed during post-operative treatments. Therefore, efforts in new intramedulary techniques focus on the load bearing characteristics of the implant by developing new geometries to improve the implant-tissue interface. The objective of this investigation was to analyse the osteosynthesis/femur head interaction of two commonly used osteosyntheses, one with a helical blade and the other one with a screw design under different loading conditions. For the comparative investigation the helical blade of the Proximal Femur Nail Antirotation was investigated versus the screw system of the Dynamic Hip Screw. After implantation in a femoral head the loads for rotational overwinding of the implants were analysed. Pull-out forces with suppressed rotation were investigated with analysis of the influence of the previous overwinding. All investigations were performed on human femoral heads taken of patients with average age of 70.3+/-11.8. The bone mineral densities of the human specimens were detected by QCT-scans (average BMD: 338.9+/- 61.3$\\frac[\\mathit[mg

Finite size effect on hydrogen bond cooperativity in (Ala)n polypeptides: A DFT study using numeric atom-centered orbitals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blum, Volker; Ireta, Joel; Scheffler, Matthias

2007-03-01

An accurate representation of the energetic contribution Ehb of hydrogen bonds to structure formation is paramount to understand the secondary structure stability of proteins, both qualitatively and quantitatively. However, Ehb depends strongly on its environment, and even on the surrounding peptide conformation itself. For instance, a short α-helical polypeptide (Ala)4 can not be stabilized by its single hydrogen bond, whereas an infinite α-helical chain (Ala)∞ is clearly energetically stable over a fully extended conformation. We here use all-electron density functional calculations in the PBE generalized gradient approximation by a recently developed, computationally efficient numeric atom-centered orbital based code^1 to investigate this H-bond cooperativity that is intrinsic to Alanine-based polypeptides (Ala)n (n=1-20,∞). We compare finite and infinite prototypical helical conformations (α, π, 310) on equal footing, with both neutral and ionic termination for finite (Ala)n peptides. Moderately sized NAO basis sets allow to capture Ehb with meV accuracy, revealing a clear jump in Ehb (cooperativity) when two H-bonds first appear in line, followed by slower and more continuous increase of Ehb towards n->∞. ^1 V. Blum, R. Gehrke, P. Havu, V. Havu, M. Scheffler, The FHI Ab Initio Molecular Simulations (aims) Project, Fritz-Haber-Institut, Berlin (2006).

Frequency of resonance of human sweat duct in different modes of operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tripathi, Saroj R.; Takahashi, Shogo; Kinumura, Kento; Kawase, Kodo

2018-02-01

Recently, some studies have demonstrated that the sweat ducts present in the skin play a significant role in terahertz (THz) wave interaction with human beings. It was reported that the sweat ducts act as a low-Q-factor helical antenna due to their helical structure, and resonate in the sub-terahertz frequency range according to their structural parameters, such as helix diameter and helix length. According to the antenna theory, a helical antenna resonates in two different modes of operation known as normal mode and axial mode and the dimension of the helix plays a key role to determine the frequency of resonance. Therefore, here we performed the optical coherence tomography (OCT) of number of human subjects on their palm and foot to investigate the density, distribution and morphological features of sweat ducts. Moreover, we calculated the dielectric properties of human skin using terahertz time domain spectroscopy. Based on the structural parameters of human sweat ducts and its THz dielectric properties of surrounding medium, we computed the frequency of resonance of sweat duct in different modes of operation and we found that these ducts resonate in subterahertz frequency region. We believe that these findings will facilitate further investigation of the THz-skin interaction and provide guidelines for safety levels with respect to human exposure to electromagnetic waves at these frequencies.

Heat transport in the quasi-single-helicity islands of EXTRAP T2R

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frassinetti, L.; Brunsell, P. R.; Drake, J.

2009-03-01

The heat transport inside the magnetic island generated in a quasi-single-helicity regime of a reversed-field pinch device is studied by using a numerical code that simulates the electron temperature and the soft x-ray emissivity. The heat diffusivity χe inside the island is determined by matching the simulated signals with the experimental ones. Inside the island, χe turns out to be from one to two orders of magnitude lower than the diffusivity in the surrounding plasma, where the magnetic field is stochastic. Furthermore, the heat transport properties inside the island are studied in correlation with the plasma current and with the amplitude of the magnetic fluctuations.

Biotemplated flagellar nanoswimmers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Jamel; Cheang, U. Kei; Darvish, Armin; Kim, Hoyeon; Kim, Min Jun

2017-11-01

In this article, a porous hollow biotemplated nanoscale helix that can serve as a low Reynolds number robotic swimmer is reported. The nanorobot utilizes repolymerized bacterial flagella from Salmonella typhimurium as a nanotemplate for biomineralization. We demonstrate the ability to generate templated nanotubes with distinct helical geometries by using specific alkaline pH values to fix the polymorphic form of flagellar templates. Using uniform rotating magnetic fields to mimic the motion of the flagellar motor, we explore the swimming characteristics of these silica templated flagella and demonstrate the ability to wirelessly control their trajectories. The results suggest that the biotemplated nanoswimmer can be a cost-effective alternative to the current top-down methods used to produce helical nanorobots.