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Physics of Plasmas
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.576

Citation Impact (citeScore): 1
Number of Followers: 11

Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 1070-664X - ISSN (Online) 1089-7674
Published by AIP

[28 journals]

Noah Hershkowitz: Experimental plasma physics pioneer
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  First page: 070501
  Abstract: Over a nearly 50 year career in plasma physics, spanning 1971–2020, Noah Hershkowitz designed many creative experiments that led to important contributions to plasma physics. He lived the mantra that a person who enjoys what they do will never have to work a day in their life. Noah loved plasma science. His interest was broad, encompassing fusion, low temperature, and basic plasma physics. This retrospective review discusses some highlights of his impactful contributions, focusing on diagnostics, sheath physics, and magnetic confinement for both low temperature plasma physics applications (especially cusp configurations) and fusion applications (tandem mirrors, especially axisymmetric configurations).
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0267508
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Generation of whistlers by pulsed rf heating of electrons in a large
laboratory magnetoplasma
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  First page: 072101
  Abstract: We study the large-scale co-evolution of the system of currents, magnetic fields, and density perturbations arising from pulsed rf plasma heating using a loop antenna in the experiments at the Krot plasma device. Localized heating of electrons by a short rf pulse leads to redistribution of magnetized plasma particles in a fast, so-called unipolar (non-ambipolar) regime, which is accompanied by the excitation of eddy electric currents [Aidakina et al., “Experimental demonstration of the “unipolar cell” dynamics in a large laboratory magnetoplasma,” Phys. Plasmas 31, 122110 (2024)]. The pulsed currents generated in the plasma can propagate over large distances from the source in the form of low-frequency waves. It is shown that the parallel transport of the currents and magnetic field perturbations occurs at the velocity of whistler waves, whose dispersion is determined by the characteristic time of electron heating, i.e., the duration of the rf pulse and its edges. The perpendicular dynamics of the currents and magnetic fields in a dense and collisional plasma is diffusive due to the finite conductivity determined by Coulomb collisions. Density perturbations arising from electron heating propagate at significantly lower (ion sound) velocities. The experiments performed demonstrate the possibility of nonlinear generation of pulsed whistlers using a compact antenna excited by a short rf pulse.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0271314
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Impact of tearing instability on the global quadrupole Hall magnetic field
in an anti-parallel magnetic reconnection
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  First page: 072102
  Abstract: Hall effect generates a global quadrupole Hall magnetic field, which plays a crucial role in facilitating fast magnetic reconnection (MR). Tearing instability often arises in MR due to the increasing magnetic shear during the thinning of the current sheet, triggering multiple fast local spontaneous MRs. A critical question that naturally emerges is how these local spontaneous MRs interact with the global Hall magnetic field and affect the reconnection energy release processes. Using a 2.5D particle-in-cell simulation, we investigate this problem in an MR with a Harris current sheet under the guide field-free condition. Our results show that the global MR evolves through two distinct phases: an initial laminar phase marked by a slow magnetic field dissipation, followed by a phase dominated by spontaneous MRs that significantly accelerate the magnetic energy release by driving multiple local spontaneous MRs. We reveal that the Hall magnetic fields produced by the local spontaneous MRs also exhibit quadrupole structures, which reinforce or weaken the global Hall magnetic field locally. The local enhanced Hall field is found to be associated with a faster spontaneous MR with a rate up to 0.3, which exceeds the laminar MR rate upper-limit 0.2, suggesting that the Hall field interactions may be able to break the bottleneck of the onset of fast MR.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0259029
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Characteristics of distribution for edge fluctuation modes on divertor
plate in Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST)
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  First page: 072103
  Abstract: It has been found that a medium-n (n = 12–17) edge coherent mode (ECM) shows a disconnection between outer midplane and divertor region in upper single null configuration discharges on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) [Zhou et al., Nucl. Fusion 64(12), 126046 (2024)]. This study extends the database by including the discharges with lower single null (LSN) configurations. The result shows a consistent picture: ECM quiescent region extent increases with the increase in triangularity and magnetic shear, confirming the universality of triangularity and magnetic shear as core factors influencing ECM disconnection. In addition, a comparative study of ECM and n = 1 mode reveals different distribution characteristics on a divertor plate for the two types of edge fluctuation modes. ECM presents in the far Scrape-off Layer (SOL) region and disappears close to the outer strike point (OSP). In contrast, the n = 1 mode persists in the near SOL region and can even be detected around the OSP. This could be attributed to the different spatial scales (different n) for the two modes. The strong magnetic shear around X-point has an effect to squeeze the flux tube cross section down to a scale dominated by collisions, resulting in the disconnection phenomenon in experiment, and this effect is more pronounced for larger n mode as suggested by theory and simulation.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0272059
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Resistive hose modes in tokamak runaway electron beams II
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  First page: 072501
  Abstract: Resistive hose instabilities of runaway electron (RE) beams immersed in resistive background plasmas are examined with analytic and numerical calculations. The RE beam-plasma equilibria considered are characteristic of the situation observed post-thermal quench in a tokamak disruption. An analytic linear dispersion relation is presented for the case of a uniform RE current density profile with a sharp boundary in cylindrical geometry. Initial value linear calculations for a more general profile in toroidal geometry find that reducing aspect ratio increases the resistive hose mode growth rates with fixed safety factor profile. Nonlinear calculations in cylindrical and toroidal geometry find that the resistive hose instability-driven fluctuations relax the gradient of the current density profile. In toroidal geometry, changes to the magnetic topology are observed as a result of the resistive hose activity.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0273401
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
The effect of ICRH and NBI on tungsten transport in neon edge radiation
cooled discharges in TEXTOR
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  First page: 072502
  Abstract: Tungsten is planned to be the plasma-facing material for the main chamber and divertor in future devices like ITER, SPARC, and DTT. To address risks associated with tungsten, R&D is being carried out on various toroidal confinement devices. One particular research question is related to the optimum heating mix for ITER. To investigate the influence of the heating scheme on the release and transport of tungsten, a comparison of neutral beam injection (NBI) and ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating was carried out in TEXTOR tungsten test limiter experiments. The experiments were performed under standard L-mode conditions and in radiative improved-mode operation with neon seeding and boronized walls covering the graphite plasma-facing components. The plasma was heated with hydrogen or deuterium NBI alone or with deuterium NBI in combination with H-minority, ion cyclotron resonance heating. A movable solid tungsten limiter was inserted through a limiter lock system into the edge plasma. The impurity release from this limiter was evaluated from visible spectroscopy. The tungsten concentrations in the plasma core were determined by extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy and bolometry. With deuterium NBI alone, strong central radiation and accumulation of W was observed. This can, however, be avoided by adding ICRF heating.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0273526
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Fast ion stabilization of tilt in large radius FRCs
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  First page: 072503
  Abstract: The field reversed configuration (FRC) has been a curious case in plasma physics research in that early MHD analysis suggested FRCs should be grossly unstable, while experimental results contradicted that prediction. Later, this theory was able to resolve this contradiction by understanding that finite Larmor radius effects largely negated the MHD predictions. Similarly, previous theoretical studies of beam driven FRCs predicted that such system would be unstable to beam driven modes while, again, experimental results indicated the contradiction. In this paper, we reconcile the theoretical understanding of beam driven modes with experimental observations of stability in these systems. By self-consistently capturing fast ion generation from neutral beam injection and its impact on the plasma equilibrium, we show that low amplitude perturbations in the magnetic field, driven by betatron particles, modify the precession frequencies of the betatron particles such that the drive for compressional Alfvén waves in the thermal plasma is reduced. Finally, we are able to demonstrate, for the first time, stable beam driven FRC evolution at high S*/E in 3D kinetic simulations.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0277175
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Characterizing laser-heated polymer foams with simultaneous x-ray
fluorescence spectroscopy and Thomson scattering at the Matter in Extreme
Conditions Endstation at LCLS
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  First page: 072701
  Abstract: Understanding the behavior of polymer foams at high energy density conditions is crucial to advance inertial fusion energy research. Here, we present a new experimental platform designed to measure the thermodynamic state of these materials at megabar pressures. At the Matter in Extreme Conditions Endstation of the Linac Coherent Light Source, we heat samples using an optical, high-intensity, femtosecond laser and dynamically probe them with ultra-short, coherent x-ray pulses of high peak brightness. We perform x-ray Thomson scattering measurements in forward and backward scattering geometries to capture both collective and non-collective electron behavior in the sample. Simultaneously, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy is used to measure the emission from a mid-Z dopant, providing complementary information on the plasma conditions. By combining these techniques, we obtain temporally resolved temperature measurements of the transient warm dense matter states. Our initial experiments designed to benchmark the platform with carbon samples yielded data resolving the ultrafast response to laser heating with sub-picosecond resolution, measuring plasma temperatures exceeding 50 eV. These findings lay the foundation for precision studies of the dynamic evolution of laser-heated polymer foams.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0267033
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
An experimental and computational study of thin-layer Rayleigh–Taylor
instability development during deceleration with and without an externally
applied magnetic field
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  First page: 072702
  Abstract: The importance of mitigating the Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is critical to successfully achieve high gain fusion yield. Consequently, understanding the seed mechanisms of RTI and the potential evolution of RTI in ICF relevant conditions is crucial. Single feature perturbations consistently demonstrate non-linear RTI evolution, for which an experimental platform on OMEGA-EP is developed. Manufacturing defects introduced into the target design require exploration of unanticipated changes to RTI development and an identification of targets that will still render quantifiable physics results. Consequently, it is presented that the inherent 3D nature of experimental targets necessitates 3D modeling for accurate design work and predictive modeling of experimental targets, especially when high resolution imaging diagnostics, like Fresnel Zone Plates, are utilized. A study of the morphology of the RTI evolution due to changing initial conditions and the presence of an externally applied magnetic field are also explored. Experimental data show thin-layer RTI morphology comparable to resistive magneto hydrodynamic 3D results. A discussion on the impacts of an externally applied magnetic field makes the case for continued efforts to observe a magnetic field's impact on RTI morphology.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0229175
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Ion-acoustic wave propagation with Bohm quantum potential near and at
supercritical values in degenerate plasmas
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  First page: 072703
  Abstract: This research investigates the nonlinear propagation of solitons and periodic oscillatory waves near and at supercritical values (S-CVs) in a relativistic degenerate plasma consisting of relativistic electron and positron fluids, alongside an inertial nonrelativistic ion fluid, such as helium. By employing a higher-order correction within the reductive perturbation framework, a quartic nonlinear Korteweg–de Vries equation is derived. Solutions to this equation are explored, revealing both stationary soliton and novel periodic oscillatory wave structures. The study finds that factors such as the degenerate pressure, the incorporation of Fermi temperatures, and quantum mechanical effects (driven by quantum diffraction) of the electron and positron species—along with their respective number densities—have a profound impact on the formation and behavior of solitons and periodic oscillatory waves around and at S-CVs. These waves can manifest with positive potentials, depending on the interplay of the plasma parameters. The results provide valuable insights into nonlinear phenomena in astrophysical environments, such as within white dwarfs and neutron stars, as well as in laboratory plasma settings, including intense laser interactions with solid matter.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0274444
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
The calculations of thermophysical properties of low-temperature tin
plasma
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  First page: 072704
  Abstract: We have developed a model for calculations of thermophysical properties for tin in the area of low-temperature plasma, i.e., at temperatures 8–110 kK and densities up to 9 g/cm3 at the highest temperature. The properties considered are the pressure and internal energy, the electrical and thermal conductivities, and the thermal power. The chemical approach is applied for the thermodynamical values. It also produces the chemical (ionic) composition. The relaxation time approximation is used for the thermoelectric coefficients. For the low-temperature plasma of tin, there have not been any published data concerning these properties until now, excluding for the shock-wave measurements data at relatively high densities and several semiempirical models created to describe these data. We have estimated the region where the application of the present model is correct and constructed the fitting analytical relations for the calculated values within this region, which can be used in practical applications.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0276569
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of magnetic reconnection in
Space Plasma Environment Research Facility (SPERF)
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  First page: 072901
  Abstract: Space Plasma Environment Research Facility (SPERF) is a new platform to study fundamental plasma processes in space environments using a controlled manner in laboratory. One scientific object of this device is to study Earth's magnetopause reconnection. During the experiment, a dipole coil is used to generate a magnetic field of the magnetosphere, and four sheath coils are used to generate the magnetic field in the solar wind. A reconnection site with upstream conditions similar to magnetopause reconnection is expected to be detected between the sheath coils and dipole coil. In this paper, we perform a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation with the boundary and driving conditions designed to model SPERF to study magnetic reconnection in SPERF. Magnetic reconnection is observed during both the growth and decay stages of the driving current in the sheath coils, which are referred to as “push” and “pull” reconnection stages. During the push stage, the plasma conditions in the two inflow regions are asymmetric, and this stage can be used to study magnetopause reconnection; during the pull stage, there are some asymmetric features between the two reconnection outflow regions, and we propose that this stage can be used to study magnetotail reconnection. Our simulation results show the capability for SPERF to produce magnetopause-like and magnetotail-like reconnection geometries.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0271547
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
X-ray yield versus time interval of dual femtosecond laser pulses
interaction with liquid water slide
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  First page: 073301
  Abstract: Production of x-rays from ultrashort lasers interacting with various targets attracts increasing attention due to their widespread applications in medical science, industrial inspection, and academic activities. In this study, x-rays generated from two femtosecond laser pulses irradiating a water jet are measured and analyzed. The intensity of x-rays is significantly enhanced by the two pulses with intervals of 20 ps, 100 ps, and 2500 ps. The total flux of x-rays is increased to 2.1 × 107 ph/(sr·s) as the interval is enlarged from 0.5 ns to 4.5 ns, 1500 times stronger than that from a single-pulse. Plasma induced by the pre-pulse suppresses energy dissipation of the incident main laser pulse, which increases the reaction cross section between the main pulse and the pre-plasma, promoting efficient energy exchange. This work is expected to gain in-depth understanding of x-ray generation from laser-plasma interaction and provides an experimental foundation for x-ray-based pump-probe spectroscopic methods.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0271733
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Coaxial barrier discharge in argon flow excited by pulse groups of
periodic voltage: Plasma structures formation in the discharge zone and
plasma jet
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  First page: 073501
  Abstract: The subject of this study is a coaxial barrier discharge in an argon flow at atmospheric pressure. The discharge was excited by short pulses of sinusoidal voltage, the repetition frequency of which varied. This article presents the results of experimental studies on the dynamics of plasma structures created inside a discharge tube and in a plasma jet. The influence of the previous pulse group on the discharge and plasma jet structures in the subsequent pulse group was established by varying the repetition frequency of the pulse groups. It was found that at a low repetition frequency, streamers in the jet have a snake shape, and at a high frequency, streamers propagate in the jet in a straight line along its axis. Using high-speed and multi-frame imaging of the discharge, the formation of diffuse and constricted plasma structures inside the discharge zone and in plasma jet has been established. It is shown that the diffuse and constricted plasma structures inside a discharge tube, in fact, are the surface ionization waves identical to both the ionization waves propagating inside long capillary tube and along flat dielectric barrier in a surface barrier discharge.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0272401
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)
Revisiting an invariant of quasi-two-dimensional gyrokinetic ion
temperature gradient turbulence and its implications for nonlinear
stability
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  First page: 074501
  Abstract: Upon re-examination of a nonlinear invariant of the quasi-two-dimensional kinetic equation presented by Plunk [Phys. Plasmas 22, 042305 (2015)], we find that its implications for nonlinear stability are more consequential than originally thought. We now show that it gives a meaningful nonlinear stability criterion for quasi-two-dimensional ion temperature-gradient turbulence. Moreover, we generalize this result to include finite-Larmor-radius effects.
  PubDate: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1063/5.0269489
  Issue No: Vol. 32, No. 7 (2025)

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