No Arabic abstract
Exact solutions of a magnetized plasma in a vorticity containing shear flow for constant temperature are presented. This is followed by the modification of these solutions by thermomagnetic currents in the presence of temperature gradients. It is shown that solutions which are unstable for a subsonic flow, are stable if the flow is supersonic. The results are applied to the problem of vorticity shear flow stabilization of a linear z-pinch discharge.
Different ways to achieve the stabilization of a linear z-pinch by a superimposed shear flow are analyzed. They are: 1) Axial shear flow proposed by Arber and Howell with the pinch discharge in its center, and experimentally tested by Shumlak et al. 2) Spiral flow of a dense low temperature plasma surrounding a dense pinch discharge. 3) A thin metallic projectile shot at a high velocity through the center of the pinch discharge. 4) The replacement of the high velocity projectile by the shape charge effect jet in a conical implosion. 5) The replacement of the jet by a stationary wire inside the conical implosion.
The previous study regarding the stabilization of a magnetized constant temperature plasma by shear flow with vorticity is extended to a plasma of non-constant temperature, where in the presence of heat source or sinks the thermomagnetic Nernst effect becomes important. Of special interest is what this effect has on the stabilization of a linear z-pinch discharge for which exact solutions are given. Solutions which are unstable for subsonic shear flow become stable if the flow is supersonic.
The paper presents a review of dynamic stabilization mechanisms for plasma instabilities. One of the dynamic stabilization mechanisms for plasma instability was proposed in the papers [Phys. Plasmas 19, 024503(2012) and references therein], based on a perturbation phase control. In general, instabilities emerge from the perturbations of the physical quantity. Normally the perturbation phase is unknown so that the instability growth rate is discussed. However, if the perturbation phase is known, the instability growth can be controlled by a superimposition of perturbations imposed actively: if the perturbation is introduced by, for example, a driving beam axis oscillation or so, the perturbation phase can be controlled and the instability growth is mitigated by the superimposition of the growing perturbations. Based on this mechanism we present the application results of the dynamic stabilization mechanism to the Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability and to the filamentation instability as typical examples in this paper. On the other hand, in the paper [Comments Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 3, 1(1977)] another mechanism was proposed to stabilize the R-T instability based on the strong oscillation of acceleration, which was realized by the laser intensity modulation in laser inertial fusion [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 3131(1993)]. In the latter mechanism, the total acceleration strongly oscillates, so that the additional oscillating force is added to create a new stable window in the system. Originally the latter mechanism was proposed by P. L. Kapitza, and it was applied to the stabilization of an inverted pendulum. In this paper we review the two dynamic stabilization mechanisms, and present the application results of the former dynamic stabilization mechanism.
Microscopic instability and macroscopic flow pattern resulting from colliding plasmas are studied analytically in support of laboratory experiments. The plasma flows are assumed to stream radially from two separate centers. In a quasi-planar (2D) geometry, they may arise from an Ohmic explosion of two parallel wires, but similar configurations emerge from other outflows, e.g., colliding winds in binary star systems. One objective of this paper is to characterize the flow instabilities developing near the flow stagnation line. An exact solution for the Buneman-type dispersion equation is obtained without conventional simplifications. The unstable wave characteristics are key to anomalous resistivity that determines the reconnection rate of opposite magnetic fields transported with each flow toward the stagnation zone. The second objective of the paper is to calculate the stream function of the plasma shocked upon collision. We addressed this task by mapping the flow region to a hodograph plane and solving a Dirichlet problem for the stream function. By providing the instability growth rate, responsible for anomalous transport coefficients, and the overall flow configuration, these studies lay the ground for the next step. From there, we will examine the field reconnection scenarios and emerging mesoscopic structures, such as radial striata observed in the experiments.
A two-field model of potential vorticity (PV) staircase structure and dynamics relevant to both beta-plane and drift-wave plasma turbulence is studied numerically and analytically. The model evolves averaged PV whose flux is both driven by and regulates, a potential enstrophy field, $varepsilon$. The model employs a closure using a mixing length model. Its link to bistability, vital to staircase generation, is analyzed and verified by integrating the equations numerically. Long-time staircase evolution consistently manifests a pattern of meta-stable quasi-periodic configurations, lasting for hundreds of time units, yet interspersed with abrupt ($Delta tll1$) mergers of adjacent steps in the staircase. The mergers occur at the staircase lattice defects where the pattern has not completely relaxed to a strictly periodic solution that can be obtained analytically. Other types of stationary solutions are solitons and kinks in the PV gradient and $varepsilon$ - profiles. The waiting time between mergers increases strongly as the number of steps in the staircase decreases. This is because of an exponential decrease in inter-step coupling strength with growing spacing. The long-time staircase dynamics is shown numerically be determined by local interaction with adjacent steps. Mergers reveal themselves through the explosive growth of the turbulent PV-flux which, however, abruptly drops to its global constant value once the merger is completed.