We have performed fully-kinetic simulations of X-B and O-X-B mode conversion in one and two dimensional setups using the PIC code EPOCH. We have recovered the linear dispersion relation for electron Bernstein waves by employing relatively low amplitude incoming waves. The setups presented here can be used to study non-linear regimes of X-B and O-X-B mode conversion.
Spherical tokamak plasmas are typically overdense and thus inaccessible to externally-injected microwaves in the electron cyclotron range. The electrostatic electron Bernstein wave (EBW), however, provides a method to access the plasma core for heating and diagnostic purposes. Understanding the details of the coupling process to electromagnetic waves is thus important both for the interpretation of microwave diagnostic data and for assessing the feasibility of EBW heating and current drive. While the coupling is reasonably well-understood in the linear regime, nonlinear physics arising from high input power has not been previously quantified. To tackle this problem, we have performed one- and two-dimensional fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of the two possible coupling mechanisms, namely X-B and O-X-B mode conversion. We find that the ion dynamics has a profound effect on the field structure in the nonlinear regime, as high amplitude short-scale oscillations of the longitudinal electric field are excited in the region below the high-density cut-off prior to the arrival of the EBW. We identify this effect as the instability of the X wave with respect to resonant scattering into an EBW and a lower-hybrid wave. We calculate the instability rate analytically and find this basic theory to be in reasonable agreement with our simulation results.
L.Huang [Linear Algebra Appl. 331 (2001) 21-30] gave a canonical form of a quaternion matrix $A$ with respect to consimilarity transformations $tilde{S}^{-1}AS$ in which $S$ is a nonsingular quaternion matrix and $tilde{h}:=a-bi+cj-dk$ for each quaternion $h=a+bi+cj+dk$. We give an analogous canonical form of a quaternion matrix with respect to consimilarity transformations $hat{S}^{-1}AS$ in which $hmapstohat{h}$ is an arbitrary involutive automorphism of the skew field of quaternions. We apply the obtained canonical form to the quaternion matrix equations $AX-hat{X}B=C$ and $X-Ahat{X}B=C$.
The key empirical property of the X-ray emission from O stars is a strong correlation between the bolometric and X-ray luminosities. In the framework of the Chandra Carina Complex Project, 129 O and B stars have been detected as X-ray sources; 78 of those, all with spectral type earlier than B3, have enough counts for at least a rough X-ray spectral characterization. This leads to an estimate of the Lx/Lbol ratio for an exceptional number of 60 O stars belonging to the same region and triples the number of Carina massive stars studied spectroscopically in X-rays. The derived log(Lx/Lbol) is -7.26 for single objects, with a dispersion of only 0.21dex. Using the properties of hot massive stars listed in the literature, we compare the X-ray luminosities of different types of objects. In the case of O stars, the Lx/Lbol ratios are similar for bright and faint objects, as well as for stars of different luminosity classes or spectral types. Binaries appear only slightly harder and slightly more luminous in X-rays than single objects; the differences are not formally significant (at the 1% level), except for the Lx/Lbol ratio in the medium (1.0--2.5keV) energy band. Weak-wind objects have similar X-ray luminosities but they display slightly softer spectra compared to normal O stars with the same bolometric luminosity. Discarding three overluminous objects, we find a very shallow trend of harder emission in brighter objects. The properties of the few B stars bright enough to yield some spectral information appear to be different overall (constant X-ray luminosities, harder spectra), hinting that another mechanism for producing X-rays, besides wind shocks, might be at work. However, it must be stressed that the earliest and X-ray brightest amongst these few detected objects are similar to the latest O stars, suggesting a possibly smooth transition between the two processes.
Particle-in-Cell simulations of magnetic reconnection with an H+ current sheet and a mixed background plasma of H+ and O+ ions are completed using physical mass ratios. Four main results are shown. First, the O+ presence slightly decreases the reconnection rate and the magnetic reconnection evolution depends mainly on the lighter H+ ion species in the presented simulations. Second, the Hall magnetic field is characterized by a two-scale structure in presence of O+ ions: it reaches sharp peak values in a small area in proximity of the neutral line, and then decreases slowly over a large region. Third, the two background species initially separate in the outflow region because H+ and O+ ions are accelerated by different mechanisms occurring on different time scales and with different strengths. Fourth, the effect of a guide field on the O+ dynamics is studied: the O+ presence does not change the reconnected flux and all the characteristic features of guide field magnetic reconnection are still present. Moreover, the guide field introduces an O+ circulation pattern between separatrices that enhances high O+ density areas and depletes low O+ density regions in proximity of the reconnection fronts. The importance and the validity of these results are finally discussed.
In QCD the amplitude for B0 -> D(*)+pi- factorizes in the large Nc limit or in the large energy limit Q >> Lambda_QCD where Q = {m_b, m_c, m_b-m_c}. Data also suggests factorization in exclusive processes B-> D* pi+ pi- pi- pi0 and B-> D* omega pi-, however by themselves neither large Nc nor large Q can account for this. Noting that the condition for large energy release in B0-> D+ pi- is enforced by the SV limit, m_b, m_c >> m_b-m_c >> Lambda, we propose that the combined large Nc and SV limits justify factorization in B -> D(*) X. This combined limit is tested with the inclusive decay spectrum measured by CLEO. We also give exact large Nc relations among isospin amplitudes for B -> D(*)X and B -> D(*) D-bar(*)X, which can be used to test factorization through exclusive or inclusive measurements. Predictions for the modes B-> D(*) pi pi, B-> D(*)K K-bar and B-> D(*) D-bar(*) K are discussed using available data.