Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Avalanches driven by pressure gradients in a magnetized plasma

Abstract

The results are presented for a basic heat transport experiment involving an off-axis heat source in which avalanche events occur. The configuration consists of a long, hollow, cylindrical region of elevated electron temperature embedded in a colder plasma, and far from the device walls [Van Compernolle et al. Phys. Rev. E 91, 031102(R) (2015)]. The avalanche events are identified as sudden rearrangements of the pressure profile following the growth of fluctuations from ambient noise. The intermittent collapses of the plasma pressure profile are associated with unstable drift-Alfvén waves and exhibit both radial and poloidal dynamics. After each collapse, the plasma enters a quiescent phase in which the pressure profile slowly recovers and steepens until a threshold is exceeded, and the process repeats. The use of reference probes as time markers allows for the visualization of the 2D spatio-temporal evolution of the avalanche events. Avalanches are observed only for a limited combination of heating powers and magnetic fields. At higher heating powers, the system transits from the avalanche regime into a regime dominated by sustained drift-Alfvén wave activity. Here, this manuscript focuses on new results that illustrate the individual contributions to the avalanche process from density and temperature gradients in themore » presence of zero-order, sheared flows.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1524581
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1407835
Grant/Contract Number:  
FC02-07ER54918
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 24; Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Van Compernolle, B., and Morales, G. J. Avalanches driven by pressure gradients in a magnetized plasma. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1063/1.5001321.
Copy to clipboard
Van Compernolle, B., & Morales, G. J. Avalanches driven by pressure gradients in a magnetized plasma. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5001321
Copy to clipboard
Van Compernolle, B., and Morales, G. J. Tue . "Avalanches driven by pressure gradients in a magnetized plasma". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5001321. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1524581.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1524581,
title = {Avalanches driven by pressure gradients in a magnetized plasma},
author = {Van Compernolle, B. and Morales, G. J.},
abstractNote = {The results are presented for a basic heat transport experiment involving an off-axis heat source in which avalanche events occur. The configuration consists of a long, hollow, cylindrical region of elevated electron temperature embedded in a colder plasma, and far from the device walls [Van Compernolle et al. Phys. Rev. E 91, 031102(R) (2015)]. The avalanche events are identified as sudden rearrangements of the pressure profile following the growth of fluctuations from ambient noise. The intermittent collapses of the plasma pressure profile are associated with unstable drift-Alfvén waves and exhibit both radial and poloidal dynamics. After each collapse, the plasma enters a quiescent phase in which the pressure profile slowly recovers and steepens until a threshold is exceeded, and the process repeats. The use of reference probes as time markers allows for the visualization of the 2D spatio-temporal evolution of the avalanche events. Avalanches are observed only for a limited combination of heating powers and magnetic fields. At higher heating powers, the system transits from the avalanche regime into a regime dominated by sustained drift-Alfvén wave activity. Here, this manuscript focuses on new results that illustrate the individual contributions to the avalanche process from density and temperature gradients in the presence of zero-order, sheared flows.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5001321},
journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
number = 11,
volume = 24,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Nov 07 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Tue Nov 07 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5001321
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 13 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1 FIG. 1: (a) Schematic of the experimental setup, not to scale. A ring-shaped LaB6 cathode injects low-energy electrons into a large, cold, magnetized plasma; it acts as an ideal, hollow, cylindrical heat source. (b) Front end of the cathode assembly. (c) Contour of ion saturation current measured on a planemore » across the magnetic field.« less
All figures and tables (14 total)
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Multiple Avalanches across the Metal-Insulator Transition of Vanadium Oxide Nanoscaled Junctions
journal, July 2008

Observation of Simultaneous Axial and Transverse Classical Heat Transport in a Magnetized Plasma
journal, October 1998

Theory of mean poloidal flow generation by turbulence
journal, July 1991

  • Diamond, P. H.; Kim, Y. ‐B.
  • Physics of Fluids B: Plasma Physics, Vol. 3, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.859681

Spectral statistics of global avalanches along granular piles
journal, November 1997

Rotation shear induced fluctuation decorrelation in a toroidal plasma
journal, September 1994

Edge localized modes (ELMs)
journal, February 1996

A novel angular motion vacuum feedthrough
journal, August 2001

  • Leneman, D.; Gekelman, W.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 72, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1374588

Solar flares and avalanches in driven dissipative systems
journal, July 1993

  • Lu, Edward T.; Hamilton, Russell J.; McTiernan, J. M.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 412
  • DOI: 10.1086/172966

Influence of sheared poloidal rotation on edge turbulence
journal, January 1990

  • Biglari, H.; Diamond, P. H.; Terry, P. W.
  • Physics of Fluids B: Plasma Physics, Vol. 2, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.859529

Spontaneous Thermal Waves in a Magnetized Plasma
journal, July 2008

Turbulence and transport suppression scaling with flow shear on the Large Plasma Device
journal, May 2013

  • Schaffner, D. A.; Carter, T. A.; Rossi, G. D.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4804637

Wave and transport studies utilizing dense plasma filaments generated with a lanthanum hexaboride cathode
journal, December 2011

  • Van Compernolle, B.; Gekelman, W.; Pribyl, P.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3671909

Drift-Alfvén fluctuations associated with a narrow pressure striation
journal, January 2000

  • Peñano, J. R.; Morales, G. J.; Maggs, J. E.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 7, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.873789

Snow avalanche formation
journal, January 2003

Trapping phenomena in avalanche photodiodes on nanosecond scale
journal, December 1991

  • Cova, S.; Lacaita, A.; Ripamonti, G.
  • IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1109/55.116955

Exponential frequency spectrum and Lorentzian pulses in magnetized plasmas
journal, December 2008

  • Pace, D. C.; Shi, M.; Maggs, J. E.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 15, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3023155

Transport properties of a hollow pressure filament in a magnetized plasma
journal, September 2016

  • Poulos, M. J.; Morales, G. J.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4962574

Experimental study of fluctuations excited by a narrow temperature filament in a magnetized plasma
journal, May 2000

  • Burke, A. T.; Maggs, J. E.; Morales, G. J.
  • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 7, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.873957

The upgraded Large Plasma Device, a machine for studying frontier basic plasma physics
journal, February 2016

  • Gekelman, W.; Pribyl, P.; Lucky, Z.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 87, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4941079
    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Drift-Alfvén fluctuations and transport in multiple interacting magnetized electron temperature filaments
    journal, December 2019

    • Sydora, R. D.; Karbashewski, S.; Van Compernolle, B.
    • Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 85, Issue 6
    • DOI: 10.1017/s0022377819000886

    Plasma flows generated by an annular thermionic cathode in a large magnetized plasma
    journal, February 2019

    • Jin, S.; Poulos, M. J.; Van Compernolle, B.
    • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5063597

    Modifications produced on a large magnetized plasma column by a floating end-plate that is partially emissive: Experiment and theory
    journal, December 2019

    • Van Compernolle, B.; Poulos, M. J.; Morales, G. J.
    • Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 12
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5126415

    Detection of an electron beam in a high density plasma via an electrostatic probe
    journal, May 2018

    • Majeski, Stephen; Yoo, Jongsoo; Zweben, Stewart
    • Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 60, Issue 7
    • DOI: 10.1088/1361-6587/aabd0e
      Sort by:
      [ × clear filter / sort ]

      Figures / Tables found in this record:

      FIG. 1 (p. 3)figure
      FIG. 2 (p. 3)figure
      FIG. 3 (p. 4)figure
      FIG. 4 (p. 5)figure
      FIG. 5 (p. 5)figure
      FIG. 6 (p. 6)figure
      FIG. 7 (p. 6)figure
      FIG. 8 (p. 7)figure
      FIG. 9 (p. 7)figure
      FIG. 10 (p. 8)figure
      FIG. 11 (p. 8)figure
      FIG. 12 (p. 8)figure
      FIG. 13 (p. 9)figure
      FIG. 14 (p. 9)figure
        [ × clear filter / sort ]
        Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

        Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: