Effect of tailored density profiles on the stability of imploding z-pinches at microsecond rise time megaampere currents

To study the effect of the radial density profile of the material of a metal-plasma Z-pinch load on the development of magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instabilities, experiments have been performed at the Institute of High Current Electronics with the GIT-12 generator produced microsecond rise time megaampere currents. The load was an aluminum plasma jet with an outer plasma shell. This configuration provides the formation of a uniform current sheath in a Z-pinch load upon application of a high voltage pulse. It was successfully used in experiments with hybrid deuterium gas-puffs [Klir et al. 2020 New J. Phys. 22 103036]. The initial density profiles of the Z-pinch loads were estimated from the pinch current and voltage waveforms using the zero-dimensional "snowplow" model, and they were verified by simulating the expansion of the plasma jet formed by a vacuum arc using a two-dimensional quasi-neutral hybrid model [Shmelev et al. 2020 Phys. Plasmas 27 092708]. Two Z-pinch load configurations were used in the experiments. The first configuration provided tailored load density profiles, which could be described as ρ(r) ≈ 1/r^s for s > 2. In this case, MRT instabilities were suppressed and thus a K-shell radiation yield of 11 kJ/cm and a peak power of 0.67 TW/cm could be attained at a current of about 3 MA. For the second configuration, the radial density profiles were intentionally changed using a reflector. This led to the appearance of a notch in the density profiles at radii of 1–3 cm from the pinch axis and to magnetohydrodynamic instabilities at the final implosion stage. As a result, the K-shell radiation yield more than halved and the power decreased to 0.15 TW/cm at a current of about 3.5 MA.

Measuring the density structure of an accretion hot spot

Magnetospheric accretion models predict that matter from protoplanetary disks accretes onto stars via funnel flows, which follow stellar magnetic field lines and shock on the stellar surfaces1–3, leaving hot spots with density gradients4–6. Previous work has provided observational evidence of varying density in hot spots7, but these observations were not sensitive to the radial density distribution. Attempts have been made to measure this distribution using X-ray observations8–10; however, X-ray emission traces only a fraction of the hot spot11,12 and also coronal emission13,14. Here we report periodic ultraviolet and optical light curves of the accreting star GM Aurigae, which have a time lag of about one day between their peaks. The periodicity arises because the source of the ultraviolet and optical emission moves into and out of view as it rotates along with the star. The time lag indicates a difference in the spatial distribution of ultraviolet and optical brightness over the stellar surface. Within the framework of a magnetospheric accretion model, this finding indicates the presence of a radial density gradient in a hot spot on the stellar surface, because regions of the hot spot with different densities have different temperatures and therefore emit radiation at different wavelengths.

DETERMINING THE DENSITY OF MULTIPLE LAYERS USING GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY

Due to the volumetric nature of the physics and the measurement, traditional gamma-gamma density tools measure an average bulk density of the formation. However, a bulk measurement is not adequate for certain applications where a more detailed resolution of a radial density profile is necessary. In this paper, a new approach of gamma spectral analysis is introduced focusing on the main Compton scattering angles. Several energy windows are linked to the unique radial layers based on scattering angles and location of interaction. As a result, the density of multiple layers can be calculated. The paper first outlines the main principles and analytical structures to formulate two methods to measure layer densities. Then computer simulation tools are used to simulate realistic tool configuration and measurement response to validate and benchmark efficacies of the outlined methods. Finally, a case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of these methods using laboratory data. The paper is concluded with a list of other possible applications such as open-hole density and behind-pipe evaluation where layer density can provide more details for the analysis.

The splashback boundary of haloes in hydrodynamic simulations

The splashback radius, Rsp, is a physically motivated halo boundary that separates infalling and collapsed matter of haloes. We study Rsp in the hydrodynamic and dark matter only IllustrisTNG simulations. The most commonly adopted signature of Rsp is the radius at which the radial density profiles are steepest. Therefore, we explicitly optimise our density profile fit to the profile slope and find that this leads to a $\sim 5\%$ larger radius compared to other optimisations. We calculate Rsp for haloes with masses between 1013 − 15M⊙ as a function of halo mass, accretion rate and redshift. Rsp decreases with mass and with redshift for haloes of similar M200m in agreement with previous work. We also find that Rsp/R200m decreases with halo accretion rate. We apply our analysis to dark matter, gas and satellite galaxies associated with haloes to investigate the observational potential of Rsp. The radius of steepest slope in gas profiles is consistently smaller than the value calculated from dark matter profiles. The steepest slope in galaxy profiles, which are often used in observations, tends to agree with dark matter profiles but is lower for less massive haloes. We compare Rsp in hydrodynamic and N-body dark matter only simulations and do not find a significant difference caused by the addition of baryonic physics. Thus, results from dark matter only simulations should be applicable to realistic haloes.

Spatiotemporal analysis of the runaway distribution function from synchrotron images in an ASDEX Upgrade disruption

Synchrotron radiation images from runaway electrons (REs) in an ASDEX Upgrade discharge disrupted by argon injection are analysed using the synchrotron diagnostic tool Soft and coupled fluid-kinetic simulations. We show that the evolution of the runaway distribution is well described by an initial hot-tail seed population, which is accelerated to energies between 25–50 MeV during the current quench, together with an avalanche runaway tail which has an exponentially decreasing energy spectrum. We find that, although the avalanche component carries the vast majority of the current, it is the high-energy seed remnant that dominates synchrotron emission. With insights from the fluid-kinetic simulations, an analytic model for the evolution of the runaway seed component is developed and used to reconstruct the radial density profile of the RE beam. The analysis shows that the observed change of the synchrotron pattern from circular to crescent shape is caused by a rapid redistribution of the radial profile of the runaway density.

Method for determination of cluster radius from radial density profile

We propose the numerical method for determining the radius of a star cluster using its radial surface density profile. The method realizes the algorithm of an eye estimate but minimizes a subjectivity; its result is in a good agreement with the eye estimate of the radius for the open cluster NGC 2516.

The changing circumgalactic medium over the last 10 Gyr I: physical and dynamical properties

We present an analysis of the physical and dynamical states of two sets of EAGLE zoom simulations of galaxy haloes, one at high redshift (z = 2 − 3) and the other at low redshift (z = 0), with masses of ≈1012 M⊙. Our focus is how the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of these L* star-forming galaxies change over the last 10 Gyr. We find that the high-z CGM is almost equally divided between the “cool” (T < 105 K) and “hot” (T ≥ 105 K) phases, while at low-z the hot CGM phase contains 5 × more mass than the cool phase. The high-z hot CGM contains 60% more metals than the cool CGM, while the low-z cool CGM contains 35% more metals than the hot CGM. The metals are evenly distributed radially between the hot and cool phases throughout the high-z CGM. At high z, the CGM volume is dominated by hot outflows, but also contains cool gas mainly inflowing and cool metals mainly outflowing. At low z, the cool metals dominate the interior and the hot metals are more prevalent at larger radii. The low-z cool CGM has tangential motions consistent with rotational support out to 0.2R200, often exhibiting r ≈ 40 kpc disc-like structures. The low-z hot CGM has several times greater angular momentum than the cool CGM, and a more flattened radial density profile than the high-z hot CGM. This study verifies that, just as galaxies demonstrate significant transformations over cosmic time, the gaseous haloes surrounding them also undergo considerable changes of their own both in physical characteristics of density, temperature, and metallicity, and dynamic properties of velocity and angular momentum.

Effect of pebble flux-regulated planetesimal formation on giant planet formation

Context. The formation of gas giant planets by the accretion of 100 km diameter planetesimals is often thought to be inefficient. A diameter of this size is typical for planetesimals and results from self-gravity. Many models therefore use small kilometer-sized planetesimals, or invoke the accretion of pebbles. Furthermore, models based on planetesimal accretion often use the ad hoc assumption of planetesimals that are distributed radially in a minimum-mass solar-nebula way. Aims. We use a dynamical model for planetesimal formation to investigate the effect of various initial radial density distributions on the resulting planet population. In doing so, we highlight the directive role of the early stages of dust evolution into pebbles and planetesimals in the circumstellar disk on the subsequent planet formation. Methods. We implemented a two-population model for solid evolution and a pebble flux-regulated model for planetesimal formation in our global model for planet population synthesis. This framework was used to study the global effect of planetesimal formation on planet formation. As reference, we compared our dynamically formed planetesimal surface densities with ad hoc set distributions of different radial density slopes of planetesimals. Results. Even though required, it is not the total planetesimal disk mass alone, but the planetesimal surface density slope and subsequently the formation mechanism of planetesimals that enables planetary growth through planetesimal accretion. Highly condensed regions of only 100 km sized planetesimals in the inner regions of circumstellar disks can lead to gas giant growth. Conclusions. Pebble flux-regulated planetesimal formation strongly boosts planet formation even when the planetesimals to be accreted are 100 km in size because it is a highly effective mechanism for creating a steep planetesimal density profile. We find that this leads to the formation of giant planets inside 1 au already by pure 100 km planetesimal accretion. Eventually, adding pebble accretion regulated by pebble flux and planetesimal-based embryo formation as well will further complement this picture.