New Transition and Energy Levels of Three-Times Ionized Krypton (Kr IV)

A capillary pulsed-discharge and a theta-pinch were used to record Kr spectra in the region of 330–4800 Å. A set of 168 transitions of these spectra were classified for the first time. We extended the analysis to twenty-five new energy levels belonging to 3s23p24d, 3s23p25d even configurations. We calculated weighted transition probabilities (gA) for all of the experimentally observed lines and lifetimes for new energy levels using a relativistic Hartree–Fock method, including core-polarization effects.

Numerical and laboratory studies of magnetic enhancements produced by solar wind interaction with Lunar crustal magnetic fields

<p>In this study, we use a combination of 3D Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations and a laboratory experiment to investigate the dynamics of solar wind - Moon interaction. It is known that the Moon has no global magnetic field, but there exist areas of intense remanent magnetization of the lunar crust which are strongly non-dipolar. Performed simulations indicate that the localized crustal fields are capable of scattering solar wind ions, efficiently heat electrons, and produce magnetic field perturbations in the upstream plasma. Numerical study of reflected ion flux compares well to the laboratory experiment performed at induction discharge theta-pinch "KI-1" facility (Novosibirsk). The plasma flow interacts with a magnetic field source (dipolar or quadrupolar), producing a minimagnetosphere with typical scales comparable to (or less than) a few ion inertial lengths. Our numerical and laboratory study concludes that the magnetic field should drop faster than r<sup>-3</sup> with the distance in order to reproduce the spacecraft observations. In this case, gyroradii of the reflected ions are considerably larger than the scale of the minimagnetosphere density cavity. Reflected ions generate enhancements in the upstream magnetic field, supposedly seen as LEMEs (lunar external magnetic enhancements) in spacecraft data above the Moon crustal fields.</p>

Electron- and proton-scale nested magnetic cavities: Manifestation of kinetic theta-pinch equilibrium in space plasmas

<p>Magnetic cavities, sometimes referred to as magnetic holes, are ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas characterized by localized regions with depressed magnetic field strength, strongly anisotropic particle distributions, and enhanced plasma pressure. Typical cavity sizes range from fluid to ion and sub-ion kinetic scales, with recent observations also identifying nested cavities that may indicate cross-scale energy cascades. Although heavily investigated in space, magnetic cavities have analogs in laboratory plasmas, the classical theta-pinches. Here, we develop an equilibrium solution of the Vlasov-Maxwell equations in cylindrical coordinates (in similar format to theta-pinch models), to reconstruct the cross-scale profiles of magnetic cavities observed by the four-spacecraft MMS mission. The kinetic model uses input parameters derived from single-spacecraft measurements to successfully reproduce signatures of magnetic cavities from all observing spacecraft. The reconstructed profiles demonstrate that near the electron-scale cavity boundary, the decoupled electron and proton motions generate a radial electric field that contributes to electron vortex formation that has been previously attributed mostly to diamagnetic effects. At larger scales, the diminishing electric field implies that diamagnetic motion is solely responsible for proton vortices.</p>

Propagation of a nonlinear wave packet driven in a relaxed magnetohydrodynamic plasma

We report the observation of a nonlinear wave packet propagating through a relaxed Taylor state in the Swarthmore Spheromak eXperiment (SSX) device. The wave packet is launched by a fast, pulsed, high current (${\approx}21~\text{kA}$) single-turn theta-pinch coil mounted outside the plasma vessel. The theta-pinch coil is energized by discharging a 40 kV, 2 kJ capacitor circuit. The wave packet velocity is super-thermal and super-Alfvénic; its group velocity is more consistent with a whistler pulse than other characteristic velocities. We also observe a fast density pulse which indicates that it is not Alfvénic in nature.