A Comparative Study of Electron Radiation Responses of Pu2Zr2O7 and La2Zr2O7: An abinitio Molecular Dynamics Study

In this study, the response of Pu2Zr2O7 and La2Zr2O7 to electronic radiation is simulated, employing an ab initio molecular dynamics method. It is shown that Pu2Zr2O7 undergoes a crystalline-to-amorphous structural transition with 0.3% electronic excitation, while for La2Zr2O7, the structural amorphization occurs with 1.2% electronic excitation. During the microstructural evolution, the anion disorder further drives cation disorder and eventually results in the structural amorphization of Pu2Zr2O7 and La2Zr2O7. The difference in responses to electron radiation between Pu2Zr2O7 and La2Zr2O7 mainly results from the strong correlation effects between Pu 5f electrons and the smaller band gap of Pu2Zr2O7. These results suggest that Pu2Zr2O7 is less resistant to amorphization under local ionization rates that produce a low level of electronic excitation, since the level of the concentration of excited electrons is relatively low in Pu2Zr2O7. The presented results will advance the understanding of the radiation damage effects of zirconate pyrochlores.

HEPPA III intercomparison experiment on electron precipitation impacts: Estimated ionization rates during a geomagnetic active period in April 2010

<p>Precipitating auroral and radiation belt electrons are considered an important part of the natural forcing of the climate system.  Recent studies suggest that this forcing is underestimated in current chemistry-climate models. The HEPPA III intercomparison experiment is a collective effort to address this point. Here, eight different estimates of medium energy electron (MEE) (>30 keV) ionization rates are assessed during a geomagnetic active period in April 2010.  The objective is to understand the potential uncertainty related to the MEE energy input. The ionization rates are all based on the Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector (MEPED) on board the NOAA/POES and EUMETSAT/MetOp spacecraft series. However, different data handling, ionization rate calculations, and background atmospheres result in a wide range of mesospheric electron ionization rates. Although the eight data sets agree well in terms of the temporal variability, they differ by about an order of magnitude in ionization rate strength both during geomagnetic quiet and disturbed periods. The largest spread is found in the aftermath of the geomagnetic activity.  Furthermore, governed by different energy limits, the atmospheric penetration depth varies, and some differences related to latitudinal coverage are also evident. The mesospheric NO densities simulated with the Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model driven by highest and lowest ionization rates differ by more than a factor of eight. In a follow-up study, the atmospheric responses are simulated in four chemistry-climate models and compared to satellite observations, considering both the model structure and the ionization forcing.</p>

Response of the interplanetary hydrogen population to global changes of solar activity: a quantitative analysis based on SOHO/SWAN and SOHO/LASCO-C2 data comparison.

<p>For more than two decades the SOHO/SWAN instrument has been monitoring the full-sky hydrogen backscattered Lyman-α emission, and the derived three-dimensional solar wind proton flux. We present a comparison of the time series of the latitude-integrated hydrogen ionization rates (β) derived from the inversion of the SWAN full-sky maps with the integrated coronal electron density derived from the inversion of SOHO/LASCO-C2 white light images. The analysis shows a variable time lag of the SWAN β of a few Carrington rotations, correlated with the solar cycle phase (larger delay during solar maxima compared to minima). This is a direct consequence of the variation of the size of the hydrogen ionization cavity and the time it takes for hydrogen atoms to propagate in the inner heliosphere. This effect should be taken into account in studies of the interstellar neutral populations in interplanetary space.</p>

The effect of Forbush decreases on the polar-night HOx concentration

<div> <div> <div> <p>It is well-known that energetic particle precipitations during solar proton events increase ionization rates in the middle atmosphere enhancing the production of hydrogen oxide radicals (HOx) involved in the catalytic ozone destruction cycle. There are many studies where the contribution of energetic particles to the formation of hydrogen oxide radicals and ozone loss has been widely investigated. However, until now, there was no solid evidence that the reduction in galactic cosmic ray fluxes during a magnetic storm, known as Forbush-effect, directly and noticeably affects the polar-night stratospheric chemistry.<br>Here, the impact of the Forbush decrease on the behaviour of hydrogen oxide radicals was explored using the chemistry-climate model SOCOL.<br>We found that hydrogen oxide radical lost about half of its concentration over the polar boreal night stratosphere owing to a reduction in ionization rates caused by Forbush decreases after solar proton events occurred on 17 and 20 of January 2005. A robust response in ozone was not found. There is not any statistically significant response in (NOx) on Forbush decrease events as well as over summertime in the southern polar region.<br>The results of this study can be used to increase the veracity of ozone loss estimation if stronger Forbush events can have a place.</p> <p>Reference: Mironova I, Karagodin-Doyennel A and Rozanov E (2021) , The effect of Forbush decreases on the polar-night HOx concentration affecting stratospheric ozone. Front. Earth Sci. 8:618583. doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.618583</p> <p>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.618583/full</p> <p>The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant (RSF project No. 20-67-46016).</p> </div> </div> </div>

Photodissociation region diagnostics across galactic environments

ABSTRACT We present three-dimensional astrochemical simulations and synthetic observations of magnetized, turbulent, self-gravitating molecular clouds. We explore various galactic interstellar medium environments, including cosmic ray ionization rates in the range of ζCR = 10−17–$10^{-14}\, {\rm s}^{-1}$, far-UV intensities in the range of G0 = 1–103 and metallicities in the range of Z = 0.1–$2\, {\rm Z}_{\odot }$. The simulations also probe a range of densities and levels of turbulence, including cases where the gas has undergone recent compression due to cloud–cloud collisions. We examine: (i) the column densities of carbon species across the cycle of C ii, C i, and CO, along with O i, in relation to the H i-to-H2 transition; (ii) the velocity-integrated emission of [C ii] 158 μm, [13C ii] 158 μm, [C i] 609 μm and 370 μm, [O i] 63 μm and 146 μm, and of the first ten 12CO rotational transitions; (iii) the corresponding Spectral Line Energy Distributions; (iv) the usage of [C ii] and [O i] 63 μm to describe the dynamical state of the clouds; (v) the behaviour of the most commonly used ratios between transitions of CO and [C i]; and (vi) the conversion factors for using CO and C i as H2-gas tracers. We find that enhanced cosmic ray energy densities enhance all aforementioned line intensities. At low metallicities, the emission of [C ii] is well connected with the H2 column, making it a promising new H2 tracer in metal-poor environments. The conversion factors of XCO and XC i depend on metallicity and the cosmic ray ionization rate, but not on FUV intensity. In the era of ALMA, SOFIA, and the forthcoming CCAT-prime telescope, our results can be used to understand better the behaviour of systems in a wide range of galactic and extragalactic environments.

The Effect of Forbush Decreases on the Polar-Night HOx Concentration Affecting Stratospheric Ozone

It is well-known that energetic particle precipitations during solar proton events increase ionization rates in the middle atmosphere enhancing the production of hydrogen oxide radicals (HOx) involved in the catalytic ozone destruction cycle. There are many studies where the contribution of energetic particles to the formation of hydrogen oxide radicals and ozone loss has been widely investigated. However, until now, there was no solid evidence that the reduction in galactic cosmic ray fluxes during a magnetic storm, known as Forbush-effect, directly and noticeably affects the polar-night stratospheric chemistry. Here, the impact of the Forbush decrease on the behavior of hydrogen oxide radicals was explored using the chemistry-climate model SOCOLv2. We found that hydrogen oxide radical lost about half of its concentration over the polar boreal night stratosphere owing to a reduction in ionization rates caused by Forbush decreases after solar proton events occurred on 17 and 20 of January 2005. The robust response in ozone was not found. There is not any statistically significant response in (NOx) on Forbush decrease events as well as over summer time in the southern polar region. The results of this study can be used to increase the veracity of ozone loss estimation if stronger Forbush events can have place.

Диффузионная динамика ридберговских состояний в поле излучения с непрерывным спектром

Redistribution of population and ionization of atomic Rydberg states due to multistep cascade transitions between states under the influence of radiation with continuous spectrum is considered. Consideration is carried up both by simulation of kinetic equations for state populations and with the use of a diffusion approximation based on the Fokker-Planck equation. On the example of sodium atom under the influence of radiation with rectangular spectrum a good agreement between the diffusion approximation and the kinetic equation simulation is shown. In the frame of the diffusion approximation some estimations are derived for the state populations, ionization rates and minimal spectral density of radiation necessary for significant ionization.