Volume 42, Nº 9 (2016)

A method for analyzing the characteristics of turbulence responsible for radial heat transport is proposed. The method is based on the previously proposed hypotheses (to a great extent, confirmed experimentally) concerning the consistency of normalized pressure profiles in tokamak plasmas and the mechanism of internal transport barrier formation. Using the proposed approach, it is shown that, under an external action on the plasma, when the plasma heat flux onto the wall grows, the spectrum of turbulent modes broadens due to the excitation of modes with lower poloidal numbers m. Thus, in contrast to the conventional diffusion approach, the transport coefficient depends on the flux intensity. A mechanism of formation of internal transport barriers is proposed.

The problem of nonlinear Thomson scattering of a relativistically strong linearly polarized ultrashort laser pulse tightly focused into a spot with a diameter of D_F ≳ λ (where λ is the laser wavelength) is solved. The energy, spectral, and angular distributions of radiation generated due to Thomson scattering from test electrons located in the focal region are found. The characteristics of scattered radiation are studied as functions of the tightness of laser focusing and the initial position of test particles relative to the center of the focal region for a given laser pulse energy. It is demonstrated that the ultratight focusing is not optimal for obtaining the brightest and hardest source of secondary electromagnetic radiation. The hardest and shortest radiation pulse is generated when the beam waist diameter is ≃10λ.

Results of experimental studies of the implosion of quasi-spherical wire (or metalized fiber) arrays are presented. The goal of the experiments was to achieve synchronous three-dimensional compression of the plasma produced in different regions of a quasi-spherical array into its geometrical center. To search for optimal synchronization conditions, quasi-spherical arrays with different initial profiles of the linear mass were used. The following dependences of the linear mass on the poloidal angle were used: m_l(θ) ∝ sin^–1θ and m_l(θ) ∝ sin^–2θ. The compression dynamics of such arrays was compared with that of quasi-spherical arrays without linear mass profiling, m_l(θ) = const. To verify the experimental data, the spatiotemporal dynamics of plasma compression in quasi-spherical arrays was studied using various diagnostics. The experiments on three-dimensional implosion of quasi-spherical arrays made it possible to study how the frozen-in magnetic field of the discharge current penetrates into the array. By measuring the magnetic field in the plasma of a quasi-spherical array, information is obtained on the processes of plasma production and formation of plasma flows from the wire/fiber regions with and without an additionally deposited mass. It is found that penetration of the magnetic flux depends on the initial linear mass profile m_l(θ) of the quasi-spherical array. From space-resolved spectral measurements and frame imaging of plasma X-ray emission, information is obtained on the dimensions and shape of the X-ray source formed during the implosion of a quasi-spherical array. The intensity of this source is estimated and compared with that of the Z-pinch formed during the implosion of a cylindrical array.

It is shown that the nonlinear currents generated in plasma by a radiation pulse with a frequency exceeding the electron plasma frequency change substantially due to a reduction in the effective electron–ion collision frequency.

The dynamics of the spatial structure of the plasma of pulsed discharges in air and nitrogen in a nonuniform electric field and their erosion effect on the plane anode surface were studied experimentally. It is established that, at a nanosecond front of the voltage pulse, a diffuse discharge forms in the point cathode–plane anode gap due to the ionization wave propagating from the cathode. As the gap length decreases, the diffuse discharge transforms into a spark. A bright spot on the anode appears during the diffuse discharge, while the spark channel forms in the later discharge stage. The microstructure of autographs of anode spots and spark channels in discharges with durations of several nanoseconds is revealed. The autographs consist of up to 100 and more microcraters 5–100 μm in diameter. It is shown that, due to the short duration of the voltage pulse, a diffuse discharge can be implemented, several pulses of which do not produce appreciable erosion on the plane anode or the soot coating deposited on it.

Multistream instabilities in the one-dimensional Vlasov−Poisson system are studied numerically by using plasmas with multi-humped electron distributions. The evolution of the total wave energy of the plasma oscillations excited by (numerical) noise consists of transient, growth, and nonlinear saturation stages. It is found that, in the growth stage, the total wave energy oscillates for odd number of streams, but it does not oscillate for even number of streams. It is also found that different spectral (Fourier) modes can dominate different stages of the “linear” growth and nonlinear saturation stages.