C. E. Seyler
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View article: An experimental platform for investigating astrophysically relevant magnetized plasma jets on the COBRA facility
An experimental platform for investigating astrophysically relevant magnetized plasma jets on the COBRA facility Open
A new platform has been developed for the 1-MA COBRA generator to investigate the physical processes affecting the formation, collimation, and stability of high-speed outflows in magnetically driven laboratory plasma jets. Such experiments…
Axial confinement of wire array Z-pinch precursor plasmas by a pulsed magnetic mirror field Open
A novel wire-array Z-pinch platform has been developed to study the effect of a pulsed magnetic mirror field on a collisional high energy density plasma. The mirror is driven in series with the Z-pinch target and, therefore, scales with dr…
Reconnection during the implosion phase of field reversed configurations Open
Magnetic field topology changes in Field Reversed Configurations (FRC's) are essential for the formation and containment of the plasma. A significant part of the FRC research program relies upon the idea that a newly formed plasma, formed …
Tilting mode in field-reversed configurations Open
Field Reversed Configurations (FRCs) experimentally have exhibited remarkable stability on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) timescale, despite numerous MHD calculations showing FRCs to be unstable. It is easy to believe that local modes are s…
Ion kinetic effects on the tilt mode in FRCs Open
Theory and simulations have shown that field reversed configurations (FRG's) should be unstable magnetohydrodynamically to the tilting mode, yet tilting seldom is seen in the experiments. Profile effects (within MHD) and ion finite larmor …
Compact torus theory: MHD equilibrium and stability Open
Field reversed theta pinches have demonstrated the production and confinement of compact toroidal configurations with surprisingly good MHD stability. In these observations, the plasma is either lost by diffusion or by the loss of the appl…
Molecular hydrodynamic theory of the velocity autocorrelation function Open
The velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) encapsulates extensive information about a fluid’s molecular-structural and hydrodynamic properties. We address the following fundamental question: How well can a purely hydrodynamic description…
Hall instability driven seeding of helical magneto-Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities in axially premagnetized thin-foil liner Z-pinch implosions Open
Helical magneto-Rayleigh–Taylor instability (MRTI) structures have been observed in z-pinch-driven liner implosion experiments with a pre-imposed axial magnetic field. We show that the formation of these helical structures can be described…
Plasma thermal transport with a generalized 8-moment distribution function Open
Moment equations that model plasma transport require an ansatz distribution function to close the system of equations. The resulting transport is sensitive to the specific closure used, and several options have been proposed in the literat…
Current polarity effects on laboratory plasma jets Open
Plasma jets produced by a pulsed power machine were investigated using Thomson scattering and other diagnostics in order to make detailed comparisons to simulations. These jets were produced from a 15 μm thick disk of Al foil on a 1.2 MA, …
Formulation of 8-moment plasma transport with application to the Nernst effect Open
8-moment plasma models using two different distribution functions are used to study the Nernst effect and heat transport in dense plasma. These models are presented in hyperbolic form in contrast to traditional parabolic systems derived fr…
Axial magnetic flux amplification in Hall-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of externally magnetized z-pinches Open
It is shown that externally magnetized gas-puff z-pinches under compression can exhibit robust axial flux amplification under suitable axial boundary conditions. This effect relies upon the Hall term in the generalized Ohm's law to generat…
Extended magnetohydrodynamics simulations of thin-foil Z-pinch implosions with comparison to experiments Open
Cylindrical foil liners, with foil thicknesses on the order of 400 nm, are often used in university-scale Z-pinch experiments (∼1 MA in 100 ns) to study physics relevant to inertial confinement fusion efforts on larger-scale facilities (e.…
Plasma Jet Formation Disruption From a Critical Applied Uniform Axial Magnetic Field Open
We examine the effects of varying the magnitude of an applied, uniform, axial magnetic field (Bz) on the formation of laboratory plasma jets produced by a 1-MA 100-ns rise time pulsed power generator in a radial foil configuration. A Helmh…
Power Flow in Pulsed-Power Systems: The Influence of Hall Physics and Modeling of the Plasma–Vacuum Interface Open
Extended-MHD simulations of power flow along a pulsed-power transmission line are performed here in a 2-D axisymmetric geometry, in particular looking at the influence of Hall physics for a transmission line coupled to the liner used in a …
The Generation of Warm Dense Matter Using a Magnetic Anvil Cell Open
Warm dense matter is present at the heart of gas giants and large exo-planets. Yet, its most basic properties are unknown and limit our understanding of planetary formation and evolution. In this state, where pressure climbs above 1 Mbar, …
The influence of Hall physics on power-flow along a coaxial transmission line Open
Extended-MHD simulations of a coaxial transmission line are performed in axisymmetric cylindrical geometry, in particular, in examining the influence of Hall physics on a plasma layer initialized against the anode versus the cathode, for w…
External Magnetic Field Effects on Ablation of Current-Driven Foils Using an Extended Magnetohydrodynamics Simulation Open
We numerically model the ablation process of a 25-μm-thick aluminum foil driven by a pulsed-power machine that provides a 1-MA peak current in a 100-ns zero-to-peak rise time. The extended magnetohydrodynamics simulation is a discontinuous…
Helical instability in MagLIF due to axial flux compression by low-density plasma Open
The MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion) experiment at Sandia National Labs is one of the three main approaches to inertial confinement fusion. Radiographic measurements of the imploding liner have shown helical structuring that was n…
The influence of the Hall term on the development of magnetized laser-produced plasma jets Open
We present 2D axisymmetric simulation results describing the influence of the Hall term on laser-produced plasma jets and their interaction with an applied magnetic field parallel to the laser axis. Bending of the poloidal B-field lines pr…
Applied axial magnetic field effects on laboratory plasma jets: Density hollowing, field compression, and azimuthal rotation Open
We experimentally measure the effects of an applied axial magnetic field (Bz) on laboratory plasma jets and compare the experimental results with numerical simulations using an extended magnetohydrodynamics code. A 1 MA peak current, 100 n…
Axial magnetic field injection in magnetized liner inertial fusion Open
MagLIF is a fusion concept using a Z-pinch implosion to reach thermonuclear fusion. In current experiments, the implosion is driven by the Z-machine using 19 MA of electrical current with a rise time of 100 ns. MagLIF requires an initial a…
Axial magnetic field injection into thick, imploding liners Open
MagLIF is a fairly new fusion concept using a puled-power generator as the main driver. This concept uses a Z-pinch configuration where the implosion is driven by the Z-machine using 27 MA of electrical current in 100 ns. Since the implosi…