Related papers: Interplanetary Medium as Fuel for Plasma Thrusters
Spin-polarized fusion has the potential to lower the radiation shielding and ignition requirements for fusion rockets while simultaneously increasing the fusion fuel burnup and provide better momentum coupling to a spacecraft. This…
Observational evidence in space and astrophysical plasmas with long collisional mean free path suggests that more massive charged particles may be preferentially heated. One possible mechanism for this is the turbulent cascade of energy…
A hybrid plasma solver treats ions as particles and electrons as a fluid. We have implemented a parallel hybrid solver in the FLASH open source software framework. The solver has been applied to studies of the interaction between the solar…
The energy production through thermo-nuclear fusion requires the confinement of the plasma into a bounded domain. In most of the cases, such configurations are obtained by using strong magnetic fields. Several models exist for describing…
There is a strong connection between the formation of a disk galaxy and the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM). Theoretical work has typically either focused on the cosmological buildup of a galaxy with a relatively crude model for…
We revisit the question of how the unstable scattering of interstellar pickup ions (PUIs) may drive turbulence in the outer solar wind, and why the energy released into fluctuations by this scattering appears to be significantly less than…
Relativistic electrons are easily generated by self-injection when an intense laser drives a wakefield in a plasma, giving rise to wide electron energy distributions. Several mechanisms involving additional laser beams or different gas…
The connection between turbulence and solar-wind acceleration, long known in space physics, is further developed in this Letter by establishing a robust empirical law that relates the bulk-flow speed to the magnetohydrodynamic-scale…
Challenging space missions include those at very low altitudes, where the atmosphere is source of aerodynamic drag on the spacecraft that finally defines the missions lifetime unless way to compensate for it is provided. This environment is…
We consider the radiative acceleration to relativistic bulk velocities of a cold, optically thin plasma which is exposed to an external source of gamma-rays. The flow is driven by radiative momentum input to the gas, the accelerating force…
Carefully engineered, controlled, and diagnosed plasma sources are a key ingredient in mastering plasma-based particle accelerator technology. This work reviews basic physics concepts, common types of plasma sources, and available…
This work presents a more detailed analysis of the process of magnetic reconnection as promising ion beam accelerator mechanism with possible applications in laboratory plasmas and, more importantly, in the plasma propulsion field. In a…
Light scalar fields can drive the accelerated expansion of the universe. Hence, they are obvious dark energy candidates. To make such models compatible with tests of General Relativity in the solar system and "fifth force" searches on…
We briefly review capabilities and requirements for future instrumentation in UV- and X-ray astronomy that can contribute to advancing our understanding of the diffuse, highly ionised intergalactic medium.
This paper provides perspectives on recent progress in the understanding of the physics of devices where the external magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the discharge current. This configuration generates a strong electric field,…
The habitable zones of low-mass stars are characterized by escape speeds that can be a few times higher than the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Owing to the exponential dependence of the required fuel mass on the terminal speed for chemical…
How cosmic rays sample the multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM) in starburst galaxies has important implications for many science goals, including evaluating the cosmic ray calorimeter model for these systems, predicting their neutrino…
Recent studies of interplanetary radio type II bursts and their source locations are reviewed. As these bursts are due to propagating shock waves, driven by coronal mass ejections, they can be followed to near-Earth distances and can be…
The interstellar medium (ISM) is constantly evolving due to unremitting injection of energy in various forms. Energetic radiation transfers energy to the ISM: from the UV photons, emitted by the massive stars, to X- and $\gamma$-ray ones.…
The extent to which a magnetosphere protects its planetary atmosphere from stellar wind ablation depends upon how well it prevents energy and momentum exchange with the atmosphere and how well it traps otherwise escaping plasma. We focus on…