Related papers: Solar sail with superconducting circular current-c…
Achieving laser-driven, reflective, relativistic light sails would represent a tremendous breakthrough for humankind, allowing us to advance our understanding of the solar system and deep space far beyond what we know from space probes,…
Thin films are preferred for high photocurrent conversion efficiency, but strong photon absorption at photon energies below the bandgap (near and shortwave infrared) typically requires thicker semiconductor layers. To address this tradeoff,…
Supergranulation is characterized by horizontally divergent flows with typical length scales of 32 Mm in the solar photosphere. Unlike granulation, the size of which is comparable to both the thickness of the radiative boundary layer and…
Recent radioastronomical observations of Faraday rotation in the solar corona can be interpreted as evidence for coronal currents, with values as large as $2.5 \times 10^9$ Amperes (Spangler 2007). These estimates of currents are used to…
The physical processes that heat the solar corona and accelerate the solar wind remain unknown after many years of study. Some have suggested that the wind is driven by waves and turbulence in open magnetic flux tubes, and others have…
We propose a superconducting diode device comprising a central superconducting film flanked by two wires carrying an applied DC bias, suitably chosen so as to generate different asymmetric field profiles. Through numerical simulations of…
We revisit the classical problem of diffusion-limited ion transport to a membrane (or electrode) by considering the effects of charged side walls. Using simple mathematical models and numerical simulations, we identify three basic…
We discuss recent advances made in modelling the complex magnetohydrodynamics of the Sun using our anelastic spherical harmonics (ASH) code. We have conducted extensive 3--D simulations of compressible convection in rotating spherical…
A theory for the heating of coronal magnetic flux ropes is developed. The dissipated magnetic energy has two distinct contributions: (1) energy injected into the corona as a result of granule-scale, random footpoint motions, and (2) energy…
Magnetic turbulence in the solar wind is treated from the point of view of electrodynamics. This can be done based on the use of Poynting's theorem attributing all turbulent dynamics to the spectrum of turbulent conductivity. For two…
The POLAR Investigation of the Sun (POLARIS) mission uses a combination of a gravity assist and solar sail propulsion to place a spacecraft in a 0.48 AU circular orbit around the Sun with an inclination of 75 degrees with respect to solar…
'Coil design' is an inverse problem in which arrangements of wire are designed to generate a prescribed magnetic field when energized with electric current. The design of gradient and shim coils for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are…
With interstellar mission concepts now being under study by various space agencies and institutions, a feasible and worthy interstellar precursor mission concept will be key to the success of the long shot. Here we investigate…
The Solar Gravitational Lens (SGL) enables resolved imaging and spectroscopy of nearby terrestrial exoplanets, but useful science begins only after a spacecraft reaches roughly 650-900 astronomical units (AU). A 20 yr lower-bound trip to…
We will use new data from the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) with unprecedented spatial resolution of the solar corona to investigate the structure of coronal loops down to 0.2 arcsec. During a rocket flight Hi-C provided images of…
We have developed and applied a mobility edge model that takes into account drift and diffusion currents to characterize the space charge limited current in organic semiconductors. The numerical solution of the drift-diffusion equation…
The novel propellantless electric solar wind sail concept promises efficient low thrust transportation in the Solar System outside Earth's magnetosphere. Combined with asteroid mining to provide water and synthetic cryogenic rocket fuel in…
The first step towards high critical currents in Bi-2212 wires was the comprehension that the supercurrent is blocked over long lengths by filament-diameter bubbles grown during the melt stage, which cause expansion of the wire diameter and…
Seven different models are applied to the same problem of simulating the Sun's coronal magnetic field during the solar eclipse on 2015 March 20. All of the models are non-potential, allowing for free magnetic energy, but the associated…
In this paper, we detail the scientific objectives and outline a strawman payload of the SOLAR sail Investigation of the Sun (SOLARIS). The science objectives are to study the 3D structure of the solar magnetic and velocity field, the…