arXiv subjects

Ben Y. Israeli

Publications and source records attributed to Ben Y. Israeli.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

How universal are warm turbulent cascades?

It is often assumed that general stationary solutions to the wave kinetic equation are described solely by conserved fluxes and temperature. The families of solutions parameterized by these quantities are referred to as warm cascades, and are derivable from differential models of wave kinetics. These models rely on the assumption of local interactions, and we demonstrate by a time scale argument that the nonlocal effect of thermal damping on the cascade may result in dependence on an additional parameter, the UV cutoff, calling into question the validity of warm cascade solutions. This is shown for systems with both three-wave and four-wave interactions. We then consider the depletion of the cascade by this damping, and present a numerical demonstration of this nonlocal and nonuniversal behavior.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

Nonlinear Saturation of the Acoustic Resonant Drag Instability

Resonant drag instabilities (RDIs) are a novel type of dust/fluid instability relevant to a diverse range of astrophysical environments. They are driven by a resonant interaction between streaming dust and waves in a background medium, which results in dust density fluctuations and amplification of the waves. This broad class of instabilities includes recently-proposed modes incorporating acoustic and magnetohydrodynamic waves, as well as the well-studied disk streaming instability. As the study of RDIs is at an early stage, their evolution beyond the linear regime is not well understood. In order to make inroads into the nonlinear theory of RDIs, we performed simulations of the simplest case, the acoustic RDI, in which sound waves in a gas are amplified by interaction with supersonically streaming dust. This particular instability is of interest both due its potential relevance in various poorly ionized environments, and due to its resemblance to the fast magnetosonic RDI. We find that the nonlinear growth and saturation of the instability are characterized by a balance between time scales of instability growth and turbulent eddy turnover. The simulations demonstrate a saturated state possessing an anisotropic outer forcing range in which this balance is maintained, and suggest the presence of an isotropic turbulent inertial range below this scale. By presenting a model for the nonlinear growth and saturated state of the acoustic RDI, this work provides a framework for further study of the nonlinear behavior of this and other RDIs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Hidden free energy released by explicit parity-time-symmetry breaking

It is shown that the familiar two-stream instability is the result of spontaneous parity-time (PT)-symmetry breaking in a conservative system, and more importantly, explicit PT-symmetry breaking by viscosity can destabilize the system in certain parameter regimes that are stable when viscosity vanishes. This reveals that complex systems may possess hidden free energies protected by PT-symmetry and viscosity, albeit dissipative, can expose the systems to these freed energies by breaking PT-symmetry explicitly. Such a process is accompanied by instability and total variation growth.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2025

A topological approach to magnetic nulls

Magnetic nulls are locations where the magnetic field vanishes. Nulls are the location of magnetic reconnection, and they determine to a large degree the magnetic connectivity in a system. We describe a novel approach to understanding movement, appearance, and disappearance of nulls in magnetic fields. This approach is based on the concept of isotropes, or lines where the field direction is constant. These lines are streamlines of a vector field whose flux is sourced by the topological indices of nulls, and can be conceptualized as corresponding "lines of force" between nulls. We show how this topological approach can be used to generate analytical expressions for the location of nulls in the presence of external fields for dipoles and for a field defined by the Hopf fibration.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

Resonant instabilities mediated by drag and electrostatic interactions in laboratory and astrophysical dusty plasmas

Dusty plasmas are known to support a diverse range of instabilities, including both generalizations of standard plasma instabilities and ones caused by effects specific to dusty systems. It has been recently demonstrated that a novel broad class of streaming instabilities, termed resonant drag instabilities (RDIs), can be attributed to a particular resonance phenomenon, manifested by defective eigenvalues of the linearized dust/fluid system. In this work, it is demonstrated that this resonance phenomenon is not unique to RDIs and can be used as a framework to understand a wider range of instabilities, termed resonant instabilities. Particular attention is given to the filamentary ionization instability seen in laboratory dusty plasmas and to the two-stream instability. It is shown that, due to the commonalities in underlying physics between the dust-ion-acoustic two-stream instability and the acoustic RDI, these instabilities should be relevant in strongly overlapping regimes in astrophysical dusty plasmas. It is proposed that a similar overlap in the experimental accessibility of these modes (and of the filamentary instability) allows for the possibility of experimental investigation in the laboratory of complex and astrophysically relevant instability dynamics.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

EUV Debris Mitigation using Magnetic Nulls

Next generation EUV sources for photolithography use light produced by laser-produced plasmas (LPP) from ablated tin droplets. A major challenge for extending the lifetime of these devices is mitigating damage caused by deposition of tin debris on the sensitive collection mirror. Especially difficult to stop are high energy (up to 10 keV) highly charged tin ions created in the plasma. Existing solutions include the use of stopping gas, electric fields, and magnetic fields. One common configuration consists of a magnetic field perpendicular to the EUV emission direction, but such a system can result in ion populations that are trapped rather than removed. We investigate a previously unconsidered mitigation geometry consisting of a magnetic null by performing full-orbit integration of the ion trajectories in an EUV system with realistic dimensions, and optimize the coil locations for the null configuration. The magnetic null prevents a fraction of ions from hitting the mirror comparable to that of the perpendicular field, but does not trap any ions due to the chaotic nature of ion trajectories that pass close to the null. This technology can potentially improve LPP-based EUV photolithography system efficiency and lifetime, and may allow for a different, more efficient formulation of buffer gas.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Large vacuum flux surfaces generated by tilted planar coils

Helical equilibria can be generated by arrangements of planar coils similar to tokamaks, but without a central solenoid and with the toroidal field (TF) coils tilted with respect to the vertical. This is known from earlier numerical works, e.g. P.E. Moroz, Phys.Plasmas 2, 4269 (1995). However, such concept tends to need large coils (of low aspect ratio) but form small plasmas (of large aspect ratio). Here it is numerically shown that larger, more attractive vacuum flux surfaces -- relative to the size of the device -- can be generated by carefully optimizing the inclination of the TF coils and currents in the various coil-sets. Vacuum configurations of aspect ratios as low as 4 are found for 6 tilted TF circular coils. Higher numbers of TF coils have advantages (smaller effective ripple) and disadvantages (lower rotational transform, smaller plasma). Finally, the aspect-ratio $A$ of the vacuum flux surfaces is quantified as a function of the ratio $A_c$ of the coil-radius to the radial location of the coil-center. It is found that, in order to minimize $A$, it is beneficial to interlink or marginally interlink the TF coils ($A_c \lesssim 1$).

physics.plasm-ph↗