arXiv subjects

Zhengmao Sheng

Publications and source records attributed to Zhengmao Sheng.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Energization of Proton via Beam-Driven Ion Bernstein Waves in p11B Plasmas

Energizing background ions plays a pivotal role in all forms of thermal nuclear fusion, as it can increase the fusion reaction rate without affecting the overall mechanical equilibrium. This is particularly critical for p11B fusion due to its exceptionally high operating temperature and substantial energy losses from bremsstrahlung radiation. Here, we report a nonlinear mechanism that efficiently transfers the energy of injected heating beams to background protons in p11B mixed plasmas, via fully kinetic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations. When a proton neutral beam is injected into p11B plasmas, it triggers the excitation of ion Bernstein waves (IBWs) at harmonics of the proton cyclotron frequency. In the initial linear stage, the energy channels to background electrons and protons might be comparable, consistent with theoretical model for the energy transfer. However, in the latter nonlinear stage, the dominant channel transfers to background protons, generating a non-Maxwellian population of energetic protons. This transition is driven by a nonlinear spectral cascade of IBWs toward lower frequencies and longer wavelengths, which strengthens wave proton coupling while suppressing wave electron coupling.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2024

Structure of weakly collisional shock waves of multicomponent plasmas inside hohlraums of indirect inertial confinement fusions

In laser-driven indirect inertial confinement fusion (ICF), a hohlraum--a cavity constructed from high-Z materials--serves the purpose of converting laser energy into thermal x-ray energy. This process involves the interaction of low-density ablated plasmas, which can give rise to weakly collisional shock waves characterized by a Knudsen number $K_n$ on the order of 1. The Knudsen number serves as a metric for assessing the relative importance of collisional interactions. Preliminary experimental investigations and computational simulations have demonstrated that the kinetic effects associated with weakly collisional shock waves significantly impact the efficiency of the implosion process. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the physics underlying weakly collisional shock waves is essential. This research aims to explore the formation and fundamental structural properties of weakly collisional shock waves within a hohlraum, as well as the phenomena of ion mixing and ion separation in multicomponent plasmas. Weakly collisional shocks occupy a transition regime between collisional shock waves ($K_n \ll 1$) and collisionless shock waves ($K_n \gg 1$), thereby exhibiting both kinetic effects and hydrodynamic behavior. These shock waves are primarily governed by an electrostatic field, which facilitates significant electrostatic sheath acceleration and ion reflection acceleration. The differentiation of ions occurs due to the varying charge-to-mass ratios of different ion species in the presence of electrostatic field, resulting in the separation of ion densities, velocities, temperatures and concentrations. The presence of weakly collisional shock waves within the hohlraum is expected to affect the transition of laser energy and the overall efficiency of the implosion process.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2024

Manipulation of annular electron beams in plasmas

The annular electron beam has significant practical potential in high-energy physics and condensed matter physics, which can be used to edge-enhancement electron imaging, collimation of antiprotons in conventional linear accelerators, acceleration of positively particles like positrons, structured X-ray generation and manipulation of nanomaterials. The quality of an annular electron beam depends on its energy, flux and topology. In this article, we study the transport characteristics of annular electron beam in a plasma medium and propose a scheme to modify it. According to our theory and full three-dimensional LAPINS simulations, we have found that the self-generated magnetic field focuses the incident annular electron beam, enabling the adjustment of its annular width (AW). Besides, the annular electron beam, endowed with orbital angular momentum (OAM), exhibits contrasting transport characteristics compared to an electron beam devoid of OAM. The former requires an external magnetic field to ensure stable transportation in the plasma. Under the influence of this magnetic field, the radius of the annular electron beam oscillates periodically, with the direction of change whether increasing or decreasing dependent on the field's strength. In this case, the radius of annular electron beam will be affected by the external magnetic field and allows for the simultaneous adjustment of its radius and AW, significantly broadening its application range.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

Large-scale Kinetic Simulations of Colliding Plasmas within a Hohlraum of Indirect Drive Inertial Confinement Fusions

The National Ignition Facility has recently achieved successful burning plasma and ignition using the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) approach. However, there are still many fundamental physics phenomena that are not well understood, including the kinetic processes in the hohlraum. Shan et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett, 120, 195001, 2018] utilized the energy spectra of neutrons to investigate the kinetic colliding plasma in a hohlraum of indirect drive ICF. However, due to the typical large spatial-temporal scales, this experiment could not be well simulated by using available codes at that time. Utilizing our advanced high-order implicit PIC code, LAPINS, we were able to successfully reproduce the experiment on a large scale of both spatial and temporal dimensions, in which the original computational scale was increased by approximately 7 to 8 orders of magnitude. When gold plasmas expand into deuterium plasmas, a kinetic shock is generated and propagates within deuterium plasmas. Simulations allow us to observe the entire progression of a strong shock wave, including its initial formation and steady propagation. Although both electrons and gold ions are collisional (on a small scale compared to the shock wave), deuterium ions seem to be collisionless. This is because a quasi-monoenergetic spectrum of deuterium ions can be generated by reflecting ions from the shock front, which then leads to the production of neutrons with unusual broadening due to beam-target nuclear reactions. This work displays an unprecedented kinetic analysis of an existing experiment, shedding light on the mechanisms behind shock wave formation. It also serves as a reference for benchmark simulations of upcoming new simulation codes and may be relevant for future research on mixtures and entropy increments at plasma interfaces.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

Diagnosis of Fast Electron Transport by Coherent Transition Radiation

Transport of fast electron in overdense plasmas is of key importance in high energy density physics. However, it is challenging to diagnose the fast electron transport in experiments. In this article, we study coherent transition radiation (CTR) generated by fast electrons on the back surface of the target by using 2D and 3D first-principle particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. In our simulations, aluminium target of 2.7 g/cc is simulated in two different situations by using a newly developed high order implicit PIC code. Comparing realistic simulations containing collision and ionization effects, artificial simulations without taking collision and ionization effects into account significantly underestimate the energy loss of electron beam when transporting in the target, which fail to describe the complete characteristics of CTR produced by electron beam on the back surface of the target. Realistic simulations indicate the diameter of CTR increases when the thickness of the target is increased. This is attributed to synergetic energy losses of high flux fast electrons due to Ohm heatings and colliding drags, which appear quite significant even when the thickness of the solid target only differs by micrometers. Especially, when the diagnosing position is fixed, we find that the intensity distribution of the CTR is also a function of time, with the diameter increased with time. As the diameter of CTR is related to the speed of electrons passing through the back surface of the target, our finding may be used as a new tool to diagnose the electron energy spectra near the surface of solid density plasmas.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2010

On the pinning strategy of complex networks

In pinning control of complex networks, a tacit believing is that the system dynamics will be better controlled by pinning the large-degree nodes than the small-degree ones. Here, by changing the number of pinned nodes, we find that, when a significant fraction of the network nodes are pinned, pinning the small-degree nodes could generally have a higher performance than pinning the large-degree nodes. We demonstrate this interesting phenomenon on a variety of complex networks, and analyze the underlying mechanisms by the model of star networks. By changing the network properties, we also find that, comparing to densely connected homogeneous networks, the advantage of the small-degree pinning strategy is more distinct in sparsely connected heterogenous networks.

physics.soc-ph↗