Resonant Wave-Particle Manipulation Techniques

Abstract

Charged particle dynamics can be altered considerably even by weak electromagnetic waves if some of the particles are in resonance. Depending on the wave parameters, the resonances in the phase space can either be well separated, in which case the particle dynamics is regular almost everywhere, or they can overlap leading to stochastic particle motion in a large volume of the phase space. Although different, both of these regimes allow one to manipulate particle ensembles by arranging resonant interactions with appropriate waves.

This thesis is devoted to studying two wave-particle manipulation techniques having potential applications in fusion and laser-plasma interaction research. Specifically, we study the alpha-channeling effect (which relies on stochastic diffusion of resonant particles) and the so-called negative-mass effect (NME) (which involves the conservation of the adiabatic invariant).

The alpha-channeling effect entails the use of radio-frequency waves to expel and cool high-energetic alpha particles born in a fusion reactor; the device reactivity can then be increased even further by redirecting the extracted energy to fuel ions. Recently, the alpha-channeling technique, originally proposed for tokamaks, was shown to be suitable for application in mirror machines as well. In the first part of this thesis, we deepen the understanding of issues and possibilities of the alpha-channeling implementation in open-ended reactors. We verify the feasibility of this technique and identify specific waves and supplementary techniques, which can potentially be used for implementing the alpha-channeling in realistic mirror devices. We also propose a new technique for using the alpha-channeling wave energy to catalyze fusion reaction by employing minority ions as a mediator species.

In the second part of this thesis, the NME manifesting itself as an unusual response of a resonant particle to external adiabatic perturbations mimicking the behavior of a particle with a negative mass, is discussed. Using the Hamiltonian perturbation theory, the calculation of the effective parallel mass is extended to the non-vacuum waves and the NME is shown to be robust. Also, the consequences of radiation friction and collisions with the background particles on the NME are studied and new collective phenomena emerging in plasmas with negative-mass particles are considered.