Diffuse Baryons in Cosmic Structures

I review the processes that govern the amount and the thermal state of the hot plasma pervading clusters and groups of galaxies: the gravitational heating driven by the DM merging histories, the radiative cooling of baryons, and the energy fed back by SNe and by AGNs or quasars. I argue that the X-ray emissions and the entropy levels now observed from clusters to groups require the AGNs to contribute substantially to preheat the gas before it falls into clusters, and the quasars to blow some plasma out of groups and galaxies.     

The possibility of emersion of the outer layers in a massive star simultaneously with iron-core collapse: A hydrodynamic model

We analyze the behavior of the outer envelope in a massive star during and after the collapse of its iron core into a protoneutron star (PNS) in terms of the equations of one-dimensional spherically symmetric ideal hydrodynamics. The profiles obtained in the studies of the evolution of massive stars up to the final stages of their existence, immediately before a supernova explosion (Boyes et al. 1999), are used as the initial data for the distribution of thermodynamic quantities in the envelope. We use a complex equation of state for matter with allowances made for arbitrary electron degeneracy and relativity, the appearance of electron-positron pairs, the presence of radiation, and the possibility of iron nuclei dissociating into free nucleons and helium nuclei. We performed calculations with the help of a numerical scheme based on Godunov's method. These calculations allowed us to ascertain whether the emersion of the outer envelope in a massive star is possible through the following two mechanisms: first, the decrease in the gravitational mass of the central PNS through neutrino-signal emission and, second, the effect of hot nucleon bubbles, which are most likely formed in the PNS corona, on the envelope emersion. We show that the second mechanism is highly efficient in the range of acceptable masses of the nucleon bubbles (≤0.01M _⊙) simulated in our hydrodynamic calculations in a rough, spherically symmetric approximation.     

等离子天体物理学与现代等离子体宇宙观

现代科学表明宇宙中99%以上的可观测物质都处于等离子体状态,从小尺度的微观粒子动力学集体过程与能量转换机制到大尺度的宇宙等离子天体结构状态与爆发活动现象,都是等离子天体物理学的研究课题.从宇宙演化历史、大尺度结构形成以及爆发活动现象等方面,系统地论述了等离子天体物理学在现代天文学发展以及现代等离子体宇宙观形成中的重要作用.同时,结合空间卫星科学探测研究及其对现代天文学的巨大影响,进一步阐述了地球磁层和日球层等空间等离子体实地探测研究在等离子天体物理学研究中所扮演的“天然实验室”的独特作用.     

Characteristics of the dust-plasma interaction near Enceladus’ South Pole

We present RPWS Langmuir probe data from the third Enceladus flyby (E3) showing the presence of dusty plasma near Enceladus’ South Pole. There is a sharp rise in both the electron and ion number densities when the spacecraft traverses through Enceladus plume. The ion density near Enceladus is found to increase abruptly from about 10² cm⁻³ before the closest approach to 10⁵ cm⁻³ just 30 s after the closest approach, an amount two orders of magnitude higher than the electron density. Assuming that the inconsistency between the electron and ion number densities is due to the presence of dust particles that are collecting the missing electron charges, we present dusty plasma characteristics down to sub-micron particle sizes. By assuming a differential dust number density for a range in dust sizes and by making use of Langmuir probe data, the dust densities for certain lower limits in dust size distribution were estimated. In order to achieve the dust densities of micrometer and larger sized grains comparable to the ones reported in the literature, we show that the power law size distribution must hold down to at least 0.03 μm such that the total differential number density is dominated by the smallest sub-micron sized grains. The total dust number density in Enceladus’ plume is of the order of 10² cm⁻³ reducing to 1 cm⁻³ in the E-ring. The dust density for micrometer and larger sized grains is estimated to be about 10⁻⁴ cm⁻³ in the plume while it is about 10⁻⁶-10⁻⁷ cm⁻³ in the E-ring. Dust charge for micron sized grains is estimated to be about eight thousand electron charges reducing to below one hundred electron charges for 0.03 μm sized grains. The effective dusty plasma Debye length is estimated and compared with inter-grain distance as well as the electron Debye length. The maximum dust charging time of 1.4 h is found for 0.03 μm sized grains just 1 min before the closest approach. The charging time decreases substantially in the plume where it is only a fraction of a second for 1 μm sized grains, 1 s for 0.1 μm sized grains and about 10 s for 0.03 μm sized grains.     

On the peak level of tearing instability in an ion-scale current sheet: The effects of ion temperature anisotropy

We have systematically surveyed the effects of the ion temperature anisotropy on the peak reconnected flux level of the tearing instability excited in a thick current sheet (its half-thickness D equal to the ion inertial length). A series of two- and three-dimensional (2-D and 3-D) simulations have been performed for a magnetotail-like situation, where the ion perpendicular temperature is fixed to balance the magnetic pressure of the lobe while the ion parallel temperature can be varied to give rise to the temperature anisotropy α_i=T_i,perp/T_i,para. Focusing on the behavior of the fastest growing mode (wavelength λ=12D), the results are summarized as follows: (1) The peak levels are larger when the initial α_i is larger and lobe reconnection is obtained only when α_i>1.5. (2) 3-D effects do speed-up the reconnection process but do not change the peak level substantially. (3) The time-scale of gas pressure build-up at the center of magnetic islands relative to the time-scale of reconnected flux growth is identified to be the key issue in determining the peak level. Based on these results for the fastest growing mode with λ=12D, discussion is given on the larger-scale development, that is, what happens when longer wavelength modes are allowed to develop.     

Foreshock cavities and internal foreshock boundaries

We present two case studies of cluster encounters with foreshock cavities. For one event, we are able, for the first time, to accurately relate the observation of a foreshock cavity to the measured position of the bow shock. This allows us to compute the shock angle, a vital parameter in models of foreshock cavity formation, with greater confidence than any previous study. This cavity appears to be elongated along the magnetic field and we use the multispacecraft nature of the Cluster mission to constrain its field-parallel and -perpendicular extent. We show that this event is embedded within a region of field-aligned ion beams. This is the first time a foreshock cavity has been shown to be surrounded by foreshock ion beams. A second foreshock cavity is associated with a small rotation in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We show that this event appears on the boundary between an interval when the spacecraft were inside the ion foreshock, and an excursion upstream. This is the first report of a foreshock cavity observed during the traversal of the global foreshock. This second event has some features expected from the new Sibeck et al. (2008) model of cavities as brief encounters with a spatial boundary in the global foreshock.     

激光剥蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱微区分析 进展评述

激光剥蚀电感耦合(LA-ICP-MS)等离子体以其高空间分辨率、高灵敏度、多元素同时测定并可提供同位素比值信息的检测能力在原位微区分析中已得到广泛应用。现从仪器的发展、基础研究等方面评述了近年来LA-ICP-MS微区分析的进展,重点介绍了与等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)联用的激光器(纳秒和飞秒激光器)的发展、校正方法、分馏效应及其在地球科学微量元素、同位素、包裹体分析中的应用。并简要地阐述了LA-ICP-MS分析技术存在的局限和发展趋势。     

ICP-AES法同时测定钛铁矿中钾钠钙镁钡锶锌

采用HCl—HNO3-HF—HClO4,HCl—HNO3-HF—H2SO4敞口和HCl-HNO3-HF—HClO4,HCl-HNO3-HF—H2SO4微波消解4种方法溶矿,利用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱（ICP—AES）测定,建立了钛铁矿中钾、钠、钙、镁、钡、锶、锌等元素的同时测定方法。对电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪测定的最佳仪器条件及分析谱线进行了选择,并对钛、铁基体的影响、溶矿提取酸度以及溶矿残渣进行了研究。实验结果表明：采用HCl-HNO3-HF-HClO4敞口溶矿,具有检出限低、灵敏度高,操作简便、快速等突出优点。该方法测定值与推荐值基本吻合,分析方法的精密度满足《地质矿产实验室测试质量管理规范》的要求。     

铁氧化物型铜金矿中磁铁矿微量元素含量对结构参数影响的初步研究

磁铁矿是一种重要的铁氧化物,广泛分布于自然界的三大类岩石和各种不同类型的矿床中.采用激光剥蚀电感耦合等离子质谱仪,分析了澳大利亚Ernest Henry铁氧化物型铜金矿床中磁铁矿的微量元素含量,并用X衍射测定微量元素含量最高和最低时磁铁矿相应的晶胞参数,从而评价微量元素变化对磁铁矿结构参数的影响.结果表明,磁铁矿中存在着阳离子替代关系;微量元素含量高的磁铁矿晶胞参数a0值小于标准磁铁矿的a0值,含微量元素低的磁铁矿晶胞参数a0值则大于标准磁铁矿的a0值;磁铁矿中所含微量元素不同,其对应的晶胞参数a0值亦有明显变化.