Search

Non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) is essentially required for astrophysical plasma diagnostics once the plasma status departs from ionization equilibrium assumptions. In this work, we perform fast NEI calculations combined with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations and analyze the ionization properties of a Petschek-type magnetic reconnection current sheet during solar eruptions. Our simulation reveals Petschek-type slow-mode shocks in the classical Spitzer thermal conduction models and conduction flux-limitation situations. The results show that under-ionized features can be commonly found in shocked reconnection outflows and thermal halo regions outside the shocks. The departure from equilibrium ionization strongly depends on plasma density. In addition, this departure is sensitive to the observable target temperature: the high-temperature iron ions are strongly affected by NEI effects. The under-ionization also affects the synthetic SDO/AIA intensities, which indicates that the reconstructed hot reconnection current sheet structure may be significantly under-estimated either for temperature or apparent width. We also perform the MHD-NEI analysis on the reconnection current sheet in the classical solar flare geometry. Finally, we show the potential reversal between the under-ionized and over-ionized state at the lower tip of reconnection current sheets where the downward outflow collides with closed magnetic loops, which can strongly affect multiple SDO/AIA band ratios along the reconnection current sheet.

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) cam morphology is routinely assessed using two-dimensional alpha angles which do not provide specific data on cam size characteristics. The purpose of this study is to implement a novel, automated three-dimensional (3D) pipeline, CamMorph, for segmentation and measurement of cam volume, surface area and height from magnetic resonance (MR) images in patients with FAI. The CamMorph pipeline involves two processes: i) proximal femur segmentation using an approach integrating 3D U-net with focused shape modelling (FSM); ii) use of patient-specific anatomical information from 3D FSM to simulate healthy femoral bone models and pathological region constraints to identify cam bone mass. Agreement between manual and automated segmentation of the proximal femur was evaluated with the Dice similarity index (DSI) and surface distance measures. Independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U rank tests were used to compare the femoral head volume, cam volume, surface area and height data between female and male patients with FAI. There was a mean DSI value of 0.964 between manual and automated segmentation of proximal femur volume. Compared to female FAI patients, male patients had a significantly larger mean femoral head volume (66.12cm3 v 46.02cm3, p<0.001). Compared to female FAI patients, male patients had a significantly larger mean cam volume (1136.87mm3 v 337.86mm3, p<0.001), surface area (657.36mm2 v 306.93mm2 , p<0.001), maximum-height (3.89mm v 2.23mm, p<0.001) and average-height (1.94mm v 1.00mm, p<0.001). Automated analyses of 3D MR images from patients with FAI using the CamMorph pipeline showed that, in comparison with female patients, male patients had significantly greater cam volume, surface area and height., Comment: 24 pages (including appendices), 8 figures, 2 tables, 4 Appendices

We describe the energy budget of a coronal mass ejection (CME) observed on 1999 May 17 with the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS). We constrain the physical properties of the CME's core material as a function of height along the corona by using the spectra taken by the single-slit coronagraph spectrometer at heliocentric distances of 2.6 and 3.1 solar radii. We use plasma diagnostics from intensity ratios, such as the O VI doublet lines, to determine the velocity, density, temperature, and non-equilibrium ionization states. We find that the CME core's velocity is approximately 250 km/s, and its cumulative heating energy is comparable to its kinetic energy for all of the plasma heating parameterizations that we investigated. Therefore, the CME's unknown heating mechanisms have the energy to significantly affect the CME's eruption and evolution. To understand which parameters might influence the unknown heating mechanism, we constrain our model heating rates with the observed data and compare them to the rate of heating generated within a similar CME that was constructed by the MAS code's 3D MHD simulation. The rate of heating from the simulated CME agrees with our observationally constrained heating rates when we assume a quadratic power law to describe a self-similar CME expansion. Furthermore, the heating rates agree when we apply a heating parameterization that accounts for the CME flux rope's magnetic energy being converted directly into thermal energy. This UVCS analysis serves as a case study for the importance of multi-slit coronagraph spectrometers for CME studies.

Non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) is a key process often times neglected when modeling astrophysical plasmas with thermodynamical timescales much shorter than the timescales for ionization and recombination. In this paper, we perform NEI modeling on a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of the solar wind during the Whole Sun Month (Carrington Rotation 1913 from 1996 August 22 to September 18), and compare the resulting charge state distributions with in situ measurements made with the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) on Ulysses. We trace the wind trajectory back to 20$R_\odot$ using the velocity measured by Ulysses at about 4 AU, and obtain the plasma flow trajectory within 20$R_\odot$ using the MHD simulation data performed by Predictive Science Inc. We assume that the wind started from the solar surface and was initially in ionization equilibrium, and analyze the time-dependent ionization state of solar wind along each of the trajectories. In our analysis we: (1) obtain charge state densities and ratios for slow and fast winds based on the NEI model, and compare them with in situ observations; and (2) measure the "freeze-in" distance for several ions observed by SWICS to determine a possible correlation between when the ionization states become fixed and the electron density and outward velocity of the plasma at the freeze-in height. This study provides a stringent test on comparing charge state distributions from the outer corona predicted from simulations with in situ measurements made in the far heliosphere. This showcases the challenges in matching plasma conditions near the corona to those observed in interplanetary space.

Magnetic reconnection has been intensively studied in fully ionized plasmas. However, plasmas are often partially ionized in astrophysical environments. The interactions between the neutral particles and ionized plasmas might strongly affect the reconnection mechanisms. We review magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas in different environments from theoretical, numerical, observational and experimental points of view. We focus on mechanisms which make magnetic reconnection fast enough to compare with observations, especially on the reconnection events in the low solar atmosphere. The heating mechanisms and the related observational evidence of the reconnection process in the partially ionized low solar atmosphere are also discussed. We describe magnetic reconnection in weakly ionized astrophysical environments, including the interstellar medium and protostellar disks. We present recent achievements about fast reconnection in laboratory experiments for partially ionized plasmas.

We simulate a coronal mass ejection (CME) using a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code that includes coronal heating, thermal conduction, and radiative cooling in the energy equation. The magnetic flux distribution at 1 R$_s$ is produced by a localized subsurface dipole superimposed on a global dipole field, mimicking the presence of an active region within the global corona. Transverse electric fields are applied near the polarity inversion line to introduce a transverse magnetic field, followed by the imposition of a converging flow to form and destabilize a flux rope, producing an eruption. We examine the quantities responsible for plasma heating and cooling during the eruption, including thermal conduction, radiation, adiabatic effects, coronal heating, and ohmic heating. We find that ohmic heating is an important contributor to hot temperatures in the current sheet region early in the eruption, but in the late phase adiabatic compression plays an important role in heating the plasma there. Thermal conduction also plays an important role in the transport of thermal energy away from the current sheet region throughout the reconnection process, producing a ``thermal halo'' and widening the region of high temperatures. We simulate emission from solar telescopes for this eruption and find that there is evidence for emission from heated plasma above the flare loops late in the eruption, when the adiabatic heating is the dominant heating term. These results provide an explanation for hot supra-arcade plasma sheets that are often observed in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet wavelengths during the decay phase of large flares., Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures

(Abridged) In this white paper, we outline the major barriers to access within the educational and professional practice of astronomy. We present current best practices for inclusivity and accessibility, including classroom practices, institutional culture, support for infrastructure creation, hiring processes, and outreach initiatives. We present specific ways--beyond simple compliance with the ADA--that funding agencies, astronomers, and institutions can work together to make astronomy as a field more accessible, inclusive, and equitable. In particular, funding agencies should include the accessibility of institutions during proposal evaluation, hold institutions accountable for inaccessibility, and support efforts to gather data on the status and progress of astronomers and astronomy students with disabilities., Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, Astro2020 APC White paper, State of the Profession Consideration

We use an adversarial expert based online learning algorithm to learn the optimal parameters required to maximise wealth trading zero-cost portfolio strategies. The learning algorithm is used to determine the relative population dynamics of technical trading strategies that can survive historical back-testing as well as form an overall aggregated portfolio trading strategy from the set of underlying trading strategies implemented on daily and intraday Johannesburg Stock Exchange data. The resulting population time-series are investigated using unsupervised learning for dimensionality reduction and visualisation. A key contribution is that the overall aggregated trading strategies are tested for statistical arbitrage using a novel hypothesis test proposed by Jarrow et al. (2012) on both daily sampled and intraday time-scales. The (low frequency) daily sampled strategies fail the arbitrage tests after costs, while the (high frequency) intraday sampled strategies are not falsified as statistical arbitrages after costs. The estimates of trading strategy success, cost of trading and slippage are considered along with an online benchmark portfolio algorithm for performance comparison. In addition, the algorithms generalisation error is analysed by recovering a probability of back-test overfitting estimate using a nonparametric procedure introduced by Bailey et al. (2016). The work aims to explore and better understand the interplay between different technical trading strategies from a data-informed perspective., Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures

About two generations ago, a large part of AMO science was dominated by experimental high energy collision studies and perturbative theoretical methods. Since then, AMO science has undergone a transition and is now dominated by quantum, ultracold, and ultrafast studies. But in the process, the field has passed over the complexity that lies between these two extremes. Most of the Universe resides in this intermediate region. We put forward that the next frontier for AMO science is to explore the AMO complexity that describes most of the Cosmos., Comment: White paper submission to the Decadal Assessment and Outlook Report on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Science (AMO 2020)

Magnetic reconnection is the most likely mechanism responsible for the high temperature events that are observed in strongly magnetized locations around the temperature minimum in the low solar chromosphere. This work improves upon our previous work ["Magnetic Reconnection in Strongly Magnetized Regions of the Low Solar Chromosphere", The Astrophysical Journal 852, 95 (2018) ] by using a more realistic radiative cooling model computed from the OPACITY project and the CHIANTI database. We find that the rate of ionization of the neutral component of the plasma is still faster than recombination within the current sheet region. For low $\beta$ plasmas, the ionized and neutral fluid flows are well-coupled throughout the reconnection region resembling the single-fluid Sweet-Parker model dynamics. Decoupling of the ion and neutral inflows appears in the higher $\beta$ case with $\beta_0=1.46$, which leads to a reconnection rate about three times faster than the rate predicted by the Sweet-Parker model. In all cases, the plasma temperature increases with time inside the current sheet, and the maximum value is above $2\times10^4$~K when the reconnection magnetic field strength is greater than $500$~G. While the more realistic radiative cooling model does not result in qualitative changes of the characteristics of magnetic reconnection, it is necessary for studying the variations of the plasma temperature and ionization fraction inside current sheets in strongly magnetized regions of the low solar atmosphere. It is also important for studying energy conversion during the magnetic reconnection process when the hydrogen-dominated plasma approaches full ionization.

Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized regions around the temperature minimum region of the low solar atmosphere is studied by employing MHD-based simulations of a partially ionized plasma within a reactive 2.5D multi-fluid model. It is shown that in the absence of magnetic nulls in a low $\beta$ plasma the ionized and neutral fluid flows are well-coupled throughout the reconnection region. However, non-equilibrium ionization-recombination dynamics play a critical role in determining the structure of the reconnection region, lead to much lower temperature increases and a faster magnetic reconnection rate as compared to simulations that assume plasma to be in ionization-recombination equilibrium. The rate of ionization of the neutral component of the plasma is always faster than recombination within the current sheet region even when the initial plasma $\beta$ is as high as $\beta_0=1.46$. When the reconnecting magnetic field is in excess of a kilogauss and the plasma $\beta$ is lower than 0.0145, the initially weakly ionized plasmas can become fully ionized within the reconnection region and the current sheet can be strongly heated to above $2.5\times10^4$~K, even as most of the collisionally dissipated magnetic energy is radiated away. The Hall effect increases the reconnection rate slightly, but in the absence of magnetic nulls it does not result in significant asymmetries or change the characteristics of the reconnection current sheet down to meter scales.