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E. L. Stupitsky et al.
series of works to create a pulsed plasma generator with highest energy and dynamic
characteristics [1]. A sufficiently informative and, at the same time, brief survey of
works in the leading plasma laboratories of the USA in this area was made in [1]. The
main experimental results of that work were on studies of the MARAUDER facility.
Their goals were an analysis of the generation of a Compact plasma Toroid (CT) with
a high specific energy and estimation of the characteristics of the high-temperature
plasma region that forms when the incident flow interacts with the flow reflected
from the solid body target directly at the CT exit from the generator, the transverse
and longitudinal scales of which are on the order of meters.
The distinctive and practically important feature of the works of TRINITY is,
first of all, that the scales of the generator are considerably smaller, which can
make its application domain rather wide. When a plasma bunch moves in vacuum
or strongly rarefied gas, its scales increase; the density, temperature, and ionization
degree decrease. Therefore, the character of the interaction with the surrounding
rarefied gas medium and geomagnetic field changes. The study of these processes
is important for a series of fundamental and applied problems of plasma physics.
Since the scales of the bunch in this process significantly increase and it ceases to be
compact, we call it the Toroidal Plasma Bunch (TPB).
Based on a two-dimensional numerical algorithm developed earlier [2], the very
initial stage of the dynamics of TPB upon exit from the generator and motion
in vacuum was studied, as well as, the interaction of the incident flow with the
flow reflected from the barrier; the parameters of the electromagnetic disturbance
generated in this process were determined.
In connection with the creation of small-size plasma generators, the domain of
their practical use, certainly, expands significantly, primarily due to the possibility
of bunch propagation to considerable distances in a rarefied atmosphere. Thus, such
devices are often called plasma guns.
The operation of space technique in the Near-Earth Space (NES) is based to a
considerable extent on the use of OptoElectronic Equipment (OEE). Both in OEE
itself and in the protection tools, glass-type dielectric materials with a high degree
of transparence are used.
Thus, analysis of the possible use of plasma guns for studies of scientific and
applied questions of the dynamics of plasma bunches in the ionosphere includes the
successive solution of three main problems:
• Formation of TPB and its motion at the initial stage just after the exit from the
generator, when the decisive influence on its structure is caused by the internal
toroidal current and the poloidal magnetic field generated by it.
• Numerical study of the motion of partially ionized TPB in a rarefied atmosphere,
when the internal current is already small and the decisive influence on its structure
and motion is caused by processes of the collisional interaction of the bunch
plasma with the rarefied surrounding gas when they mutually penetrate each other
due to the high-velocity relative motion.
• Numerical study of the impact of the rarefied gas flow formed by TPB on the
surface of the transparent dielectric. The goal of the work is to mathematically
E. L. Stupitsky et al.
series of works to create a pulsed plasma generator with highest energy and dynamic
characteristics [1]. A sufficiently informative and, at the same time, brief survey of
works in the leading plasma laboratories of the USA in this area was made in [1]. The
main experimental results of that work were on studies of the MARAUDER facility.
Their goals were an analysis of the generation of a Compact plasma Toroid (CT) with
a high specific energy and estimation of the characteristics of the high-temperature
plasma region that forms when the incident flow interacts with the flow reflected
from the solid body target directly at the CT exit from the generator, the transverse
and longitudinal scales of which are on the order of meters.
The distinctive and practically important feature of the works of TRINITY is,
first of all, that the scales of the generator are considerably smaller, which can
make its application domain rather wide. When a plasma bunch moves in vacuum
or strongly rarefied gas, its scales increase; the density, temperature, and ionization
degree decrease. Therefore, the character of the interaction with the surrounding
rarefied gas medium and geomagnetic field changes. The study of these processes
is important for a series of fundamental and applied problems of plasma physics.
Since the scales of the bunch in this process significantly increase and it ceases to be
compact, we call it the Toroidal Plasma Bunch (TPB).
Based on a two-dimensional numerical algorithm developed earlier [2], the very
initial stage of the dynamics of TPB upon exit from the generator and motion
in vacuum was studied, as well as, the interaction of the incident flow with the
flow reflected from the barrier; the parameters of the electromagnetic disturbance
generated in this process were determined.
In connection with the creation of small-size plasma generators, the domain of
their practical use, certainly, expands significantly, primarily due to the possibility
of bunch propagation to considerable distances in a rarefied atmosphere. Thus, such
devices are often called plasma guns.
The operation of space technique in the Near-Earth Space (NES) is based to a
considerable extent on the use of OptoElectronic Equipment (OEE). Both in OEE
itself and in the protection tools, glass-type dielectric materials with a high degree
of transparence are used.
Thus, analysis of the possible use of plasma guns for studies of scientific and
applied questions of the dynamics of plasma bunches in the ionosphere includes the
successive solution of three main problems:
• Formation of TPB and its motion at the initial stage just after the exit from the
generator, when the decisive influence on its structure is caused by the internal
toroidal current and the poloidal magnetic field generated by it.
• Numerical study of the motion of partially ionized TPB in a rarefied atmosphere,
when the internal current is already small and the decisive influence on its structure
and motion is caused by processes of the collisional interaction of the bunch
plasma with the rarefied surrounding gas when they mutually penetrate each other
due to the high-velocity relative motion.
• Numerical study of the impact of the rarefied gas flow formed by TPB on the
surface of the transparent dielectric. The goal of the work is to mathematically