Search Results (14 total)

This paper presents numerical simulations that have been carried out to study the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic responses of a solid copper cylindrical target that is facially irradiated along the axis by one of the two Large Hadron Collider (LHC) 7 TeV/c proton beams. The energy deposition by protons in solid copper has been calculated using an established particle interaction and Monte Carlo code, FLUKA, which is capable of simulating all components of the particle cascades in matter, up to multi-TeV energies. These data have been used as input to a sophisticated two-dimensional hydrodynamic computer code BIG2 that has been employed to study this problem. The prime purpose of these investigations was to assess the damage caused to the equipment if the entire LHC beam is lost at a single place. The FLUKA calculations show that the energy of protons will be deposited in solid copper within about 1 m assuming constant material parameters. Nevertheless, our hydrodynamic simulations have shown that the energy deposition region will extend to a length of about 35 m over the beam duration. This is due to the fact that first few tens of bunches deposit sufficient energy that leads to high pressure that generates an outgoing radial shock wave. Shock propagation leads to continuous reduction in the density at the target center that allows the protons delivered in subsequent bunches to penetrate deeper and deeper into the target. This phenomenon has also been seen in case of heavy-ion heated targets [N. A. Tahir, A. Kozyreva, P. Spiller, D. H. H. Hoffmann, and A. Shutov, Phys. Rev. E 63, 036407 (2001)]. This effect needs to be considered in the design of a sacrificial beam stopper. These simulations have also shown that the target is severely damaged and is converted into a huge sample of high-energy density (HED) matter. In fact, the inner part of the target is transformed into a strongly coupled plasma with fairly uniform physical conditions. This work, therefore, has suggested an additional very important application of the LHC, namely, studies of HED states in matter.

An isomeric state in ²⁵⁵Lr with a half-life of t_1/2 = 1.4(1) ms and E_x>720-keV has been observed for the first time using the GABRIELA setup at the focal plane of the VASSILISSA separator. Based on its K-forbiddeness, the configuration of the state is most probably formed by coupling the valence proton to a two quasiparticle neutron excitation. Possible three quasiparticle configurations are discussed.

An isomeric state in ²⁰⁹Ra has been observed for the first time, using the GABRIELA setup at the focal plane of VASSILISSA, to decay to the ground state of ²⁰⁹Ra via a cascade of 238-keV (M2) and 644-keV transitions. The half-life of the isomer has been measured to be 117(5) μs and from systematics is assigned as a neutron i_13/2^-1 excitation.

Excited states in ²⁴⁹Fm were populated via the α decay of ²⁵³No and the subsequent decay was observed with the GABRIELA detection system installed at the focal plane of the VASSILISSA recoil separator. The energies, spins, and parities of these states could be established through combined α,γ, and conversion-electron spectroscopy. The first members of the ground-state rotational band were identified. Their excitation energies as well as the observation of a cross-over E2 transition confirm the assignment of 7/2⁺[624] for the ground state of ²⁴⁹Fm. Two excited states were also observed and their decay properties suggest that they correspond to the particle excitation 9/2^-[734] and hole excitation 5/2⁺[622]. The analysis suggests that the 279-keV transition de-exciting the 9/2^- state has anomalous E1 conversion coefficients.

The subject of high-energy-density (HED) states in matter is of considerable importance to numerous branches of basic as well as applied physics. Intense heavy-ion beams are an excellent tool to create large samples of HED matter in the laboratory with fairly uniform physical conditions. Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, is a unique worldwide laboratory that has a heavy-ion synchrotron, SIS18, that delivers intense beams of energetic heavy ions. Construction of a much more powerful synchrotron, SIS100, at the future international facility for antiprotons and ion research (FAIR) at Darmstadt will lead to an increase in beam intensity by 3 orders of magnitude compared to what is currently available. The purpose of this Letter is to investigate with the help of two-dimensional numerical simulations, the potential of the FAIR to carry out research in the field of HED states in matter.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will generate two extremely powerful 7 TeV proton beams. Each beam will consist of 2808 bunches with an intensity per bunch of 1.15×10¹¹ protons so that the total number of protons in one beam will be about 3×10¹⁴ and the total energy will be 362 MJ. Each bunch will have a duration of 0.5 ns and two successive bunches will be separated by 25 ns, while the power distribution in the radial direction will be Gaussian with a standard deviation, σ=0.2  mm. The total duration of the beam will be about 89  μs. Using a 2D hydrodynamic code, we have carried out numerical simulations of the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic response of a solid copper target that is irradiated with one of the LHC beams. These calculations show that only the first few hundred proton bunches will deposit a high specific energy of 400  kJ/g that will induce exotic states of high energy density in matter.

This paper presents two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of implosion of a multilayered cylindrical target that is driven by an intense heavy ion beam which has an annular focal spot. The target consists of a hollow lead cylinder which is filled with hydrogen at one tenth of the solid density at room temperature. The beam is assumed to be made of 2.7-GeV/u uranium ions and six different cases for the beam intensity (total number of particles in the beam, N) are considered. In each of these six cases the particles are delivered in single bunches, 20 ns long. The simulations have been carried out using a two-dimensional hydrodynamic computer code BIG-2. A multiple shock reflection scheme is employed in these calculations that leads to very high densities of the compressed hydrogen while the temperature remains relatively low. In this study we have used two different equation-of-state models for hydrogen, namely, the SESAME data and a model that includes molecular dissociation that is based on a fluid variational theory in the neutral fluid region which is replaced by Padé approximation in the fully ionized plasma region. Our calculations show that the latter model predicts higher densities, higher pressures but lower temperatures compared to the SESAME model. The differences in the results are more pronounced for lower driving energies (lower beam intensities).

The subject of high-energy density (HED) in matter is of considerable interest to many branches of physics. Intense beams of energetic heavy ions are a promising tool for creating large samples of HED matter which can be used to study the equation-of-state properties of such exotic states of matter experimentally. The Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Darmstadt, is a unique laboratory worldwide which has a heavy ion synchrotron facility, SIS18 (with a magnetic rigidity of 18 Tm), that delivers intense heavy ion beams. Using the beams generated at this present facility, interesting experimental work has been carried out in the field of HED matter [D. H. H. Hoffmann , Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. B 161–162, 9 (2000)]. The GSI is planning to significantly expand its accelerator capabilities with construction of a new synchrotron ring, SIS100, which will have a magnetic rigidity of 100 Tm. This new facility will deliver a uranium beam which will have orders of magnitude higher intensity than the existing facility and will also have the possibility of multibeam acceleration. This paper presents two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of different target geometries including solid as well as hollow cylinders that are irradiated with beams having different shapes of the focal spot which will be available at the SIS100 facility. These include a circular focal spot, an annular focal spot, and an elliptic focal spot, respectively. The purpose of this study is to determine the region of the physical parameters including density, temperature, and pressure that can be accessed using the SIS100 beam. This information, we hope, will be useful for designing experiments on the studies of thermophysical properties of matter including the designing of appropriate diagnostic tools.

This paper presents two-dimensional numerical simulations of hydrodynamic response of a solid lead cylindrical target that is irradiated by an intense uranium beam having a particle energy of 1 GeV/u and that consists of 10¹² particles. Different time profiles have been considered for the beam power that include a case where the beam consists of five identical parabolic bunches with equal separation between neighboring bunches as well as a beam that consists of a single bunch. For the single bunch case we consider two different values for pulse length, namely, 1000 and 50 ns, respectively. Moreover we allow for two different values for the beam radius that is 0.5 and 1.0 mm, respectively. These calculations show that in order to achieve a high degree of beam-target coupling, it is absolutely essential to use a single bunched beam that has a reasonably short pulse length, which is 50 ns in this case. Such a large beam-target coupling efficiency is highly desirable for creating high-density strongly coupled plasmas as well as for studies that involve fragmentation of the projectile ions as the beam passes through solid matter. If the pulse length is assumed to be too long, substantial hydrodynamic expansion of the target material occurs during the early stages of irradiation that leads to significant reduction in the energy deposition by the ions that are delivered in the later part of the pulse. In case of the five-bunch configuration, heating caused by the first bunch is so strong that the target is completely distorted. As a result, the ions that are delivered in the later four bunches pass through the target without any interaction.

Employing a two-dimensional simulation model, this paper presents a suitable design for an experiment to study metallization of hydrogen in a heavy-ion beam imploded multilayered cylindrical target that contains a layer of frozen hydrogen. Such an experiment will be carried out at the upgraded heavy-ion synchrotron facility (SIS-18) at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt by the end of the year 2001. In these calculations we consider a uranium beam that will be available at the upgraded SIS-18. Our calculations show that it may be possible to achieve theoretically predicted physical conditions necessary to create metallic hydrogen in such experiments. These include a density of about 1 g/cm³, a pressure of 3–5 Mbar, and a temperature of a few 0.1 eV.

This paper presents two-dimensional numerical simulations of the hydrodynamic response of solid as well as hollow cylindrical targets made of lead that are irradiated by an intense beam of uranium ions which has an annular focal spot. Using a particle tracking computer code, it has been shown that a plasma lens can generate such a beam with parameters used in the calculations presented in this paper. The total number of particles in the beam is 2×10¹¹ and the particle energy is about 200 MeV/u that means a total energy of approximately 1.5 kJ. This energy is delivered in a pulse that is 50 ns long. These beam parameters lead to a specific energy deposition of 50–100 kJ/g and a specific power deposition of 1–2 TW/g in solid matter. These calculations show that in case of the solid lead cylinder, it may be possible to achieve more than 4 times solid lead density along the cylinder axis at the time of maximum compression. The pressure in the compressed region is about 20 Mbar and the temperature is a few eV. In the case of a hollow cylinder, one also achieves the same degree of compression but now the temperature in the compressed region is much higher (over 10 eV). Such samples of highly compressed matter can be used to study the equation-of-state properties of high-energy-density matter. It is expected that by the end of the year 2001, after completion of the upgrade of the existing facilities, the above beam parameters will be available at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Darmstadt. This will open up the possibility to carry out very interesting experiments on a number of important problems including the investigation of the EOS of high-energy-density matter.

In this paper is presented, with the help of sophisticated two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, a suitable design with optimized parameters for a heavy-ion beam-matter interaction experiment that will be carried out at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) Darmstadt by the end of the year 2001 when the upgrade of the existing accelerator facility will be completed. Our simulations show that this upgraded heavy-ion beam is capable of generating strong shocks in solid targets that compress the target material to supersolid densities and generate multi-mbar pressures. This will open up, at the GSI, the possibility of investigation of the equation-of-state properties of matter under such extreme conditions. Numerical simulations can predict the experimental results with reasonable accuracy, which is helpful in designing the diagnostic tools for the experiment.