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A platform to investigate collisionless pair beam-plasma instabilities at CERN

ORAL

Abstract

We report updates on a new experimental platform being developed at the HiRadMat facility at CERN. Beams of 440 GeV protons will be used to produce electron-positron pair beams, and a plasma cell used to study collisionless kinetic electron-positron beam-plasma instabilities. The experiment aims to reproduce in the laboratory, processes relevant to the propagation and stability of relativistic pair plasmas associated with extreme relativistic phenomena such as Gamma-ray Bursts. In fact, Weibel and oblique streaming instabilities are believed to drive the generation of magnetic fields, which are only indirectly inferred by the observed synchrotron emission. Here we present the results of an inductive radio-frequency plasma discharge which has been constructed to simulate the propagation of the pair beam through the interstellar medium. Measurements using a Langmuir probe have confirmed that the plasma cell parameters are well-suited to a laboratory study of beam-plasma instabilities of relativistic electron-positron beams. HiRadMat is ideally placed to provide a new platform for laboratory astrophysics.

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Publication: C. D. Arrowsmith, et al., Phys. Rev. Res. 3, 023103 (2021)

Presenters

  • Charles D Arrowsmith

    University of Oxford

Authors

  • Charles D Arrowsmith

    University of Oxford

  • Pascal Simon

    European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

  • Nikolaos Charitonidis

    European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

  • Raspberry A Simpson

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology MI, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Daniel J Haberberger

    Lab for Laser Energetics, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Pablo J Bilbao

    GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal, Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto Superior Tecnico

  • Tom Hodge

    Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)

  • Jon T Gudmundsson

    University of Iceland

  • Jessica L Shaw

    Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester

  • Dustin Froula

    University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester

  • Hui Chen

    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL

  • Luis O Silva

    GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal, Instituto Superior Tecnico

  • Brian Reville

    Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik

  • Subir Sarkar

    University of Oxford

  • Raoul M Trines

    Rutherford Appleton Lab, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom

  • Brian T Huffman

    University of Oxford

  • Robert Bingham

    University of Strathclyde, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

  • Gianluca Gregori

    University of Oxford