Abstract
.PANDORA, Plasmas for Astrophysics, Nuclear Decays Observation and Radiation for Archaeometry, is planned as a new facility based on a state-of-the-art plasma trap confining energetic plasma for performing interdisciplinary research in the fields of Nuclear Astrophysics, Astrophysics, Plasma Physics and Applications in Material Science and Archaeometry: the plasmas become the environment for measuring, for the first time, nuclear decay rates in stellar-like condition (such as 7Be decay and beta-decay involved in s-process nucleosynthesis), especially as a function of the ionization state of the plasma ions. These studies will give important contributions for addressing several astrophysical issues in both stellar and primordial nucleosynthesis environment (e.g., determination of solar neutrino flux and 7Li Cosmological Problem), moreover the confined energetic plasma will be a unique light source for high-performance stellar spectroscopy measurements in the visible, UV and X-ray domains, offering advancements in observational astronomy. As to magnetic fields, the experimental validation of theoretical first- and second-order Landé factors will drive the layout of next-generation polarimetric units for the high-resolution spectrograph of the future giant telescopes. In PANDORA new plasma heating methods will be explored, that will push forward the ion beam output, in terms of extracted intensity and charge states. More, advanced and optimized injection methods of ions in an ECR plasma will be experimented, with the aim to optimize its capture efficiency. This will be applied to the ECR-based Charge Breeding technique, that will improve the performances of the SPES ISOL-facility at Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro-INFN. Finally, PANDORA will be suitable for energy conversion, making the plasma a source of high-intensity electromagnetic radiation, for applications in material science and archaeometry.
Highlights
PANDORA, Plasmas for Astrophysics, Nuclear Decays Observation and Radiation for Archaeometry, is planned as a new facility based on a state-of-the-art plasma trap confining energetic plasma for performing interdisciplinary research in the fields of Nuclear Astrophysics, Astrophysics, Plasma Physics and Applications in Material Science and Archaeometry: the plasmas become the environment for measuring, for the first time, nuclear decay rates in stellar-like condition, especially as a function of the ionization state of the plasma ions
Among the various types of ion sources developed since the 1950s, Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources (ECRIS) [4] are the most performing ones, supporting the growing request of intense beams of multicharged ions coming from both fundamental science and applied research
Several strategies have been attempted in order to modify nuclear decay rates by changing environmental conditions [22,23]: this research field has many astrophysical implications and technological applications. It has been demonstrated by several experiments performed at GSI on highly-charged ions that Electron Capture (EC) decay probability can be dramatically modified by the atomic electron configuration [23,24,25,26]
Summary
The plasmas reach ne ∼ 1011–1013 cm−3, Te ∼ 0.1–100 keV of electron density and temperature, respectively. These plasmas are Magneto Hydro Dynamically (MHD) stable [2], magnetized, living several hours or days with on average constant local density and temperature. Among the various types of ion sources developed since the 1950s, Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources (ECRIS) [4] are the most performing ones, supporting the growing request of intense beams of multicharged ions coming from both fundamental science (nuclear and particle physics especially [5]) and applied research
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