RUI: Approach to Thermal Equilibrium for Electron Plasma in Non-Uniform Magnetic Field Traps

RUI：非均匀磁场陷阱中电子等离子体热平衡的方法

• 批准号: 2206620
• 负责人: Matthew Stoneking
• 金额: $ 43.12万
• 依托单位: LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2206620&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Approach; Thermal; Equilibrium; Electron

This project seeks to explore how large collections of electrons can be trapped with different magnetic bottles. The results will be important for extending our understanding of the role of the symmetry of traps for plasmas and will help us make matter-antimatter plasmas, a unique kind of plasma that exists around neutron stars and that existed in the early universe. The project will also integrate research and education by engaging undergraduate students in the effort. Non-neutral plasmas confined in uniform magnetic field traps can come to thermal equilibrium and be confined indefinitely. Such thermal equilibrium states are understood in terms of symmetry of the system, namely the conservation of canonical angular momentum. It is not clear whether such states exist for more complicated magnetic geometries; existing theory suggests they do not exist in a toroidal magnetic field, but that they may exist for a dipole magnetic field. This project seeks to test these theories and to develop a suitable electron plasma target for injection of positrons and creation of a positron-electron plasma in a levitated dipole field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在探索如何用不同的磁瓶捕获大量电子。 这些结果对于扩展我们对等离子体陷阱对称性作用的理解非常重要，并将帮助我们制造物质-反物质等离子体，这是一种存在于中子星周围的独特等离子体，存在于早期宇宙中。 该项目还将通过让本科生参与这项工作来整合研究和教育。非中性等离子体在均匀磁场阱中可以达到热平衡，并被无限期地限制。 这样的热平衡状态是根据系统的对称性来理解的，即正则角动量守恒。 目前尚不清楚这种状态是否存在于更复杂的磁几何中;现有的理论表明它们不存在于环形磁场中，但它们可能存在于偶极磁场中。 该项目旨在测试这些理论，并开发一种合适的电子等离子体靶，用于注入正电子和在悬浮偶极场中产生正电子-电子等离子体。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。