Eur. Phys. J. D 44, 293-300 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2006-00125-0

Particle accelerator physics and technology for high energy density physics research

¹ Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, GSI-Darmstadt, Plasmaphysik, Planckstr. 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
² Institut für Kernphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schloßgartenstr. 9, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany
³ Universität Frankfurt, Institut für Angewandte Physik, 6000 Frankfurt, Germany
⁴ European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneve, Switzerland
⁵ University of Patras, Department of Physics, 26500 Patras, Greece
⁶ Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics, 142432 Chernogolovka, Russia
⁷ Institut for Theoretical and Experimental Physics ITEP, 117259 Moscow, Russia

Corresponding author: ^a d.hoffmann@gsi.de

Received: 2 January 2006
Revised: 8 April 2006
Published online: 13 June 2006

Abstract

Interaction phenomena of intense ion- and laser radiation with matter have a large range of application in different fields of science, extending from basic research of plasma properties to applications in energy science, especially in inertial fusion. The heavy ion synchrotron at GSI now routinely delivers intense uranium beams that deposit about 1 kJ/g of specific energy in solid matter, e.g. solid lead. Our simulations show that the new accelerator complex FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) at GSI as well as beams from the CERN large hadron collider (LHC) will vastly extend the accessible parameter range for high energy density states. A natural example of hot dense plasma is provided by our neighbouring star the sun, and allows a deep insight into the physics of fusion, the properties of matter at high energy density, and is moreover an excellent laboratory for astroparticle physics. As such the sun's interior plasma can even be used to probe the existence of novel particles and dark matter candidates. We present an overview on recent results and developments of dense plasma physics addressed with heavy ion and laser beams combined with accelerator- and nuclear physics technology.