Equation-of-state properties of high-energy-density matter using intense heavy ion beams with an annular focal spot

This paper presents two-dimensional numerical simulations of the hydrodynam ic response of solid as well as hollow cylindrical targets made of lead tha t are irradiated by an intense beam of uranium ions which has an annular fo cal 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 calculati ons presented in this paper. The total number of particles in the beam is 2 x10(11) and the particle energy is about 200 MeV/u that means a total energ y of approximately 1.5 kJ. This energy is delivered in a pulse that is 50 n s long. These beam parameters lead to a specific energy deposition of 50-10 0 kJ/g and a specific power deposition of 1-2 TW/g in solid matter. These c alculations show that in case of the solid lead cylinder, it may be possibl e to achieve more than 4 times solid lead density along the cylinder axis a t 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 cyl inder, one also achieves the same degree of compression but now the tempera ture 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 propert ies of high-energy-density matter. It is expected that by the end of the ye ar 2001, after completion of the upgrade of the existing facilities, the ab ove beam parameters will be available at the Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenfo rschung (GSI), Darmstadt. This will open up the possibility to carry out ve ry interesting experiments on a number of important problems including the investigation of the EOS of high-energy-density matter.