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Title: Development of an interpretive simulation tool for the proton radiography technique

Abstract

Proton radiography is a useful diagnostic of high energy density (HED) plasmas under active theoretical and experimental development. In this paper, we describe a new simulation tool that interacts realistic laser-driven point-like proton sources with three dimensional electromagnetic fields of arbitrary strength and structure and synthesizes the associated high resolution proton radiograph. The present tool’s numerical approach captures all relevant physics effects, including effects related to the formation of caustics. Electromagnetic fields can be imported from particle-in-cell or hydrodynamic codes in a streamlined fashion, and a library of electromagnetic field “primitives” is also provided. This latter capability allows users to add a primitive, modify the field strength, rotate a primitive, and so on, while quickly generating a high resolution radiograph at each step. In this way, our tool enables the user to deconstruct features in a radiograph and interpret them in connection to specific underlying electromagnetic field elements. We show an example application of the tool in connection to experimental observations of the Weibel instability in counterstreaming plasmas, using ∼10{sup 8} particles generated from a realistic laser-driven point-like proton source, imaging fields which cover volumes of ∼10 mm{sup 3}. Insights derived from this application show that the tool can supportmore » understanding of HED plasmas.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551 (United States)
  2. Lam Research Corporation, 4400 Cushing Parkway, Fremont, California 94538 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22392405
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 86; Journal Issue: 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS; ENERGY DENSITY; IMAGES; INSTABILITY; LASERS; PLASMA; PROTON RADIOGRAPHY; PROTON SOURCES; RESOLUTION; SIMULATION

Citation Formats

Levy, M. C., E-mail: levymc@stanford.edu, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, Ryutov, D. D., Wilks, S. C., Ross, J. S., Huntington, C. M., Fiuza, F., Martinez, D. A., Park, H. -S., Kugland, N. L., and Baring, M. G. Development of an interpretive simulation tool for the proton radiography technique. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4909536.
Levy, M. C., E-mail: levymc@stanford.edu, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, Ryutov, D. D., Wilks, S. C., Ross, J. S., Huntington, C. M., Fiuza, F., Martinez, D. A., Park, H. -S., Kugland, N. L., & Baring, M. G. Development of an interpretive simulation tool for the proton radiography technique. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4909536
Levy, M. C., E-mail: levymc@stanford.edu, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, Ryutov, D. D., Wilks, S. C., Ross, J. S., Huntington, C. M., Fiuza, F., Martinez, D. A., Park, H. -S., Kugland, N. L., and Baring, M. G. 2015. "Development of an interpretive simulation tool for the proton radiography technique". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4909536.
@article{osti_22392405,
title = {Development of an interpretive simulation tool for the proton radiography technique},
author = {Levy, M. C., E-mail: levymc@stanford.edu and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551 and Ryutov, D. D. and Wilks, S. C. and Ross, J. S. and Huntington, C. M. and Fiuza, F. and Martinez, D. A. and Park, H. -S. and Kugland, N. L. and Baring, M. G.},
abstractNote = {Proton radiography is a useful diagnostic of high energy density (HED) plasmas under active theoretical and experimental development. In this paper, we describe a new simulation tool that interacts realistic laser-driven point-like proton sources with three dimensional electromagnetic fields of arbitrary strength and structure and synthesizes the associated high resolution proton radiograph. The present tool’s numerical approach captures all relevant physics effects, including effects related to the formation of caustics. Electromagnetic fields can be imported from particle-in-cell or hydrodynamic codes in a streamlined fashion, and a library of electromagnetic field “primitives” is also provided. This latter capability allows users to add a primitive, modify the field strength, rotate a primitive, and so on, while quickly generating a high resolution radiograph at each step. In this way, our tool enables the user to deconstruct features in a radiograph and interpret them in connection to specific underlying electromagnetic field elements. We show an example application of the tool in connection to experimental observations of the Weibel instability in counterstreaming plasmas, using ∼10{sup 8} particles generated from a realistic laser-driven point-like proton source, imaging fields which cover volumes of ∼10 mm{sup 3}. Insights derived from this application show that the tool can support understanding of HED plasmas.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4909536},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22392405}, journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
issn = {0034-6748},
number = 3,
volume = 86,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}