Physics of antimatter-matter reactions for interstellar propulsion (open access)

Physics of antimatter-matter reactions for interstellar propulsion

At the stage of the antiproton-nucleon annihilation chain of events relevant to propulsion the annihilation produces energetic charged pions and gamma rays. If annihilation occurs in a complex nucleus, protons, neutrons, and other nuclear fragments are also produced. The charge, number, and energy of the annihilation products are such that annihilation rocket engine concepts involving relatively low specific impulse (I/sub sp/ approx. = 1000 to 2000 s) and very high I/sub sp/ (3 x 10/sup 7/ s) appear feasible and have efficiencies on the order of 50% for annihilation energy to propulsion energy conversion. At I/sub sp/'s of around 15,000 s, however, it may be that only the kinetic energy of the charged nuclear fragments can be utilized for propulsion in engines of ordinary size. An estimate of this kinetic energy was made from known pieces of experimental and theoretical information. Its value is about 10% of the annihilation energy. Control over the mean penetration depth of protons into matter prior to annihilation is necessary so that annihilation occurs in the proper region within the engine. Control is possible by varying the antiproton kinetic energy to obtain a suitable annihilation cross section. The annihilation cross section at low energies is …
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Morgan, D.L. Jr.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Numerical solution of the Schroedinger integral equation for dt. mu. Progress report (open access)

Numerical solution of the Schroedinger integral equation for dt. mu. Progress report

The Schroedinger Integral Equation is derived for an N-body system, and solutions for required Green's functions are obtained. The initial method of numerical solution has yielded the correct ground states and lower excited states of He (test case) and dt..mu... Steps are being taken to improve the numerical accuracy.
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Morgan, D.L. Jr.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Antiproton-hydrogen atom rearrangement-annihilation cross section (open access)

Antiproton-hydrogen atom rearrangement-annihilation cross section

For antiproton energies of several eV or less, annihilation in matter occurs through atomic rearrangement processes in which the antiproton becomes bound to a nucleus prior to annihilation. Existing calculations of the antiproton-hydrogen atom rearrangement cross section are semiclassical and employ the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. They also employ various arguments in regard to the behavior of the system when the Born-Oppenheimer approximation breaks down at small antiproton-proton separations. These arguments indicate that rearrangement is essentially irreversible. In the present study, a detailed investigation was made of the antiproton-hydrogen atom system when the Born-Oppenheimer approximation breaks down. The results of this study indicate that the previous arguments were approximately correct, but that there is a significant probability for rearrangement reversing prior to annihilation. This probability is estimated to be about 20%. 8 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Morgan, D.L. Jr.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electron impact ionization of heavy ions: some surprises (open access)

Electron impact ionization of heavy ions: some surprises

This paper reports the results of calculations of electron impact ionization cross sections for a variety of heavy ions using a distorted wave Born-exchange approximation. The target is described by a Hartree-Fock wavefunction. The scattering matrix element is represented by a triple partial wave expansion over incident, scattered, and ejected (originally bound) continuum states. These partial waves are computed in the potentials associated with the initial target (incident and scattered waves) and the residual ion (ejected waves). A Gauss integration was performed over the distribution of energy between the two final state continuum electrons. For ionization of closed d- and f-subshells, the ejected f-waves were computed in frozen-core term-dependent Hartree-Fock potentials, which include the strong repulsive contribution in singlet terms which arises from the interaction of an excited orbital with an almost closed shell. Ground state correlation was included in some calculations of ionization of d/sup 10/ subshells.
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Younger, S.M.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas Register, Volume 11, Number 63, Pages 3708-3767, August 22, 1986 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 11, Number 63, Pages 3708-3767, August 22, 1986

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-537 (open access)

Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-537

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Payment of attorneys' fees, investigation costs, and expert witness fees under article 26.055 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Texas. Attorney-General's Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-538 (open access)

Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-538

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Duties and liabilities of a police officer who is also a firefighter emergency medical technician
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Texas. Attorney-General's Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Compact Torus plasma ring accelerator: a new type driver for inertial confinement fusion (open access)

Compact Torus plasma ring accelerator: a new type driver for inertial confinement fusion

We discuss the acceleration of magnetically-confined plasma rings to provide a driver for ICF. The acceleration of plasma rings is predicted to be efficient and following focusing, to generate ion-bombardment power in the range 10/sup 15/ to 10/sup 16/ W/cm/sup 2/ at a total deposition energy of multimegajoules. The simplicity of plasma ring accelerator suggests that a 5 MJ (on target) driver would cost in the range 1 to 5 $/joule. First experimental tests of the accelerator are described.
Date: August 22, 1986
Creator: Hartman, C. W.; Eddleman, J. L.; Hammer, J. H. & Meeker, D. L.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library