SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Development of a next-generation polarized electron-ion collider is a high priority for the domestic nuclear physics community. Because reaching the required cooling times in the storage ring at collision energies is challenging with conventional electron cooling, it is important to explore strong hadron cooling schemes that are based on fundamentally different techniques. However, such techniques have not yet been demonstrated experimentally, and there is significant risk inherent in relying on simplified simulations and approximate analytical models that may fail to capture all of the essential physics. Fast, accurate simulations are required for improved understanding and to reduce cost and technical risk. New and fundamentally improved numerical simulation tools will be developed for high-fidelity 3D modeling of strong hadron cooling concepts. The simulations will include the effects of coherent synchrotron radiation in microbunched electron cooling amplifiers, as well as other effects that could degrade the efficacy of the system. The proposing team will develop a fundamentally improved tool for low-numerical-noise modeling of dynamics of the ion-seeded modulation in the chicane amplifier of the microbunched electron cooling scheme. This will be done by implementing a specialized particle-in-cell algorithm in an open source beam physics code. Verification and validation activities will be an important part of this work. In addition, the adverse effects of coherent synchrotron radiation will be evaluated. The proposed work will directly benefit next-generation particle colliders for nuclear physics by reducing risk and costs associated with strong hadron cooling systems for relativistic beams. The commercialization strategy is to provide research and development services. The relevant market sectors include: universities, research labs, energy, defense, venture capital funded startups and medical device manufacturers. The expected application areas include: hydrodynamics, radioactivation studies, control systems design, particle accelerator modeling, beam-plasma interactions, vacuum nanoelectronic devices, software optimization and algorithm development.
