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Planetary physics research is an important part of the high energy density ( HED) physics programme at the Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research ( FAIR) at Darmstadt. In this paper, we report numerical simulations of a proposed experiment named LAboratory PLAnetary Sciences ( LAPLAS). These simulations show that in such experiments, an Fe sample can be imploded to extreme physical conditions that are expected to exist in the interior of the Earth and in the interior of more massive rocky planets named, super-Earths. The LAPLAS experiments will thus provide very valuable information on the equation-of-state ( EOS) and transport properties of HED Fe, which will help the scientists to understand the structure and evolution of the planets in our solar system and of the extrasolar system planets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of ultra-high power lasers has lead to the very interesting and important field of Laboratory Astrophysics. Recent progress and expected near future developments in the technology of strongly bunched intense particle beams has opened up the possibility of studying planetary interiors in the laboratory which hopefully will eventually converge in the new field of Laboratory Planetary Physics. GSI Helmholzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt is a well known laboratory worldwide due to its unique particle accelerator facilities. Construction of the new huge accelerator complex, the Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research (FAIR), will substantially improve the existing capabilities of the GSI. A dedicated program named, HEDgeHOB, that aims to study different problems in High Energy Density (HED) Physics at the FAIR facility, has been proposed. One of these proposed experiments LAPLAS (LAboratory PLAnetary Science), aim to study materials at extreme conditions as relevant for the interiors of giant planets. In this paper we present simulation results that show that various regions of the high-pressure phase diagram of water can be probed within the LAPLAS experiments. For instance, the plasma and the superionic phase are predicted to occur in the interior of water-rich planets such as Uranus and Neptune as well as in extrasolar planets such as GJ 436b. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense heavy ion beams offer a unique tool for generating samples of high energy density matter with extreme conditions of density and pressure that are believed to exist in the interiors of giant planets. An international accelerator facility named FAIR (Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research) is being constructed at Darmstadt, which will be completed around the year 2015. It is expected that this accelerator facility will deliver a bunched uranium beam with an intensity of 5×1011 ions per spill with a bunch length of 50-100 ns. An experiment named LAPLAS (Laboratory Planetary Sciences) has been proposed to achieve a low-entropy compression of a sample material like hydrogen or water (which are believed to be abundant in giant planets) that is imploded in a multi-layered target by the ion beam. Detailed numerical simulations have shown that using parameters of the heavy ion beam that will be available at FAIR, one can generate physical conditions that have been predicted to exist in the interior of giant planets. In the present paper, we report simulations of compression of water that show that one can generate a plasma phase as well as a superionic phase of water in the LAPLAS experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field of High Energy Density (HED) physics is very important from the scientific as well as technological point of view and due to these reasons, it has been an area of very active research over the past many decades. Static as well as dynamic experimental configurations have been used to study this subject. Recently, a new approach that involves isochoric and uniform heating of matter by intense ion beams, has been proposed to generate HED sates in the laboratory. Extensive theoretical work has been carried out to propose various experiment designs employing this technique. In this paper we describe one of these proposed experiments that can be used to study planetary interiors in the laboratory and is named LAPLAS ( LAboratory PLAnetary Sciences). Detailed analysis of implosion and hydrodynamic stability of the target is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) is one of the most important and interesting areas of science that spans over numerous branches of basic and applied physics. In this paper, we present an overview of different experimental techniques that have been used to study this field over the past decades. We also introduce a recently proposed novel technique to study HEDP that involves isochoric and uniform heating of extended targets using intense particle beams. The Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Darmstadt, is a leading laboratory worldwide that is well known for its unique accelerator facilities. The construction of a new accelerator complex named FAIR (Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research) will substantially increase the accelerator capabilities of GSI, which will make it possible to employ this new technique to study HEDP. In this paper we highlight some of the salient features of this proposed new method. We also note that in order to organize the construction of experimental facilities at FAIR and later to carry out experiments on HEDP, an international collaboration, named, HEDgeHOB (High Energy Density Matter generated by Heavy IOn Beams), has been organized. The work presented in this paper has been done within the framework of the HEDgeHOB Collaboration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we propose a novel experimental scheme, named LAboratory PLAnetary Sciences (LAPLAS), to study interiors of the giant planets in our solar system as well as exoplanets. This scheme involves low-entropy compression of a test material like hydrogen or ice that is imploded in a multi-layered cylindrical target driven by an intense heavy ion beam. Two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of implosion of a typical LAPLAS target assuming beam parameters that will be available at the future Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research (FAIR) at Darmstadt, are reported, that demonstrate the feasibility of this scheme. Moreover, it is shown that the target implosion will be robust and will be stable towards hydrodynamic instabilities. This work has been done within the framework of the High Energy Density Matter Generated by Heavy Ion Beams (HEDgeHOB) collaboration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]