Hannover 2010 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 8: Poster I

A 8.33: Poster

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 16:30–19:00, Lichthof

Solar Wind Interacting with Comets: X-ray emission following charge exchange — •Rainer Ginzel, Stuart Higgins, Sven Bernitt, José R. Crespo López-Urrutia, and Joachim Ullrich — Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany

Collisions of highly charged ions and neutrals resulting in X-ray emission are observed in cometary and planetary atmospheres [1] and also in supernova ejecta. Much of the necessary data to model these environments are unavailable and some of the existing data are even contradictory [2]. To overcome this unsatisfactory situation we have developed a novel deceleration platform at the Heidelberg Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) which provides a slow, monoenergetic, and well-focused ion beam, allowing ion-atom collisions at energies between 10 keV/q and 30 eV/q to be studied in depth, featuring the possibility of ion-photon coincidence measurements.

First experiments with highly charged argon and sulfur ions were performed at energies between 100 and 600 eV/amu, an energy range relevant for modeling the slow components of the solar wind. These measurements have shown the importance of the formation of long lived metastable states. The X-ray emission caused by their decay could be separated and measured independently. The aforementioned contradictions in existing data could potentially be resolved through the reinterpretation of datasets, in light of these new findings.