Parametric Study of Radiative Cooling of Solid Antihydrogen
Abstract
A computer model of cryogenic system for storing solid antimatter is used to explore the radiative cooling-power requirements for long-term antimatter storage. If vacuum-chamber pressures as low as 10 to -18th power torr can be reached, and the rest of the large set of assumptions is valid, milligram quantities of solid antimatter could be stored indefinitely at 1.5 K using cooling powers of less than a microwatt. Many of the assumptions made are problematic and need verification, as they could potentially change the results greatly. The system modeled is a sphere of solid anti-parahydrogen at 1.5 K or below levitated in a spherical cryogenic vacuum chamber. The free matter gas in the chamber is assumed to be molecular hydrogen, and sublimation of both matter and antimatter is assumed to be negligible. The antihydrogen is assumed to be in thermal equilibrium, although annihilation-energy deposition is localized and hydrogen's thermal-impulse response time is comparable to the interval between annihilations. A parametric analysis is performed, with system cooling power evaluated over a wide range of pressures and system sizes, as temperature and emissivity are also varied. The cooling-power requirements of storing solid antimatter for extended times may not be an obstacle, if the proper conditions are obtained. However, whether these conditions are indeed possible remains in doubt. Keywords: Solid hydrogen, Fuels, Cryogenic storage, Energy storage, Pions, Annihilation energy deposition, Antiprotons, Annihilation radiation, Theses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA206092
Entities
People
- Michael J. Maclachlan
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology