HR: 16:45h
AN: SH54A-02 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Preliminary Assessment of Antiparticle Sources in the Solar System
AU: * Bickford, J A
EM: jbickford@draper.com
AF: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
AU: Schmitt, W M
EM: wschmitt@draper.com
AF: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
AU: Spjeldvik, W N
EM: wspjeldvik@weber.edu
AF: Department of Physics, Weber State University, 2508 University Circle, Ogden, UT 84408, United States
AB: Natural high energy processes can exceed the threshold energy required for pair production at numerous locations in our solar system. In particular, the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) flux reacts with the upper atmosphere of planets to generate neutron/anti-neutron pairs which can then scatter and decay within the trapping region of a planet's magnetic field to form a quasi-stable antiproton belt. The induced antimatter belt can co-exist with the traditional proton and electron radiation belts due to the relatively diffuse nature of the particle distribution. We review our progress in modeling the antiproton belt around the Earth to estimate the total mass trapped and assess the practicality of extracting the particles for useful applications such as space propulsion. We then extend these models to estimate the total supply of antimatter available at other locations in our solar system including the Jovian planets where the strong magnetic fields, planetary rings, and other features can significantly improve the ability to produce and trap the antiparticles.
DE: 2114 Energetic particles (7514)
DE: 2700 MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS (6939)
DE: 2720 Energetic particles: trapped
DE: 2774 Radiation belts
DE: 6099 General or miscellaneous
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly