Studies of thermophysical properties of high-energy-density states in matter using intense heavy ion beams at the future FAIR accelerator facilities: The HEDgeHOB collaboration

Intense beams of energetic heavy ions are believed to be a very efficient and novel tool to create states of High-Energy-Density (HED) in matter. This paper shows with the help of numerical simulations that the heavy ion beams that will be generated at the future Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research (FAIR)[W.F. Henning, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B 214, 211 (2004)] will allow one to use two different experimental schemes to study HED states in matter. First scheme named HIHEX (Heavy Ion Heating and EXpansion), will generate high-pressure, high-entropy states in matter by volumetric isochoric heating. The heated material will then be allowed to expand isentropically. Using this scheme, it will be possible to study important regions of the phase diagram that are either difficult to access or are even unaccessible using traditional methods of shock compression. The second scheme would allow one to achieve low-entropy compression of a sample material like hydrogen or water to produce conditions that are believed to exist in the interiors of the giant planets. This scheme is named LAPLAS (LAboratory PLAnetary Sciences).