The objective of this program is to develop theories and computational methods which describe the fundamental parameters and processes necessary to understand the interaction of intense, short pulse charged particle beams with molecules, atoms, ions, and plasmas including collisional excitation, ionization, dissociation, recombination, and de-excitation processes. The overall goals of the project include description of the transition of intense charged particle beam driven plasmas from weakly-ionized and molecular to strongly-ionized and atomic. This includes determination of scattering cross sections for step-wise processes to ionization and dissociation as well as predicting the production rate of characteristic line radiation from air species. Of particular interest is evaluation of electron scattering cross section data and characterization of uncertainty in the data including covariance.

“Simulations of the generation and transport of a 5 MV end-point x-ray beam on a pulsed power generator,” A. S. Richardson, J. C. Zier, J. T. Engelbrecht, S. B. Swanekamp, J. W. Schumer, D. Mosher, P. F. Ottinger, D. L. Duke, T. J. Haines, M. P. McCumber, and A. Gehring, Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams, vol. 22, p. 050401, 2019. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.22.050401

“Modeling nitrogen plasmas produced by intense electron beams,” J. R. Angus, D. Mosher, S. B. Swanekamp, P. F. Ottinger, J. W. Schumer, and D. D. Hinshelwood, Physics of Plasmas, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 053510-1–053510-14, 2016. DOI: 10.1063/1.4950840

key words

Atomic physics; Charged particle beam; Plasma; Nonadiabatic effects; non-Born-Oppenheimer effects; scattering; quantum; uncertainty quantification; covariance

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants

Additional Benefits

Relocation

Awardees who reside more than 50 miles from their host laboratory and remain on tenure for at least six months are eligible for paid relocation to within the vicinity of their host laboratory.

Health insurance

A group health insurance program is available to awardees and their qualifying dependents in the United States.