The CHIMERAS Project: Design Framework for the Collisionless HIgh-beta Magnetized Experiment Researching Astrophysical Systems

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Main Authors: Dorfman, S., Bose, S., Lichko, E., Abler, M., Juno, J., TenBarge, J. M., Zhang, Y., Thakur, S. Chakraborty, Cartagena-Sanchez, C. A., Tatum, P., Scime, E., Joshi, G., Greess, S., Kuchta, C.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Dorfman, S.
Bose, S.
Lichko, E.
Abler, M.
Juno, J.
TenBarge, J. M.
Zhang, Y.
Thakur, S. Chakraborty
Cartagena-Sanchez, C. A.
Tatum, P.
Scime, E.
Joshi, G.
Greess, S.
Kuchta, C.
author_facet Dorfman, S.
Bose, S.
Lichko, E.
Abler, M.
Juno, J.
TenBarge, J. M.
Zhang, Y.
Thakur, S. Chakraborty
Cartagena-Sanchez, C. A.
Tatum, P.
Scime, E.
Joshi, G.
Greess, S.
Kuchta, C.
contents From the near-Earth solar wind to the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters, collisionless, high-beta, magnetized plasmas pervade our universe. Energy and momentum transport from large-scale fields and flows to small scale motions of plasma particles is ubiquitous in these systems, but a full picture of the underlying physical mechanisms remains elusive. The transfer is often mediated by a turbulent cascade of Alfv{é}nic fluctuations as well as a variety of kinetic instabilities; these processes tend to be multi-scale and/or multi-dimensional, which makes them difficult to study using spacecraft missions and numerical simulations alone (Dorfman et al. 2023; Lichko et al. 2020, 2023). Meanwhile, existing laboratory devices struggle to produce the collisionless, high ion beta ($β_i \gtrsim 1$), magnetized plasmas across the range of scales necessary to address these problems. As envisioned in recent community planning documents (Carter et al. 2020; Milchberg and Scime 2020; Baalrud et al. 2020; Dorfman et al. 2023; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2024, it is therefore important to build a next generation laboratory facility to create a $β_i \gtrsim 1$, collisionless, magnetized plasma in the laboratory for the first time. A Working Group has been formed and is actively defining the necessary technical requirements to move the facility towards a construction-ready state. Recent progress includes the development of target parameters and diagnostic requirements as well as the identification of a need for source-target device geometry. As the working group is already leading to new synergies across the community, we anticipate a broad community of users funded by a variety of federal agencies (including NASA, DOE, and NSF) to make copious use of the future facility.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_06426
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The CHIMERAS Project: Design Framework for the Collisionless HIgh-beta Magnetized Experiment Researching Astrophysical Systems
Dorfman, S.
Bose, S.
Lichko, E.
Abler, M.
Juno, J.
TenBarge, J. M.
Zhang, Y.
Thakur, S. Chakraborty
Cartagena-Sanchez, C. A.
Tatum, P.
Scime, E.
Joshi, G.
Greess, S.
Kuchta, C.
Plasma Physics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Space Physics
From the near-Earth solar wind to the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters, collisionless, high-beta, magnetized plasmas pervade our universe. Energy and momentum transport from large-scale fields and flows to small scale motions of plasma particles is ubiquitous in these systems, but a full picture of the underlying physical mechanisms remains elusive. The transfer is often mediated by a turbulent cascade of Alfv{é}nic fluctuations as well as a variety of kinetic instabilities; these processes tend to be multi-scale and/or multi-dimensional, which makes them difficult to study using spacecraft missions and numerical simulations alone (Dorfman et al. 2023; Lichko et al. 2020, 2023). Meanwhile, existing laboratory devices struggle to produce the collisionless, high ion beta ($β_i \gtrsim 1$), magnetized plasmas across the range of scales necessary to address these problems. As envisioned in recent community planning documents (Carter et al. 2020; Milchberg and Scime 2020; Baalrud et al. 2020; Dorfman et al. 2023; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2024, it is therefore important to build a next generation laboratory facility to create a $β_i \gtrsim 1$, collisionless, magnetized plasma in the laboratory for the first time. A Working Group has been formed and is actively defining the necessary technical requirements to move the facility towards a construction-ready state. Recent progress includes the development of target parameters and diagnostic requirements as well as the identification of a need for source-target device geometry. As the working group is already leading to new synergies across the community, we anticipate a broad community of users funded by a variety of federal agencies (including NASA, DOE, and NSF) to make copious use of the future facility.
title The CHIMERAS Project: Design Framework for the Collisionless HIgh-beta Magnetized Experiment Researching Astrophysical Systems
topic Plasma Physics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Space Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.06426