GSI Kolloquium: "PRIOR - Proton Microscope for FAIR"

High energy proton microscopy (HEPM) is an emerging diagnostic technique which provides unique capabilities in penetrating radiography including the combination of high spatial resolution and accuracy of density reconstruction inside volumes and in situ envirorements. Since the proton beam is composed of charged particles, the beam may be focused with magnetic lenses to form images of the object far away from the interaction region. Therefore HEPM makes possible quantitative measurements of material densities under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, providing this way an ideal probe for the high energy density physics research at FAIR. The PRIOR (Proton Microscope for FAIR) facility which is currently being constructed at GSI will use a 4.5 GeV proton beam from the SIS-18 synchrotron and allow for a significant step forward in spatial resolution (>10 µm). At FAIR, PRIOR will also take full advantage of the intense 10 GeV proton beam from the SIS-100 synchrotron in order to further increase the spatial and temporal resolution of the density measurements. The current status of the PRIOR project at GSI will be discussed along with proposed static and dynamic experiments in different fields ranging from non-ideal plasma physics to particle radiosurgery.