Antiparticle content in the magnetosphere

Gusev, A.; Pugacheva, G.; Pankov, V.; Bickford, J.; Spjeldvik, W.; Jayanthi, U.; Martin, I.

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2007.12.003

Antiparticle content in the magnetosphere

A. Gusev
(
- Moscow, Space Res. Inst.
)
,
G. Pugacheva
(
- Moscow, Space Res. Inst.
)
,
V. Pankov
(
- Moscow, Space Res. Inst.
)
,
J. Bickford
(
- Charles Stark Draper Lab.
)
,
W. Spjeldvik
(
- Weber State U.
)

2008

6 pages

Published in:

Adv.Space Res. 42 (2008) 1550-1555

DOI:

10.1016/j.asr.2007.12.003

reference search3 citations

Citations per year

Abstract: (Elsevier)

In the present work we assess the stable and transient antiparticle content of planetary magnetospheres, and subsequently we consider their capture and application to high delta-v space propulsion. We estimate the total antiparticle mass contained within the Earth’s magnetosphere to assess the expediency of such usage. Using Earth’s magnetic field region as an example, we have considered the various source mechanisms that are applicable to a planetary magnetosphere, the confinement duration versus transport processes, and the antiparticle loss mechanisms. We have estimated the content of the trapped population of antiparticles magnetically confined following production in the exosphere due to nuclear interactions between high energy cosmic rays (CR) and constituents of the residual planetary upper atmosphere.

Planetary magnetospheres
Antiparticles
Trapping
Annihilation
Rocket propulsion
anti-p: cosmic radiation
anti-p: mass
anti-p: capture
magnetic field: geophysics
cosmic radiation: flux