Virtual SPARC Workshop
Based at GSI, AVA Fellow Jeffrey Klimes is working on the ARTEMIS experiment where his project focuses on developing, building and testing a ‘reservoir trap’ which can store and deliver a well-defined number of antiprotons into precision traps for periodic measurement cycles over extended periods of time. This reservoir trap will make experiments such as ARTEMIS independent of accelerator beamtimes and shut-down periods and will provide beams at different energies.
Recently, Jeffrey participated in a workshop organized by the Stored Particles Atomic Physics Research Collaboration (SPARC). The SPARC collaboration has been formed to organize atomic physics experiments at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt, Germany, and aims to join expertise on atomic physics.
The SPARC held its annual workshop virtually in September 2020. This year the workshop attracted over 144 participants from more than 40 institutions around the world. There were three days of presentations, reporting on the progress of FAIR facility and phase-0 research as well as research progress within the collaboration. Research topics included experimental and theoretical atomic physics, quantum electrodynamics, and studies in ultra-high electromagnetic fields among others.
In two separate poster sessions 62 researchers, including AVA fellow Jeffrey Klimes, presented more details about their work. The poster session was also held virtually via Zoom. Jeffrey presented an overview of the current status of the ARTEMIS experiment, including the status of its creation trap as a potential reservoir for heavy, highly charged ions from the HITRAP facility at GSI.
The workshop showcased the discovery potential of the facilities and groups that form SPARC, whether through experimentation with highly charged ions or advancement of their theoretical descriptions.