Context. Cosmic rays passing through large astrospheres can be efficiently cooled inside these "cavities" in the interstellar medium. Moreover, the energy spectra of these energetic particles are already modulated in front of the astrospherical bow shocks. Aims. We study the cosmic ray flux in and around λ Cephei as an example for an astrosphere. The large-scale plasma flow is modeled hydrodynamically with radiative cooling. Methods. We study the cosmic ray flux in a stellar wind cavity using a transport model based on stochastic differential equations. The required parameters, most importantly, the elements of the diffusion tensor, are based on the heliospheric parameters. The magnetic field required for the diffusion coefficients is calculated kinematically. We discuss the transport in an astrospheric scenario with varying parameters for the transport coefficients. Results. We show that large stellar wind cavities can act as sinks for the Galactic cosmic ray flux and thus can give rise to small-scale anisotropies in the direction to the observer. Conclusions. Small-scale cosmic ray anisotropies can naturally be explained by the modulation of cosmic ray spectra in huge stellar wind cavities.
Abstract:The creation of high energy density plasma states produced during laser-solid interaction on a sub-picosecond timescale opens a way to create astrophysical plasmas in the lab to investigate their properties, such as the frequency-dependent refractive index. Available probes to measure absorption and phase-changes given by the complex refractive index of the plasma state are extreme-UV (EUV) and soft X-ray (XUV) ultra-short pulses from high harmonic generation (HHG). For demanding imaging applications such as single-shot measurements of solid density plasmas, the HHG probe has to be optimized in photon number and characterized in intensity and wavefront stability from shot-to-shot. In an experiment, a coherent EUV source based on HHG driven by a compact diode-pumped laser is optimized in photons per pulse for argon and xenon, and the shot-to-shot intensity stability and wavefront changes are characterized. The experimental results are compared to an analytical model estimating the HHG yield, showing good agreement. The obtained values are compared to available data for solid density plasmas to confirm the feasibility of HHG as a probe.
With high-harmonic generation (HHG), spatially and temporally coherent XUV to soft x-ray (100 nm to 10 nm) table-top sources can be realized by focusing a driving infrared (IR) laser on a gas target. For applications such as coherent diffraction imaging, holography, plasma diagnostics, or pump–probe experiments, it is desirable to have control over the wave front (WF) of the HHs to maximize the number of XUV photons on target or to tailor the WF. Here, we demonstrate control of the XUV WF by tailoring the driving IR WF with a deformable mirror. The WFs of both IR and XUV beams are monitored with WF sensors. We present a systematic study of the dependence of the aberrations of the HHs on the aberrations of the driving IR laser and explain the observations with propagation simulations. We show that we can control the astigmatism of the HHs by changing the astigmatism of the driving IR laser without compromising the HH generation efficiency with a WF quality from
λ
/
8
to
λ
/
13.3
. This allows us to shape the XUV beam without changing any XUV optical element.
We measured the transverse coherence at FLASH2, a variable gap undulator line at the FLASH free-electron laser user facility at DESY in Hamburg. We demonstrate, theoretically and experimentally, a revised version of Young’s double pinhole approach to perform single-shot, repeatable and non-invasive transverse coherence measurements. At beamline FL24 of FLASH2, the transverse coherence of pulses was systematically characterized at wavelengths of 8, 13.5 and 18 nm for different FEL source settings. We determine degrees of coherence of 57% to 87% in the vertical and horizontal direction, respectively. These measurements can facilitate the planning of novel, coherence-based experiments at the FLASH facility.
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