Acceleration of macro-particles to hyper-velocities

The possibility of applying the principle of magnetic levitation to the acceleration of condensed matter to obtain hyper-velocities is examined. Condensed matter is adopted to avoid space-charge effects at high particle densities and consequently necessitates the use of cooperative phenomenon such as superconductivity or ferromagnetism to achieve coupling to applied electromagnetic fields. Since cooperative processes are relatively weak a long flight path is inevitable which suggests use of an orbital path. Conditions for stable orbital motion are derived and related problems are examined from which it is concluded that projectile velocities of 2.107 cm sec-1 should be achievable with present technology. Tests with a small-scale model have verified the principles involved. The potential for application to the inertial confinement approach to controlled thermonuclear reactions is considered briefly. (author)