Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 18: Instrumentation IV

HK 18.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 16:45–17:00, PHIL B 302

Design of a High-Power Liquid Hydrogen Target for the P2 Experiment at MESA using CFD — Sebastian Baunack¹, Maarten Bonnekamp^2,4, Boris Gläser¹, Shruti Gudla¹, Rahima Krini¹, Frank Maas^1,2,3, Jayanta Naik¹, Moran Neher¹, Tobias Rimke¹, Paul Schöner², •Siddharth Thakker¹, and Malte Wilfert¹ for the P2 collaboration — ¹Institut für Kernphysik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz — ²Helmholtz-Institut Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz — ³PRISMA Cluster of Excellence, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz — ⁴IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

The upcoming P2 experiment at the MESA accelerator in Mainz aims to detect parity-violating asymmetries in elastic electron-proton scattering. It is designed for a determination of the weak mixing angle, sin²θ_W, to a high precision of 0.16% at low momentum transfer.
To measure this small asymmetry with high precision, the experiment requires a high-luminosity, 60 cm liquid hydrogen (lH₂) target cell, which is designed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The total heat deposited by the electron beam into the target cell materials is estimated to be over 3100 W, with a total loop heat load of 4000 W. The lH2 flowing through the cell is cooled by a heat exchanger coupled to a helium coolant supply. Additionally, a dedicated gas system is being constructed to manage all required operational gases. This talk presents the CFD simulations of the target cell, the design of the target loop and gas system, and an introduction to the P2 experiment itself.

Keywords: P2; MESA; CFD