Numerical Studies of the Friction Force for the RHIC Electron Cooler

Accurate calculation of electron cooling times requires an accurate description of the dynamical friction force. The proposed RHIC cooler will require ∼55 MeV electrons, which must be obtained from an RF linac, leading to very high transverse electron temperatures. A strong solenoid will be used to magnetize the electrons and suppress the transverse temperature, but the achievable magnetized cooling logarithm will not be large. In this paper, we explore the magnetized friction force for parameters of the RHIC cooler, using the VORPAL code [1]. VORPAL can simulate dynamical friction and diffusion coefficients directly from first principles [2]. Various aspects of the friction force are addressed for the problem of high-energy electron cooling in the RHIC regime.