Physical mechanism of super-deep penetration of solid microparticles into solid targets

AbstractThe phenomenon of super-deep penetration of solid microparticles into solid targets under shock has not been interpreted convincingly until now. The concept of highly excited states, developed by V.E. Panin and others, has opened a new path for the interpretation of this phenomenon. According to this concept, under the condition of a highly excited state, the number of allowable structure states in crystals significantly exceeds the number of atoms, i.e., in crystals, new degrees of freedom arise. Highly excited crystals become, in essence, a superposition of several structures. Therefore, in highly excited states, the material of target may be looked at as a system of weakly interacting particles. The application of the theory of a system of weakly interacting particles in this article shows that when the velocity of penetrating particles exceeds the velocity of the thermal motion of particles of the target material, the friction coefficient is inversely proportional to the third power of the relative velocity of penetrating particles. In this way, the effect of losing friction in the penetration of solid particles into solid targets is interpreted.