Particle Accelerators
Observing Fundamental particles
• With quarks ups and downs are the most stable as they have
least mass.
• Observe other particles in particle accelerators.
Interaction between the particles requires a large amount of
energy
• Overcoming electric charge
• To produce higher mass particles eg tops and bottoms E=mc2
• Drift tubes get charge from radio
Linear frequency source. (Type of AC)
Accelerator • Drift tubes accelerate the ions
• Proton source produce ions that will be
(linac) accelerated
Linear Accelerators
Advantage
• No large magnetic field required and therefore less energy is used
Disadvantages
• Require long, straight area
• Wasted energy
Achievements
• Detection structure protons and neutrons
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
• The cyclotron was developed in 1930 by E. O. Lawrence at the University
of California, Berkeley. It uses a magnetic field to maintain charged ions
- usually protons - in nearly circular paths.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
• The protons move in a vacuum inside two D-shaped cavities, as shown
in. Each time they pass into the gap between the "dees," a voltage
accelerates them (the electric force), increasing their speed and
increasing the radius of curvature of their path in the magnetic field.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
• After many revolutions, the protons acquire high kinetic energy and
reach the outer edge of the cyclotron where they strike a target. The
protons speed up only when they are in the gap between the dees, and
the voltage must be alternating.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
• When protons are moving to the right across the gap in the figure, the
right dee must be electrically negative and the left one positive. A half-
cycle later, the protons are moving to the left, so the left dee must be
negative in order to accelerate them.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
• The frequency, f, of the applied voltage must be equal to that of the
circulating protons. When ions of charge q are circulating within the
hollow dees, the net force F on each is due to the magnetic field B, so F
= qvB, where v is the speed of the ion at a given moment.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
• The magnetic force is perpendicular to both v and B and causes the ions
to move in circles; the acceleration inside the dees is thus centripetal
and equals v2/r, where r is the radius of the ion's path at a given
moment.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
𝑚𝑣 2
We use Newton's second law, F = ma, and find that 𝑞𝑣𝐵 = when
𝑟
the protons are within the dees (not the gap).
𝑞𝐵𝑟
Therefore: 𝑣 = .
𝑚
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
The time required for a complete revolution is the period T and is equal
to
Hence the frequency of revolution f is
This is known as the cyclotron frequency.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Cyclotron
Example
A small cyclotron of maximum radius R = 0.25 m accelerates protons in a
1.7-T magnetic field. Calculate (a) the frequency needed for the applied
alternating voltage, and (b) the kinetic energy of protons when they leave
the cyclotron.
SOLUTION
(a)
which is in the radio-wave region of the EM spectrum.
Synchroton
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Synchrotron
• Another way to accelerate relativistic particles is to increase the
𝑞𝐵
magnetic field B in time so as to keep 𝑓 = constant as the particles
2𝜋𝑚
speed up. Such devices
are called synchrotrons, and today they can be enormous.
• At the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva,
Switzerland, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is 4.3 km in radius and
accelerates protons to 7 TeV.
• The Tevatron accelerator at Fermilab (the Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory) at Batavia, Illinois, has a radius of 1.0 km. The Tevatron uses
superconducting magnets to accelerate protons to about 1000 GeV =
1TeV (hence its name); 1 TeV = 1012 eV.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Synchrotron
• These large synchrotrons use a
narrow ring of magnets (see
figure) with each magnet placed
at the same radius from the
center of the circle. The magnets
are interrupted by gaps where
high voltage accelerates the
particles; another way to describe
the acceleration is to say the
particles "surf" on a traveling
electromagnetic wave within
radiofrequency (RF) cavities.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Synchrotron
• Once charged particles are
injected, they must move in a
circle of constant radius. This is
accomplished by giving them
considerable energy initially in a
smaller accelerator (the injector),
and then slowly increasing the
magnetic field as they speed up
in the large synchrotron.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Synchrotron
• One problem of any accelerator
is that accelerating electric
charges radiate electromagnetic
energy.
• Since ions or electrons are
accelerated in an accelerator, we
can expect considerable energy
to be lost by radiation. The effect
increases with energy and is
especially important in circular
machines where centripetal
acceleration is present, such as
synchrotrons, and hence is called
synchrotron radiation.
High-Energy Particles and Accelerators
Synchrotron
• Synchrotron radiation can be
useful, however.
• Intense beams of photons are
sometimes needed, and they are
usually obtained from an electron
synchrotron.
• How a Synchroton Works