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Gaseous H2 Absorber for Muon Beam Cooling--MUONS, Inc., 552 N. Batavia Avenue, Batavia, IL 60510-1274; 757-870-6943
Dr. Rolland P. Johnson, Principal Investigator, roljohn@aol.com
Dr.
Rolland P. Johnson, Business Official,
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-04ER84015
Amount:
$100,000
Ionization
cooling, a method for shrinking the size of a particle beam, is an essential
technique for future particle accelerators that use muons.
Muon colliders and neutrino factories, examples of these future
accelerators, depend on the development of robust and affordable techniques for
ionization cooling. Unlike schemes
now under consideration, which are based on using many large flasks of a liquid
hydrogen energy-absorber, the use of a gas absorber could lead to a simpler
design with better cooling. Another
advantage would be the potential for much higher accelerating gradients.
This project will design an ionization-cooling channel based on a gaseous
absorber and develop a prototype channel section suitable for testing in a muon
beam. Phase I will produce a
baseline conceptual design of a muon ionization-cooling channel, with gaseous
absorber and high-gradient pressurized RF cavities, which has been optimized by
computer simulations to be superior to those based on liquid absorbers.
Critical technical issues will be identified for computational and
experimental investigation in Phase II.
Commercial
Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
Cooling and accelerating muons using a gaseous absorber and pressurized
high-gradient RF cavities could help make neutrino factories affordable and muon
colliders a compelling option. The
estimated cost of the transverse ionization-cooling component of each muon
collider or neutrino factory is roughly $350 million; the use of a gaseous
energy absorber could cut the cost of the cooling channel in half.