ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND APPLICATIONS
Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: DAVID MASCALIExpected Learning Outcomes
The course aims at providing an in-depth knowledge of all the physics principles on which the functioning of particle accelerators are based; and also to show in detail the technology that allows these machines to be designed and constructed in fundamental physics laboratories as well as industry and hospitals. Applications of accelerators in fields other than nuclear and particle physics research will be discussed in details. Particular attention will be given to medical applications and for this reason physical knowledge relating to the interaction of radiation with matter will be given
Knowledge and understanding:
Critical understanding of the main concepts underlying the dynamics of the motion of electron and ion beams in circular and linear accelerators.
Understanding of the fundamental physical mechanisms involved in the application of electron, photon and ion beams in medical applications.
Ability to identify the essential elements of the phenomena related to the acceleration of particles and their production, in terms of order of magnitude and level of approximation necessary, be able to recognize and make the required approximations.
Ability to use the tool of analogy to apply known solutions in the field of particle-electromagnetic field interaction and plasma physics to new problems (problem solving) and different contexts of nuclear physics and its applications to medicine.
Learning ability:
Acquisition of adequate cognitive tools for the continuous updating of knowledge and the ability to access specialized literature both in the field of accelerator physics, plasmas and advanced medical techniques based on particle accelerators (Radiology, nuclear medicine and oncology radiation therapy).
Judgment autonomy:
Critical reasoning skills.
Ability to identify the most appropriate conceptual solutions for accelerators and their subsystems.
Ability to identify the fields of use and experimental results of different types of accelerators.
Communication skills:
Communication skills in the field of particle accelerators, plasma physics and applications to medicine
Ability to continue studying independently
The course offers, through the handouts of notes and the proposed bibliography, the possibility of independently continuing the study and deepening the steps that lead to the conceptual design of facilities based on particle accelerators, also with the aid of laboratory visits at the LNS of the INFN
Course Structure
Frontal lessons in the classroom
A classroom tutorial is also planned for the in-depth study of FEM-type electromagnetic calculation suites (COMSOL, CST, HFSS) for the design of RF cavities, waveguides, photonic crystals
Required Prerequisites
Electromagnetism and Maxwell equations (mandatory). Structure of Matter and related topics (useful).
Special Relativity
Classical Mechanics (Hamilton formulation)
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
INTRODUCTION: EM FIELDS AND GENERAL PROPERTIES OF PARTICLE BEAMS (6 hours)
Electric and magnetic fields: the electromagnetic field. Equations of motion for charged particles in magnetic fields, magnetic and electric rigidity. Review of special relativity: energy and momentum, center-of-mass energy in fixed-target versus collider acceleration schemes. Laws of particle beam focusing. Acceleration theorem. Radio-frequency cavities and waveguides. Systems for the generation, guidance, and transmission of electromagnetic waves.
Particle beam transport systems: equations of motion; magnetic and electrostatic lenses; dipoles, quadrupoles, and sextupoles; energy and charge selection systems; magnetic spectrometers.
Main characteristics of ion beams: emittance, brightness, luminosity.
PLASMAS AND ION SOURCES (6 hours)
Plasma physics: Definition of plasma. Concept of plasma temperature. Debye screening and Debye length. Plasma oscillations. Characteristic plasma parameters. Collisional and collisionless plasmas. Kinetic description of plasmas. Distribution function. Moments of the distribution function. Vlasov equation. Magnetic confinement. Main structures and configurations for magnetic confinement. Propagation of electromagnetic waves in magnetized plasmas: Appleton–Hartree theory.
Plasma ion sources: physical principles and technological features.
Plasma diagnostics.
OPERATION OF PARTICLE ACCELERATORS (20 hours)
Operating principles and technology of the most common types of particle accelerators:
Electrostatic accelerators
LINACs (for electrons vs. protons/heavy ions): operating principles, phase stability, focusing
RFQ (Radio-Frequency Quadrupoles): operating principles, phase stability, focusing
Cyclotrons: operating principles, phase stability, focusing
Synchrotrons: operating principles, phase stability, focusing
Dielectric Laser Accelerators: operating principles, phase stability, focusing
Synchrotron radiation: basic physical mechanisms, synchrotron-based systems, wigglers, undulators
LASER–PLASMA ACCELERATORS (6 hours)
Particle accelerators based on high-power lasers: Eulerian and Lagrangian perspectives. Acting forces. Formation of high-temperature plasmas. Generation of plasma waves and acceleration of electrons and ions in high-temperature plasmas.
TUTORIALS (4 hours)
Use of FEM-based computational suites and electromagnetic design tools for accelerators (sources, RF cavities, waveguides), e.g. COMSOL, CST, HFSS.
Textbook Information
P.J. Bryant, "Introduction to Transfer Lines and Circular Machines" CERN accellerators School, CERN 84-04 |
T. Wangler, Principles of RF Linear Accelerators, Chapter 1 (Wiley, New York, 1998). |
R. Geller, Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources and ECR Plasmas (Institute of Physics, Philadelphia, PA, 1996). |
B. Wolf, Handbook of Ion Sources (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1995). R. Geller, Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources and ECR Plasmas (Institute of Physics, Philadelphia, PA, 1996).
|
M. Vretenar. Linear accelerators (2013). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1303.6766 P.J. Bryant, "Introduction to Transfer Lines and Circular Machines" CERN accellerators School, CERN 84-04 |
R. Joel England et al., “Dielectric Laser Accelerators”, Rev. Mod. Phys. 86, 1337https://journals.aps.org/rmp/pdf/10.1103/RevModPhys.86.1337 |
J. J. Livingood, Principles of Cyclic Particle Accelerators(1961, D Van Nostrand Company)
V. L. Smirnov. The cyclotron and its modeling. Physics of Particles and Nuclei, Volume 52, Issue 5, p.913-996.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S106377962105004X |
Applications of Laser-Driven Particle Acceleration Edited ByPaul Bolton, Katia Parodi, Jörg Schreiber, https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429445101 |
CAS Cern Accelerator School, " Cyclotrons, linacs and Their application", 96-02 |
F.H. Attix "Introduction to Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry" Wiley VCH |
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to relativity and main particle beams properties (4 hours) | |
| 2 | Particles equations of motion in electric and magnetic fields; emittance, brightness, brilliance, luminosity (4 hours) | P.J. Bryant, "Introduction to Transfer Lines and Circular Machines" CERN accellerators School, CERN 84-04 |
| 3 | Electromagnetism for particle accelerators: RF cavities, waveguides, etc (4 hours) | T. Wangler, Principles of RF Linear Accelerators, Chapter 1 (Wiley, New York, 1998). |
| 4 | Plasmas and Ion Sources: physics and technology (4 hours) | R. Geller, Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources and ECR Plasmas (Institute of Physics, Philadelphia, PA, 1996). |
| 5 | Detectors and diagnostics for ion sources (2h) | B. Wolf, Handbook of Ion Sources (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1995).R. Geller, Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources and ECR Plasmas (Institute of Physics, Philadelphia, PA, 1996). |
| 6 | Linear Accelerators: RFQ and LINACs (4 hours) | M. Vretenar. Linear accelerators (2013). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1303.6766 P.J. Bryant, "Introduction to Transfer Lines and Circular Machines" CERN accellerators School, CERN 84-04 |
| 7 | New linear accelerators: Dielectric Laser Accelerators (2 hours) | R. Joel England et al., “Dielectric Laser Accelerators”, Rev. Mod. Phys. 86, 1337https://journals.aps.org/rmp/pdf/10.1103/RevModPhys.86.1337 |
| 8 | Cyclotrons and Synchrotrons (4 hours) | J. J. Livingood, Principles of Cyclic Particle Accelerators (1961, D Van Nostrand Company) V. L. Smirnov. The cyclotron and its modeling. Physics of Particles and Nuclei, Volume 52, Issue 5, p.913-996. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S106377962105004X |
| 9 | Laser Acceleration: physics and technology (6 hours) | Applications of Laser-Driven Particle AccelerationEdited ByPaul Bolton, Katia Parodi, Jörg Schreiber, https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429445101 |
| 10 | Synchrotron light (2h) | |
| 11 | Electromagnetic structures design: tutorial (4 hours) |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
Some questions - which do not constitute an exhaustive list but represent just some examples - asked during the exam are shown below:
- Operating principles of a cyclotron
- Operating principles of a synchrotron
- Operating principles of a linac
- Equation of motion of a charged particle in a cyclotron
- Equation of motion of a charged particle in a linac
- Stability and focusing of a particle beam in a circular machine
- Stability and focusing of a particle beam in a linear machine
- Sources for ions. Production of high temperature plasmas and plasma diagnostic systems
- Interaction of radiation with matter
- Application of accelerators to medicine
- Synchrotron light
- Radio-Frequency Quadrupoles (RFQ): focusing, bunching, acceleration
- plasma based accelerators: ultrashort-laser-pulse plasma-based accelerators, dielectric laser accelerators