Accelerator Physics

ABOUT THE COURSE:Accelerators have an important role both in basic and applied research, eg., medical science, industry, national security, environmental science etc Electron accelerators are built for food irradiation etc and as Synchrotron Radiation Source for material science research.Depending on how particles are accelerated, accelerators are categorized as DC accelerators, Linear and Cyclic accelerators and Laser-Plasma Accelerators. Today, accelerators in the energy range of keV to TeV have been designed, built and used. In order to design, operate and utilise them efficiently, the physics of the accelerators should be well understood. In this course, physics of DC, Linear and Cyclic accelerators will be discussed and high energy accelerators will be briefly reviewed.INTENDED AUDIENCE:Ph. D. Students and researchers, Hospital Doctors and Staff and Industry people and Defence personnel.PREREQUISITES:B.Sc in Physics or B.E, The course is a stand-alone course for application of accelerators in research in Physics, medical sciences, industrial applications and national security.INDUSTRY SUPPORT:Several academic institutions, industries and defence departments will be interested. Many accelerators are in operation in industry for food irradiation and for medical treatment in hospitals.

Week 1: Introduction to DC accelerators, Cockcroft-Walton, Van de Graaff, Tandem, Pelletron accelerators. Week 2:Ion sources, high voltage generation, voltage stabilization, Charging systems (capacitive and inductive), Magnets, insulating gases and their characteristics. Week 3:Control systems, beam handling components, Focussing systems, interlocks, Voltage / Energy calibration, beam optics Week 4:Introduction and basic principles of LINACs. Relativistic expressions. Propagation of electromagnetic waves through matter (relevant to LINACs only), boundary conditions, phase velocity, group velocity, wave equation. Generation of modes in a cavity/waveguide Week 5:Application to the different types of LINACs including traveling and standing wave types. Transit time factor and the energy gained in a LINAC. General ideas of surface resistance, power loss, Quality factor, shunt impedance in cavities; Normal conducting LINAC structures Week 6:Superconductivity in accelerators, advantages of Superconducting cavities, breakdown mechanisms in Superconducting cavities, Superconducting accelerating cavities Week 7:Longitudinal dynamics in LINACs: Longitudinal stability, stability criteria, separatrix, synchronous oscillation with small and large amplitudes. Week 8:FD, FFDD focusing, Stability criteria, phase advance and stability in LINACs; Space charge effects in high intensity beams. Week 9:Cyclotrons. Synchrocyclotron. AVF principle and concept of hills and valleys in magnetic field. Different applications of cyclotrons. Week 10:Equation of motion in magnetic field and concept of focusing, Weak and strong focusing, Quadrupole magnets, Principle of AG focusing, Edge focusing. Week 11:Radio Frequency (RF) field and particle acceleration. Longitudinal focusing and phase stability. RF bucket and longitudinal emittance. Week 12:Proton storage ring. Basic concept of space charge and tune shift. Fixed target collision and colliding beams. Luminosity and circular colliders