U.S. Particle Accelerator School
Accelerator Physics
Sponsoring University:
Northern Illinois University
Course Name:
Accelerator Physics
Course websiteInstructor:
Xiaobiao Huang, SLAC National Accelerator Lab; Xiaoying Pang and Sergey Kurennoy, Los Alamos National Lab
Purpose and Audience
The purpose of this course is to give a theoretical foundation to the physics and technology of particle accelerators. It is designed for graduate students pursuing accelerator physics as a career or graduate engineers who want to learn in more detail about the basic physics of accelerators.
Prerequisites
Students should have had special relativity, classical mechanics (including Hamiltonian dynamics) and electrodynamics all at entrance graduate level, and the USPAS course "Accelerator Fundamentals" or equivalent.
It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they meet the course prerequisites or have equivalent experience.
Objectives
On completion of this course, the students are expected to understand the physical principles (and jargon) of accelerators, including beam dynamics in periodic and non-periodic focusing systems, optical insertions, lattice design, and beam dynamics issues related to high-energy synchrotrons, colliders, and linacs. They should also understand the design principles of various engineering components of accelerators such as magnets, beam position monitors, and radiofrequency cavities. They will be able to quantitatively analyze the dynamics of the beam, thereby to conceptually design accelerators to provide particle beams of desired characteristics.
Instructional Method
This course includes a series of lectures and exercise sessions are held on weekdays over a two week period with around 6 hours of in-class lectures and computer labs per day, except for the final Friday which ends at noon. Homework will be assigned every day to be turned in the following day.
Course Content
This course is an introduction to the basic physics of high-energy particle accelerators and their main engineering components. Linear accelerators and storage rings are used to illustrate these principles as examples. Topics include accelerator magnets, instrumentation and beam measurements, single particle transverse and longitudinal motion, Liouville's theorem, emittances, effects of linear magnet errors, chromatic effects, nonlinearities, rf systems, synchrotron radiation, collective effects, beam-beam interactions, and basic diagnostic measurements. Emphasis will be on establishing a firm basic knowledge of the physics of modern high-energy accelerators. The course includes computer labs with simulations to emphasize important concepts.
Reading Requirements
(to be provided by the USPAS) "Accelerator Physics" [third edition] by S.Y. Lee, World Scientific Pub. Co. (2012).
Credit Requirements
Students will be evaluated based on performance approximately as follows: homework assignments (40% of final grade), final exam (20% of final grade), labs (20% of final grade), class participation (20% of final grade).
Northern Illinois University course number: PHYS 790D - Special Topics in Physics - Beam Physics
Indiana University course number: Physics 570, Introduction to Accelerator Physics
Michigan State University course number: PHY 963, U.S. Particle Accelerator School
MIT course number: 8.790, Accelerator Physics