U.S. Particle Accelerator School
Accelerator Physics
Sponsor:
Texas A&M University Public Partnership & Outreach
Course Name:
Accelerator Physics
Instructor:
S. Alex Bogacz, Jefferson Lab; Geoff Krafft, Old Dominion University and Jefferson Lab
Purpose and Audience
Accelerator and beam physics is a broad discipline that draws on concepts from linear and nonlinear mechanics, electrodynamics, special relativity, plasma physics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics. The applications of particle accelerators are equally far ranging, including high-energy and nuclear physics, energy production, chemistry, materials and biological sciences, and medicine. This course will survey the fundamental concepts of accelerator physics that represent areas of current research and development. Typically, a topic first will be discussed abstractly and then applied to a specific facility or device. This course is designed for graduate students and researchers in physics or engineering who want to learn in more detail about the basic physics of accelerators
Prerequisites
Courses in classical mechanics, electrodynamics, special relativity and physical or engineering mathematics, all at entrance graduate level are required; and the USPAS course Fundamentals of Accelerator Physics and Technology with Simulations and Measurements Lab or equivalent familiarity is recommended.
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 that make accelerators function, the limits of present technologies, the promise of future technologies, and the issues presented by forefront applications.
Instructional Method
This course includes a series of lectures and exercise sessions. Daily homework problems will be assigned which will be graded and solutions will be provided and reviewed in the exercise sessions. Instructors will be available for guidance during evening homework sessions.
Course Content
Acceleration principles, transverse and longitudinal stability, multipole magnets, beam transport and lattice design, fundamentals of RF cavities, coupled betatron motion, synchrotron radiation, space charge, radiation damping and low emittance lattices, collective and beam-beam effects, phase-space cooling, free-electron lasers, energy recovering linacs.
Reading Requirements
(to be provided by the USPAS) Particle Accelerator Physics (Fourth Edition) by Helmut Wiedemann, Springer, 2015. A pdf of this book is available for free at https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319183169.
Perspective students can prepare for the course in advance and/or evaluate the fit of the course to their goals by reviewing the materials in the last version of the course given in the winter 2020 USPAS session: https://casa.jlab.org/publications/USPAS_Jan_2020.shtml
Credit Requirements
Students will be evaluated based on the following performances: Homework assignments (40% course grade), Midterm exam (20% course grade), Final exam (40% course grade).
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"