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J-PARC Linac Accelerated Its First Beam
Tokai, Japan, November 22: Physicists confirmed the acceleration of the
proton beam at the first sets of Linac in J-PARC, a world-class high intensity
proton synchrotron accelerator, on November 21. This success marks the beginning
of the series of accelerator operations tests leading to the rest of the
facility including 3 GeV and 50 GeV proton synchrotrons, jointly build by two
national agencies, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and High Energy Accelerator
Research Organization (KEK).
Negatively charged hydrogen atoms are successfully accelerated to three million
electron volt with a peak current of 5 milliampere at the first stage of the J-PARC
Linac. "We accelerate negatively charged hydrogen in the Linac to inject the
beam smoothly into the circular synchrotron," says the accelerator manager Kazuo
Hasegawa. Circulating proton (positive charge) and negatively charged hydrogen
are curved into opposite directions and merges into a single orbit. Later,
electrons are stripped off from the hydrogen with a thin foil.
"The Linac is 330 m in total length, and we will complete the first 120 m with
the cavities in the first phase of the project by summer next year," Hasegawa
continues. "Today we have succeeded the acceleration of protons at the very
first cavity, called Radio Frequency Quadruple Linac (RFQ). We will continue to
work on the rest of the cavities, such as Drift Tube Linac (DTL), Seperated-type
Drift Tube Linac (SDTL) and Annular Coupled Structure Linac (ACSL). Combined
together, we will accelerate the protons to 180 million electronvolt, roughly
the half of the speed of light."
Two research organizations started the construction of J-PARC since 2001, and
will continue to build a kilometer wide accelerator complex by 2009, located in
the Tokai Campus of JAEA roughly 100 km northeast of Tokyo. The 3 GeV rapid
cycling synchrotron (RCS) will be used for a 1 MW neutron spallation source and
muon source, and the 50 GeV synchrotron with a 0.75 MW proton beam will
generates various secondary particles, such as neutrinos for T2K experiments,
and hadron beams for the study of particle rare decays.
"In 2008, J-PARC will start providing wide range of international research
opportunities, both in the fundamental research, the applied research and for
new technology," says J-PARC director Shoji Nagamiya. "High intensity neutrino
beam to Super-Kamiokande, which is 295 km west to J-PARC, will open the door to
a new phase of neutrino research. The analysis power for materials research with
the neutron scattering facility will be in parallel to the SNS at ORNL in the
USA. Abilities of the muon scattering facility and the kaon factory will be
unparalleled for the decade to come. We welcome researchers around the world in
various fields, including the particle and nuclear physics, materials science,
chemistry, biology, life science, engineering, information and electronics
technology, and even medical. We look forward for the international
collaborations."
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