U.S. Particle Accelerator School
Accelerator Physics course
Sponsoring University:
Texas A&M University
Course:
Accelerator Physics
Instructors:
Alexander W. Chao, SLAC and Min-Huey Wang, NSRRC Taiwan
Purpose and Audience
This course will instruct students in the physics and technology of modern 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
Classical mechanics, electrodynamics, and physical or engineering mathematics, all at entrance graduate level, and the USPAS course "Accelerator Fundamentals" or equivalent.
Objectives
On completion of this course, the students are expected to understand the basic physical principles that make accelerators function, together with 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. Homework problems will be assigned daily which will be graded and answers provided in the exercise session in the following day. There will be an open-book final exam at the conclusion of the course.
Course Content
The emphasis is to introduce the physical principles of modern accelerators and their main engineering components. Linear accelerators and storage rings are used to illustrate these principles as examples. Beam physics topics in these accelerators include particle motion dynamics, beam confinement and guidance, beam acceleration, synchrotron radiation and its effects on the beam. Physics of accelerator components such as magnets, and radiofrequency cavities are also discussed.
Reading Requirements (to be provided by the USPAS) “Accelerator Physics”, by S. Y. Lee, World Scientific (1999) and “Handbook of Accelerator Physics and Engineering”, edited by Alexander W. Chao and Maury Tigner, World Scientific, 3 rd print (2006).
Credit Requirements
Students will be evaluated based on the following performances: Final exam (50%), Homework assignments (50%).