Small Particle Ring Accelerators and Paul Traps

This reference text covers the description, theory and history of room-sized or smaller ring accelerators and Paul traps for the exploration of advanced concepts and techniques in accelerator physics. The book describes the physics of five distinct small ring accelerators, or related devices, as case studies of scaled experiments to illustrate diverse accelerator and beam physics principles with potential applications to advanced larger machines: 1) small electron storage ring at University of Maryland; 2) larger electron/proton ring at Fermilab; 3) compact ion ring accelerator; 4) model fixed-field alternating gradient machine (a cyclotron/synchrotron-like device) that operated in the UK; and 5) Paul traps as RF (radio-frequency) very compact simulators of accelerators. The appendix summarizes basic scaling laws applicable to ring accelerators. It also includes a brief description of computer resources and examples for modelling accelerators.

Key Features

Discusses the unique characteristics of five distinct machines for accelerator experiments that cannot be easily conducted in larger facilities
Provides a concise but accurate presentation of key principles of beam and accelerator physics
Describes the work of small groups from universities and/or national labs
Contains an appendix summarizing key physics scaling laws applicable to accelerators, with worked examples

Author Biography

Santiago Bernal has been a research scientist for over 20 years at the University of Maryland, working in experimental and computational accelerator and beam physics. He obtained a BSc in physics from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1981, an MSc in physics from Georgia Tech in 1983, and a PhD in physics from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1999. He is the author of A Practical Introduction to Beam Physics and Particle Accelerators, Third Ed. (IOP Publishing Ltd, 2022). In addition to beam and accelerator physics, Dr Bernal is interested in statistical mechanics and educational aspects of physics.