EAGER: H2+ Ion Source Studies at the BEST Cyclotrons, Inc. Test Stand

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This EAGER award provides funding for a first demonstration of the capture and acceleration of molecular hydrogen ions (H+2) in the central region of a cyclotron. This is the first step along the path to high-power, high-energy cyclotrons for use in basic science and with valuable industrial applications. The DAEdALUS Collaboration is designing advanced cyclotrons that accelerate H+2 ions to produce decay-at-rest neutrino beams in a novel search for Charge-Parity (CP) violation in the neutrino sector. Physicists at MIT and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN-Catania, Italy) are collaborating with Best Cyclotron Systems Inc., of Virginia. This award will provide funding for the university contribution. The required cyclotrons must exceed the performance of the world's best performing cyclotrons in both energy and power. The effort is transformational -- advancing particle physics and accelerator driven technology for thorium-based reactors. The physics community has placed the search for CP-violation in the neutrino sector at the highest priority. CP Violation would be manifest as a difference in the oscillations of neutrinos versus antineutrinos. While conventional neutrino beams suffer from high systematic errors, the DAEdALUS multi-cyclotron design offers a statistics-limited alternative approach. Thus, this project has the potential to be transformational for the particle physics community. This project also has high intellectual merit for the cyclotron community. The DAEdALUS cyclotrons are consistent with the next crucial step in the art of cyclotron research. The measurements from a new H+2 ion source at the BEST Cyclotrons test stand, will allow the first publication of beam characteristics of high intensity H+2 acceleration. Broader Impacts: The effort will train young accelerator scientists as well as better integrate cyclotron research into the particle physics community. High power accelerators are of interest to the nuclear reactor community for the purpose of accelerator driven systems (ADS) for thorium reactors and actinide incineration. This work represents a collaboration between MIT and European cyclotron experts. This technology transfer is a high priority for the U.S., as described in the DOE report entitled Accelerators for America's Future.