Muons, Inc, Batavia
Fermilab, Batavia
The study of rare processes using a beam of muons that stop in a target provides access to new physics at and beyond the reach of energy frontier colliders. The flux of stopping muons is limited by the pion production process and by stochastic processes in the material used to slow down the decay muons. Innovative muon beam collection and cooling techniques are applied to the design of stopping muon beams in order to provide better beams for such experiments. Such intense stopping beams will also support the development of applications such as muon spin resonance and muon-catalyzed fusion.
Fermilab, Batavia
Muons, Inc, Batavia
We have developed a new method for capture, bunching and phase-energy rotation of secondary beams from a proton source, using high-frequency rf systems. The method is the baseline for muon capture in the International scoping study for a neutrino factory. In this method, a proton bunch on a target creates secondaries that drift into a capture transport channel. A sequence of rf cavities forms the resulting muon beams into strings of bunches of differing energies, aligns the bunches to (nearly) equal central energies, and initiates ionization cooling. For the International Design Study the method must be optimized for performance and cost, and variations will be explored. In this paper we present results of optimization and variation studies toward obtaining the maximum number of muons for a neutrino factory, as well as for a future muon collider.
Muons, Inc, Batavia
Fermilab, Batavia
Funding: Supported in part by DOE STTR grant DE-FG02-05ER86252
Earlier studies on the front end of a neutrino factory or muon collider have relied on a single simulation tool, ICOOL. We present here a cross-check against another simulation tool, G4beamline. We also perform a study in economizing the number of RF cavity frequencies and gradients. We conclude with a discussion of future studies.
Fermilab, Batavia
Muons, Inc, Batavia
Funding: Supported in part by USDOE STTR Grant DE-FG02-05ER86252 and FRA DOE contract number DE-AC02-07CH11359
Gas-filled RF cavities can provide high-gradient accelerating fields for muons, and can be used for simultaneous acceleration and cooling of muons. In this paper we explore using these cavities in the front-end of the capture and cooling systems for neutrino factories and muon colliders. We consider using gas-filled RF cavities for the initial front end cooling systems. We also consider using them for simultaneous phase-energy rotation and cooling in a front-end system. We also consider using lower-density RF cavities, where the gas density is primarily for RF breakdown suppression, with less cooling effect. Pressurized RF cavities enable higher gradient rf within magnetic fields than is possible with evacuated cavities, enabling more options in the front-end. The status of designs of the capture, phase rotation, and precooling systems of muon beams in pressurized cavities is described.
Muons, Inc, Batavia
Fermilab, Batavia
Intense muon beams have many potential applications. However, muons originate from a tertiary process that produces a diffuse swarm. To make useful beams, the swarm must be rapidly collected and cooled before the muons decay. A promising new concept for the collection and cooling of muon beams to increase their intensity and reduce their emittances is investigated: the use of a nearly isochronous helical cooling channel (HCC) to facilitate capture of the muons into a few RF bunches. Such a distribution could be cooled quickly and then coalesced efficiently into a single bunch to optimize the luminosity of a muon collider. An analytical description of the method is presented followed by simulation and optimization studies. Practical design constraints and integration into a collider, neutrino factory or intense beam scenario are discussed and plans for further studies are addressed.