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I know that a linear accelerator (linac) works by having terminals that get longer progressively and changes polarity due to AC current. And I also know that a cyclotron works by having two semi-circles that are connected to an AC source and magnetic field perpendicular to keep the particle moving in circles. But in a synchrotron, I understand that variable magnets are used to control the radius of the accelerating particle, however how is the particle accelerated?

Qmechanic
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Pranoy Bhatnagar
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  • Be aware that only in the early stages does a linac have changing lengths for the chambers: once the particle if fully relativistic the speed doesn't change even as the particle gets much more energy. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Nov 04 '13 at 16:49
  • http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/69778/accelerating-electrons-via-microwaves discusses the RF cavities used to accelerate electrons in synchrotrons. – John Rennie Nov 04 '13 at 18:01
  • Is this a Physics question, or an electrical engineering question ? –  Nov 06 '13 at 01:05

1 Answers1

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To make things simple,

A synchrotron consists of:

  1. radio frequency accelerating cavity : in this cavity, the charged particle is accelerated using an electric field along the direction of motion of the charged particle

  2. Bending magnet: magnets are used to bend the charged particles

Accelerated in cavity...the bent by magnet...then again accelerated again and this goes on. As a result, the charged particle moves in a circular path and its velocity is increased by the electric field. Note that the strength of the magnetic field has to be increased in order to apply the right amount of force on the charged particle so that the radius of the path it follows remains the same and a bigger synchrotron not needed

This diagram should be useful: enter image description here

Eliza
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