The latest ATAP Newsletter showcases the cutting-edge science our researchers are conducting to advance accelerator science and applications and how this work supports the recommendations from the P5 Report, which outlines a pathway for particle physics over the next decade. You can also read a wide-ranging interview with The Hertz Foundation in which I talk about the report’s recommendations, how they will shape the future of particle and high-energy physics, and particle accelerators’ increasingly important role in this.

In June, a strong contingent of researchers from Berkeley Lab and ATAP participated and helped organize this year’s Future Circular Collider Conference, held from June 10-14, 2024, in San Francisco. Mike Witherell, director of Berkeley Lab, joined John Sarrao, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory director, in welcoming attendees to the week-long event discussing one of the key future particle collider directions.

Our SMP team is developing a new technique that could safeguard high-temperature superconducting magnets from sudden and unpredictable losses in superconductivity. Referred to as quenching, this loss in superconductivity creates “hot spots” that can cause catastrophic failures in these magnets, potentially causing millions of dollars in damage. This is essential for these future colliders, fusion, and other applications.

As part of our outreach and education activities, Berkeley Lab and ATAP researchers taught courses at this year’s US Particle Accelerator School’s winter and summer sessions. Our involvement with USPAS goes back to the school’s early days, and many students who attended the courses and numerous instructors have worked at ATAP.

In an ongoing collaboration with the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University, researchers from our Superconducting Magnet Program (SMP) are developing a first-of-its-kind superconducting magnet. Based on niobium-tin technology, the magnet could significantly improve the facility’s performance and enhance its capabilities, promising new applications in medicine, industry, and research.

As global efforts to harness the power of fusion energy intensify, researchers across ATAP are making significant contributions to the two main approaches to fusion: inertial confinement fusion and magnetic confinement fusion.

For example, our BELLA Center is working on laser-plasma acceleration to create the intense ion beams needed for inertial confinement fusion, in which matter is compressed to extreme densities to fuse. Aligning with these efforts, the Advanced Modeling Program (AMP) team is leading efforts to model the ultrafast and complex interactions between the laser and plasma in the fusion chamber.

As part of a public-private collaboration supported by the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Science Fusion Energy, SMP researchers spearhead the development of the high-performance superconducting magnets needed for confining plasma in magnetic confinement fusion. Under the same initiative, the Fusion Science & Ion Beam Technology program has partnered with companies to develop particle beams for fusion plasma heating.

ATAP researchers are also helping to develop the workforce needed to realize fusion as part of the Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce initiative, funded by the DOE’s Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences program.

In addition to our contributions to advancing fusion, AMP researchers are working with colleagues from BELLA on an innovative approach that uses plasma-based booster stages to significantly increase the energy of particle accelerator ion beams while preserving beam quality. Such beams could open new applications in fundamental research and industry.

At our May All-to-All meeting, we learned about the risks of using AI tools like ChatGPT in scientific research. The talk was part of our commitment to IDEA principles and practices.

Finally, congratulations to Benjamin Greenwood, a postdoctoral scholar in the BELLA Center, who received the individual award at our annual Multi-Lab Safety Week, held from June 11-13, 2024. The BELLA Petawatt team received the team award in recognition of their commitment to workplace safety and outstanding work-area cleanup efforts.

Written by Carl A. Williams or other authors as credited.

For more information on ATAP News articles, contact caw@lbl.gov.