John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science

JAI student visit and seminar at CERN. The current JAI first-year graduate students have worked on a design project for #LhARA. The students studied aspects of the LhARA Stage 1 lattice, magnet systems, RF cavity system, and plasma devices. As part of their training, the students went to CERN on 12 July 2024 to visit some of CERN’s accelerator facilities and to deliver a seminar on their design project.

Congratulations to Cameron Robertson who successfully defended his thesis, titled "Homogeneous Dose Delivery for Very High Energy Electron Beams". "My research has been based on the delivery of Very High Energy Electrons (VHEEs) for cancer treatment, specifically the enlargement and flattening of beams to provide dose conformality. The #VHEE regime is usually defined as being between 50-250MeV. The methods for this beam modification were chosen to be compatible for inducing the #FLASH effect - a phenomenon where healthy tissue sparing characteristics are observed during radiation therapy at ultra-high-dose-rates (typically delivered within 100ms)." Further information can be founder here https://lnkd.in/e7VTg76T

JAI student Bethany Spear presents work at #IPAC24. "This May, I had the opportunity to attend the International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC24) in the vibrant city of Nashville, Tennessee. The conference was held at the Music City Center, a venue that perfectly showcased the city's unique blend of tradition and innovation. As a DPhil student in beam instrumentation, I was eager to present my latest results on a Cherenkov-based Beam Position Monitor and to network with experts in the field. During the poster sessions, I had the chance to discuss my research in more detail with peers and experts alike. Particularly memorable were the interactions I had with industry partners who were also present. These interactions illustrated the value of research and development in a commercial setting and highlighted potential opportunities for me outside of the academic field." For more on this story visit https://lnkd.in/eiFp5Bm4

Researchers at the University of Oxford, Department of Physics and John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science have taken a step closer to demonstrating a new generation of high-repetition-rate laser-driven particle accelerators. These compact accelerators could drive myriad applications in science, medicine, and industry. Laser-driven plasma accelerators can now routinely generate electron beams with energies comparable to today’s stadium-sized synchrotron and free-electron lasers. However, the number of applications of LPAs is limited by the low pulse repetition rate, and low “wall-plug” efficiency of the lasers used to drive them. In a recent paper published in Physical Review Research, researchers at Oxford have demonstrated a key step in a novel approach that could overcome this problem; their work enables LPAs to be driven by advanced industrial laser systems that operate at repetition rates at least 100 times greater than the lasers used today. https://lnkd.in/enTgnc6W

We look forward to playing our part in such an important project.

Adrian Oeftiger will join the John Adams Institute as an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. Adrian specialises in collective beam dynamics for high-energy and high-intensity hadron accelerators, following the goal to overcome today’s performance limitations and predict those of tomorrow. To this end, Adrian’s research combines dedicated experiments at large accelerator facilities with accurate numerical simulation modelling and high-performance computing techniques. His works identify the mechanisms behind resonances as well as beam instabilities, he proposes novel diagnostic techniques and develops strategies to mitigate these harmful collective effects. JAI Director Professor Philip Burrows commented: "We warmly welcome Adrian and his family to Oxford! The JAI will be greatly strengthened with Adrian's expertise in hadron-beam dynamics. We look forward to working with him on advancing the UK's hadron-accelerator programme, not least via our support for the High-Luminosity Large hadron Collider at CERN as well as for ISIS Neutron and Muon Source and its proposed upgrade at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory."

Our Oxford Physics students are looking forward to this. Looks excellent.

What is an X-ray free electron laser?  What would a next generation XFEL mean for UK science and industry?  We asked experts from across the scientific community to answer these questions and to consider what access to a next generation XFEL would mean for them and their work.  Professor Sir Peter Knight from Imperial College London is the first in our series of experts discussing XFELs – watch his video below.  👉 If you want to learn more about the UK XFEL project and how it could benefit your research, your institute or your industry, join us at our next free event. There is an overarching theme of energy, environment and climate technologies, but there are also lots of opportunities to find out more about XFELs in general and to discuss your thoughts around what kind of facility would work for you.   📌 Date: 4-5 June  📌Venue: University of Sheffield  Free tickets: https://lnkd.in/e8n9KN_B  

PhD Success! Congratulations to Pablo Arrutia who on 6th March 2024 successfully defended his thesis, titled "Advanced RF techniques for CERN's future slow-extracted beams": "In my research, I worked on the delivery of 400 GeV protons from the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) to the experimental users in CERN's North Area. Specifically, I explored a new slow-extraction scheme to provide a one-second proton spill to the recently approved SHiP experiment. SHiP will search for feebly interacting long-lived particles, requiring unprecedented yields achievable only with an increase of protons on target per year and optimised spill quality. My work investigated the use of radio-frequency manipulations to address some of the beam-dynamics challenges arising from such a request . My findings were additionally leveraged to improve the current performance of the SPS and have sparked interest in the medical community, where similar techniques are used in the context of cancer therapy."

Want to work for the IOP? We're looking for a Science and Innovation Manager to support us on our mission to help physics and the physics community deliver on their potential for our lives, our society and our planet. You will be: ➡️ Curating strategic relationships across our membership, academia, business, government, intermediaries and funders ➡️ Delivering roundtables, road mapping sessions, surveys and consultations to gather evidence and build better insights on physics R&D, skills, facilities and business support ➡️ Producing compelling reports that enable the IOP to advocate for and support physics innovation and R&D, champion diversity in research and innovation, and celebrate physics Applications close 14 April. Find out more and apply today: https://lnkd.in/ewPacN-D #careers #hiring #opportunities