The Brookhaven National Laboratory, under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is set to house the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). This unique facility aims to unlock secrets of the atomic nucleus and explore nature's strongest force. The EIC is being developed in collaboration with DOE’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and will incorporate one ion accelerator ring from Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) alongside new components like an electron accelerator ring.
Haixin Huang, an accelerator physicist leading the APEX studies at RHIC, stated, “We run accelerator physics experiments, or APEX studies, at RHIC every other week for about 16 hours.” These studies have historically focused on improving RHIC's performance but have shifted towards EIC-related topics since 2020 when Brookhaven was chosen as the site for the new collider.
The APEX team has reported several successful experiments impacting EIC design. One key goal is achieving high luminosity by flattening particle beams to increase collision chances between protons/ions and electrons. Yun Luo, coordinating these efforts, noted that "the overlapping region for the electron and proton in the EIC collisions will be much smaller than in RHIC collisions."
Another focus is beam cooling to enhance luminosity by keeping particles tightly packed. Alexei Fedotov leads an approach using cool electrons to extract heat from ion beams. Luo explained that this method would pre-cool ion beams before acceleration at EIC.
Synchronizing electron and ion beams presents another challenge due to varying proton speeds across energies while electron speed remains constant. Guillaume Robert-Demolaize's team developed a strategy involving precise steering through electric current adjustments in magnets.
Keeping beams stable as they circulate requires addressing interactions within the accelerator environment. Efforts led by Alexei Blednykh tested beam stability under increased bunch intensity conditions.
Additionally, unwanted electron clouds generated during proton circulation pose risks like heating which could disrupt superconducting magnets. To mitigate this effect, Silvia Verdu Andres tests a beam screen coated with amorphous carbon designed to reduce unwanted electrons.
A study led by Peng Xu addressed potential magnetic interference among EIC’s three magnet rings: one existing ion ring plus two new ones for electrons—leading physicists to modify design parameters accordingly.
Gaining insight into neutrons involves colliding electrons with simple nuclei such as helium-3 instead of directly accelerating them due their lack of charge—a process explored through recent APEX experiments demonstrating minimal impact on polarization measurements according Huang’s findings.
Lastly applying artificial intelligence techniques shows promise optimizing future operations both at RHCI now & eventually when fully transitioned over onto supporting tasks required running upcoming projects planned around building out further enhancements needed expanding capabilities offered via anticipated advancements made possible once operationally ready use upon completion construction phase currently underway ongoing development work continues moving forward steadily toward achieving ultimate goals envisioned originally laid down outset initial planning stages back beginning project inception date prior commencement actual physical implementation aspects associated various elements involved entire undertaking whole enterprise endeavor embarked upon journey undertaken collective effort assembled team dedicated professionals committed seeing success fruition realized end result achieved desired outcome reached target objectives met expectations fulfilled aspirations satisfied 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