Particle accelerators are hugely useful in scientific research, but – like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – usually take up vast amounts of room. A remarkable new system developed at the University of Texas in Austin could change this.
In experiments, researchers were able to use their particle accelerator to generate an electron beam with an energy of 10 billion electron volts (10 GeV) in a chamber measuring just 10 centimeters (4 inches).
The complete instrument measures 20 meters (66 feet) from end to end. In comparison, other particle accelerators that can generate 10 GeV beams are some 3 kilometers (almost 2 miles) in length – about 150 times as long.
Comments are closed.