There are almost 50,000 particle accelerators in the world, ranging from the linear accelerators used for cancer therapy in modern hospitals to the giant ‘atom-smashers’ at international particle physics laboratories used to unlock the secrets of creation.
Accelerator and beam physics is a broad discipline that draws on concepts from linear and nonlinear mechanics, electrodynamics, special relativity, plasma physics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics.
This course covers the fundamental physical principles of particle accelerators, with a focus on basic beam dynamics and beam diagnostics. It teaches the fundamental concepts of the most commonly used accelerator types, beam motion and diagnostics. The course links these concepts to the current research programmes of the Liverpool Accelerator Group, based at the Cockcroft Institute.