Ionization Cooling Using Parametric Resonances

75496-If the case for a muon collider as the next energy frontier machine can be made compelling, it becomes a candidate to be added to other options for the High Energy Physics community. However, the proton drivers used to produce the required muon intensity are expensive and difficult, and the decays of the large number of muons in the storage ring make experiments extremely difficult. The key is to produce beams with much smaller sizes so that high luminosity can be achieved with fewer muons. Muon collider luminosity depends on the number of muons in the storage ring and on the transverse size of the beams in collision. As presently envisioned, ionization cooling will not cool the beam sizes sufficiently well to provide adequate luminosity without large muon intensities. This project will explore a new idea to combine ionization cooling with parametric resonances leading to beams with much smaller sizes. In Phase I, computer simulations will be used to confirm the general analytical predictions. Critical technical issues will be identified for computational and experimental investigation in Phase II. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: If the new cooling system works and beam sizes can be reduced, the requirements for muon production rates may be relaxed enough to make a future muon collider feasible. The muon collider could then be developed by modifying existing or future machines at reduced costs and accelerated schedules.