Magnets for Muon 6D Helical Cooling Channels

This project will develop the magnets needed to create bright muon beams for many applications ranging from scientific accelerators and storage rings, to beams to study material properties and new sources of energy. The Helical Cooling Channel (HCC), a new technique for six-dimensional (6D) cooling of muon beams using a continuous absorber inside superconducting magnets, has shown considerable promise based on analytic and simulation studies. The implementation of this method of muon cooling requires high field superconducting magnets that provide superimposed solenoid, helical dipole, and helical quadrupole fields. This project will develop and design a magnet system for a 6D muon beam cooling channel. In Phase I, an engineering study showed the Helical Solenoid (HS) invention to be superior to the conventional approach to the HCC. The Phase II project will develop the concepts and engineering designs of HCC systems that use HS magnets to incorporate the most appropriate superconductor technologies, with special emphasis on the use of High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) for high fields at low temperature. The HS concepts will be developed to incorporate RF cavities for practical HCC designs. Numerical simulations will be used to optimize and verify the muon cooling behavior of the HCC designs. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: The new magnet system will support energy frontier muon colliders, Higgs and neutrino factories, muon stopping beams for studies of rare fundamental interactions and muon-catalyzed fusion, and muon sources for cargo screening for homeland security.