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Large, powerful magnets are a vital component of particle accelerators. The general rule is, the stronger the magnetic field, the better. For many particle accelerator applications, it is as important how fast a magnet can reach its peak strength and then ramp down again. A team at Fermilab now has achieved the world’s fastest ramping rates for accelerator magnets using high-temperature superconductors.
Inspired by the achievements of Jim Gates, currently Ford Foundation professor and director of the Brown University Theoretical Physics Center, the new Fermilab Sylvester James Gates, Jr. Fellowship prioritizes the inclusion of first-generation college graduates, and the representation of historically and contemporarily minoritized individuals underrepresented in theoretical physics.
Accelerator experts at three national labs have advanced the next generation of cryomodules, the building blocks of particle accelerators. A prototype built for the high-energy upgrade of SLAC’s LCLS-II X-ray laser has advanced the state of the art, packing more acceleration into a smaller distance, and could dramatically improve future accelerators.
Creating a hypersensitive dark matter detector in a clean lab more than a mile underground is no mean feat in and of itself. Add a closed border and COVID restrictions to the mix, and you have the scenario that Fermilab, SNOLAB and the SENSEI collaboration faced. Undeterred, they found a way to proceed with installation.