RA post re Ken Long's MICE Spokesperson position

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics

Abstract

Neutrinos are three different but related particles; their ability to turn into each other has given physicists their first glimpse of the physics which they know must lie beyond the Standard Model. Investigation of the physics which underlies their properties will: deepen our understanding of how the Universe developed after the Big Bang; how the current asymmetry between matter and anti-matter developed from a situation where they were created in equal amounts in the Big Bang; and help us to understand what happens when a supernova explodes showering the cosmos with the heavy elements necessary for planets and life itself to form.

In order to understand their properties, we must build an accelerator capable of creating neutrinos in immense numbers. They must have energy between well-defined limits and the mixture of different types must be very precisely known. Such a facility, known as the Neutrino Factory, would be revolutionary and to build one is challenging, both from the point of view of the particle detectors that must be built, and the engineering problems that must be overcome. This programme needs a worldwide collaboration and it is one in which physicists and engineers from the UK are playing a leading role.

Neutrinos are created from a beam of muons and the muons themselves are produced from the decay of pions produced by the collision of protons with a metal target. The muon beam produced in this way is large and highly divergent. To make an intense beam of neutrinos requires that the size and divergence of the beam must be reduced. The resulting beam can be accelerated and stored such that when the muons decay an intense beam of high-energy neutrinos is produced. The muons only live for 2.2 microseconds when at rest, and even when they are accelerated and their lifetime is extended by the effect of relativity, there is little time to manipulate them so that they can be accelerated efficiently. The international Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration is constructing a section of accelerator that has been designed to demonstrate that the size of the muon beam an be reduced efficiently.

MICE is under construction at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. A beam of muons is created by the ISIS accelerator. Muons pass one by one through the experiment. First their position and momentum is measured in a spectrometer. Then, the muons pass through a vessel filled with liquid hydrogen, where they loose energy by ionising the hydrogen molecules. A short accelerator section restores the energy, accelerating the particles along the beam direction. The result of thus process is to reduce the random sideways motion of the muons, thereby "cooling" the beam; the system which performs the cooling is known as the cooling cell.

The first stage was to build a system capable of producing a muon beam whose size and divergence could be adjusted before it enters the cooling channel. This has been completed. The second stage is to finish construction of the cooling channel itself and to provide a system to measure very accurately the position and momentum of each muon before and after it has passed through the cooling channel. By looking at many muons produced in many different conditions, it will be possible to determine how much cooling has been produced by the channel.

This experiment which is pushing the boundaries of what is possible with materials, magnets and cooling technologies, is a collaboration between particle physicists and accelerator physicists and will demonstrate the UK's ability to host an experiment at the forefront of science and engineering.

Planned Impact

MICE is a large, capital construction project. A significant part of the investment in the project has been used to source products and materials in British industry. For example, of the £4.50M non-staff spend in Phase I of the project, approximately £4.09M was used to source materials and equipment in the UK.

The UK is responsible for the procurement of the focus-coil modules that focus the muon beam at the centre of the liquid-hydrogen absorbers. Each focus-coil module contains two coils capable of producing a field of 5 T on axis. The coils will be kept cold using closed-cycle refrigerators (cryocoolers), a novel technique requiring considerable development. TESLA Engineering based in Surrey won the contract to provide the focus coils. Engineers and physicists from Technology Department at RAL and the University of Oxford are working with TESLA to ensure that the design and its implementation will yield a magnet fit for purpose in MICE. The expertise gained by TESLA will be applicable in the construction of magnets for other applications. In addition, the UK is responsible for the provision of liquid hydrogen to each of the three absorber-modules. The hydrogen delivery system uses state-of-the-art hydride-bed technology and liquefaction is performed with cryocoolers. The development of the systems for MICE will be carried out in collaboration with industry to the benefit of the hydrogen economy.

The MICE programme is varied, encompassing the development of numerical methods and simulation techniques, the development of accelerator hardware (from conventional transfer lines to the development of novel superconducting magnets), the construction of a novel, pion-production target, the development of hydrogen-handling systems, the provision of RF power, and the construction of state of the art diagnostics. Further, the implementation of the large and complicated project has allowed members of the collaboration to develop project management and integration engineering skills.

MICE is an integral part of the Proton Accelerators for Science and Innovation initiative, putting the UK firmly at the heart of the community that seeks to develop the technology required to produce high intensity muon beams suitable for use in the Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider. MICE has created a UK community capable of delivering large and complex projects in an international environment.

Substantial contributions to the experiment in equipment, personnel, and intellectual input are being made by the international collaboration. To date, the international collaboration has provided the muon decay solenoid, beam-line instrumentation (scintillators and scintillating-fibre based beam-position monitors), three time-of-flight hodoscopes, two Cherenkov detectors, a lead-scintillator pre-shower detector, a prototype of the Electron Muon Ranger, the tracker readout and cryogenic systems, three high-power RF amplifiers, and the data-acquisition system. Over the period of the award, the international collaboration will provide the second spectrometer solenoid, the liquid-hydrogen absorbers, and develop the RF-cavity/coupling-coil modules required to complete the cooling cell. The total value of these contributions, through hard to estimate, is in excess of £30M.

By making a success of the MICE project, the UK has gained substantial influence in the international muon accelerators for particle physics community. The leverage opportunity for the future will be to forge appropriate partnerships with those laboratories or collaborations wishing to develop the Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider as options for the field. This is being taken forward through the EC FP7 Preparatory Phase Project TIARA in which funds have been secured to turn the infrastructure that supports the MICE experiment into the Ionization Cooling Test Facility (the ICTF).

Publications

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Long K (2016) The status of the construction of MICE Step IV in Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings

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Dobbs A (2016) The reconstruction software for the MICE scintillating fibre trackers in Journal of Instrumentation

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Heidt C (2016) The Physics Program of MICE Step IV in Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings

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Long K (2018) The nuSTORM experiment in Journal of Physics: Conference Series

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Bayliss V (2018) The liquid-hydrogen absorber for MICE in Journal of Instrumentation

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Bayliss V (2019) The liquid-hydrogen absorber for MICE in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering

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Booth C (2016) The design and performance of an improved target for MICE in Journal of Instrumentation

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Athar M (2022) Status and perspectives of neutrino physics in Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics

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Adams D (2016) Pion contamination in the MICE muon beam in Journal of Instrumentation

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Adey D (2017) Overview of the Neutrinos from Stored Muons Facility - nuSTORM in Journal of Instrumentation

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Chakraborty K (2021) New physics at nuSTORM in Physical Review D

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Lagrange J (2017) Neutrinos from a pion beam line: nuPIL in Journal of Physics: Conference Series

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Bogomilov M (2014) Neutrino factory in Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams

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Bogomilov M (2022) Multiple Coulomb scattering of muons in lithium hydride in Physical Review D

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Martyniak J (2014) MICE data handling on the Grid in Journal of Physics: Conference Series

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Blackmore V (2015) MICE and nuSTORM in Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings

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Asfandiyarov R (2019) MAUS: the MICE analysis user software in Journal of Instrumentation

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Zarrebini-Esfahani A (2017) Experimental analysis of surface finish in normal conducting cavities in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

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Adams D (2015) Electron-muon ranger: performance in the MICE muon beam in Journal of Instrumentation

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Stratakis D (2014) Conceptual design and modeling of particle-matter interaction cooling systems for muon based applications in Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams

 
Description Muons are fundamental particles. Their mass is 200 times that of the electron. They are unstable and decay to produce electron and muon neutrinos. These properties make muons the ideal as a source of neutrinos for beams designed to serve experiments that will be able to study the properties of the neutrino with exquisite precision. In addition, muon may be accelerated to very high energy, allowing leptwn-antilepton collisions at energies much larger than can be achieved using electrons to be conceived.
Exploitation Route We have developed and characterised an experiment designed to demonstrate that the size of a beam of muons can be controlled using a process known as ionization cooling. The data acquired during the operation of the experiment is being prepared for publication. Over the past year the seminal demonstration of ionisation cooling has been published in Nature. The result is important since it provides the basis on which future development of muon beams of high brightness can be developed. In addition it places Imperial and the UK in an excellent position of leadership in the field.
Sectors Healthcare

Other

URL https://micewww.pp.rl.ac.uk/projects/mice/wiki/For_the_public
 
Description Various publications and proceedings have used the results. The progress of the MICE experiment and developments such as nuSTORM build on the achievements. The opportunity to develop the accelerator R&D activity at Imperial through the development of novel techniques for radiobiology and for clinical application has arisen out of our work on proton-accerator design and component design and development. This has led to the formation of the interdisciplinary Centre for the Clinical Application of particles which is a collaboration of personnel the Faculty of Medicine, the Imperial Academic Health Science Centre, the Department of Physics, the Imperial CRUK Cancer Centre, the Institute of Cancer Research, the John Adams Institute and the Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology.
First Year Of Impact 2010
Sector Other
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

 
Description Centre for the Clinical Application of Particles 
Organisation Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Hospitals 
PI Contribution The collaboration will develop techniques and technologies by which to apply particle detection and acceleration techniques to radiobiology and clinical applications.
Collaborator Contribution The partners provide clinical, biological, oncological and accelerator-science expertise.
Impact So far we are setting up the research portfolio. Concrete outcomes will follow.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Centre for the Clinical Application of Particles 
Organisation Imperial College London
Department Cancer Research UK Imperial Centre
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution The collaboration will develop techniques and technologies by which to apply particle detection and acceleration techniques to radiobiology and clinical applications.
Collaborator Contribution The partners provide clinical, biological, oncological and accelerator-science expertise.
Impact So far we are setting up the research portfolio. Concrete outcomes will follow.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Centre for the Clinical Application of Particles 
Organisation Institute of Cancer Research UK
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The collaboration will develop techniques and technologies by which to apply particle detection and acceleration techniques to radiobiology and clinical applications.
Collaborator Contribution The partners provide clinical, biological, oncological and accelerator-science expertise.
Impact So far we are setting up the research portfolio. Concrete outcomes will follow.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Centre for the Clinical Application of Particles 
Organisation University of Oxford
Department CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The collaboration will develop techniques and technologies by which to apply particle detection and acceleration techniques to radiobiology and clinical applications.
Collaborator Contribution The partners provide clinical, biological, oncological and accelerator-science expertise.
Impact So far we are setting up the research portfolio. Concrete outcomes will follow.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Centre for the Clinical Application of Particles 
Organisation University of Oxford
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The collaboration will develop techniques and technologies by which to apply particle detection and acceleration techniques to radiobiology and clinical applications.
Collaborator Contribution The partners provide clinical, biological, oncological and accelerator-science expertise.
Impact So far we are setting up the research portfolio. Concrete outcomes will follow.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Development of particle accelerator and detector technologies for clinical and radiobiological applications 
Organisation Medaustron
Country Austria 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Collaboration has been established with Medustron, Wiener Neustadt, Austria for work on the development of accelerator and detector systems for radiobiology and clinical applications. In the first instance we have agreed to collaborate through the placement of a graduate student at MedAustron.
Collaborator Contribution MedAustron will support the graduate with accommodation during his long-term attachment.
Impact To date we have agreed the parameters of the collaboration. Concrete outcomes will follow.
Start Year 2018
 
Description Development of proton and muon accelerators for science and innovation 
Organisation STFC Laboratories
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Development of accelerators for pulsed high-power proton sources, study of beam loss in synchrotron, design of FFAG muon ring for neutrino cross section measurements. Development of beam delivered to MICE at RAL. Organisation of Proton Accelerators for Science and Innovation workshops.
Collaborator Contribution Provision of infrastructure and expertise in the above. Collaboration in organisation of the Proton Accelerator for Science and Innovation workshops.
Impact Joint proposals for research work. Joint publications, listed elsewhere.
Start Year 2020
 
Description Development of proton and muon accelerators for science and innovation 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC)
Department ISIS Neutron and Muon Source
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of accelerators for pulsed high-power proton sources, study of beam loss in synchrotron, design of FFAG muon ring for neutrino cross section measurements. Development of beam delivered to MICE at RAL. Organisation of Proton Accelerators for Science and Innovation workshops.
Collaborator Contribution Provision of infrastructure and expertise in the above. Collaboration in organisation of the Proton Accelerator for Science and Innovation workshops.
Impact Joint proposals for research work. Joint publications, listed elsewhere.
Start Year 2020
 
Description John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London 
Organisation Imperial College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Co-development of the conceptual design of a novel, laser-driven compact, accelerator system for biomedical applications.
Collaborator Contribution The vision of the LhARA collaboration is to develop a laser-driven proton- and opn-beam source capable of driving a step change in capability in the delivery of beams for biological research and in clinical practice. The laser pulse that initiates the production of ions at LhARA may be triggered at a repetition rate of up to 10\,Hz. The time structure of the beam may therefore be varied to interrupt the chemical and biological pathways that determine the biological response to ionising radiation with 10\,ns to 40\,ns long proton or ion bunches repeated at intervals as small as 100\,ms. The technologies chosen to capture, transport, and accelerate the beam in LhARA have been made so that this unique capability is preserved. The LhARA beam may be used to deliver an almost uniform dose distribution over a circular area with a maximum diameter of between 1\,cm and 3\,cm. Alternatively the beam can be focused to a spot with diameter of $\sim 1$\,mm. Th ambition of the collaboration is to demonstrate in operation technologies that have the potential to be developed to make ``best in class'' treatments available to the many by reducing the footprint of future particle-beam therapy systems. The laser-hybrid approach will allow radiobiological studies and eventually radiotherapy to be carried out in completely new regimes, delivering a variety of ion species in a broad range of time structures and spatial configurations at instantaneous dose rates up to and potentially significantly beyond the current ultra-high dose-rate ``FLASH'' regime.
Impact The LhARA consortium is the multidisciplinary collaboration of clinical oncologists, medical and academic physicists, biologists, engineers, and industrialists.
Start Year 2020
 
Description MICE beam line, dipping target and beam line, tracker and MICE Step I data analysis 
Organisation International MICE Collaboration
Country Global 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Construction of, and control systems for the MICE target, construction of the MICE Muon Beam. Construction, commissioning with cosmics, of the MICE tracker. Analysis of data from the MICE experiment and preparation for publication.
Collaborator Contribution Contributions to the MICE dipping target, the decay solenoid and conventional magnet systems. Readout for the tracker and contributions to the commissioning. Development of algorithms for the analysis of MICE data and publication.
Impact Publications in refereed journals (2); many talks at international conferences.
 
Description Hands-on schools engagement programme at Neutrino 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact School pupils were invited to activities at the Wohl Reachout Lab at Imperial for carious hands-on activities on astro-physics and particle physics. The event was organised in conjunction with the 2016 Neutrino conference in South Kensington.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description MICE mural, competition for schools 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Schools across the UK were contacted by Imperial Schools Liaison and the IoP Schools Liaison to invite entries for a mural to be painted on the MICE shielding wall. The schools were invited to events at RAL to promote the competition. Prizes for the winners were presented by Brian Cox and Art McDonald (Nobel Laureate) at the public lecture at the Neutrino 2016 conference in London.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Public Lecture at Neutrino 2016 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Brian Cox presented the public lecture to a packed audience (750, the maximum the Hall could accommodate) at the Neutrino 2016 conference in South Kensington in Jun2016.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Public engagement at the time of the publication of the seminal MICE demonstration of ionisation cooling in Nature 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Working with CERN, Fermilab, the STFC and others a press release was prepared to mark the publication of the seminal demonstration of ionisation cooling in Nature.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://micewww.pp.rl.ac.uk/projects/mice/wiki/For_the_public