The Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) is a particle accelerator of the synchrotron type at CERN. It is housed in a circular tunnel, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) in circumference,[1] straddling the border of France and Switzerland near Geneva, Switzerland.[2]
History
A proton–antiproton collision from the UA5 experiment at the SPS in 1982
The SPS was designed by a team led by John Adams, director-general of what was then known as Laboratory II. Originally specified as a 300 GeV accelerator, the SPS was actually built to be capable of 400 GeV, an operating energy it achieved on the official commissioning date of 17 June 1976. However, by that time, this energy had been exceeded by Fermilab, which reached an energy of 500 GeV on 14 May of that year.[3]
Test beamline delivered from the SPS. In photo 20 GeV positrons are used to calibrate the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
The SPS has been used to accelerate protons and antiprotons, electrons and positrons (for use as the injector for the Large Electron–Positron Collider (LEP)[4]), and heavy ions.
From 1981 to 1991, the SPS operated as a hadron (more precisely, proton–antiproton) collider (as such it was called SppS), when its beams provided the data for the UA1 and UA2 experiments, which resulted in the discovery of the W and Z bosons. These discoveries and a new technique for cooling particles led to a Nobel Prize for Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer in 1984.
From 2006 to 2012, the SPS was used by the CNGS experiment to produce a neutrino stream to be detected at the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy, 730 km from CERN.
Current operations
See also: List of Super Proton Synchrotron experiments
The SPS is now used as the final injector for high-intensity proton beams for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which began preliminary operation on 10 September 2008, for which it accelerates protons from 26 GeV to 450 GeV. The LHC itself then accelerates them to several teraelectronvolts (TeV).
Operation as injector still allows continuation of the ongoing fixed-target research program, where the SPS is used to provide 400 GeV proton beams for a number of active fixed-target experiments, notably COMPASS, NA61/SHINE and NA62.
The SPS has served, and continues to be used as a test bench for new concepts in accelerator physics. In 1999 it served as an observatory for the electron cloud phenomenon.[5] In 2003, SPS was the first machine where the Hamiltonian resonance driving terms were directly measured.[6] And in 2004, experiments to cancel the detrimental effects of beam encounters (like those in the LHC) were carried out.[7]
The SPS RF cavities operate at a center frequency of 200.2 MHz.
Major discoveries
Major scientific discoveries made by experiments that operated at the SPS include the following.
1983: The discovery of W and Z bosons in the UA1 and UA2 experiments.[8] The 1984 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer for the developments that led to this discovery.
1999: The discovery of direct CP violation by the NA48 experiment.[9]
Upgrade for High Luminosity LHC
The Large Hadron Collider will require an upgrade to considerably increase its luminosity during the 2020s. This would require upgrades to the entire linac/pre-injector/injector chain, including the SPS.
As part of this, the SPS will need to be able to handle a much higher intensity beam. One improvement considered in the past was increasing the extraction energy to 1 TeV.[10] However, the extraction energy will be kept at 450 GeV while other systems are upgraded. The acceleration system will be modified to handle the higher voltages needed to accelerate a higher intensity beam. The beam dumping system will also be upgraded so it can accept a higher intensity beam without sustaining significant damage.[11]
Notes and references
SPS Presentation at AB-OP-SPS Home Page
Information on CERN Sites Archived 2012-07-08 at Archive.today. CERN. Updated 2010-01-26.
CERN courier
The LEP Collider - from Design to Approval and Commissioning, by S. Myers, section 3.8. Last accessed 2010-02-28.
observation of e-cloud
Measurement of resonance driving terms Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
wire compensation
"CERN.ch La". Public.web.cern.ch. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
Fanti, V.; et al. (1999). "A new measurement of direct CP violation in two pion decays of the neutral kaon". Physics Letters B. 465 (1–4): 335–348. arXiv:hep-ex/9909022. Bibcode:1999PhLB..465..335F. doi:10.1016/S0370-2693(99)01030-8.
Super-SPS
[1]
vte
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
List of LHC experiments ALICE ATLAS CMS LHCb LHCf MoEDAL TOTEM FASER
Large Electron–Positron Collider (LEP)
List of LEP experiments ALEPH DELPHI OPAL L3
Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS)
List of SPS experiments AWAKE CNGS NA48 NA49 NA58/COMPASS NA60 NA61/SHINE NA62 UA1 UA2 BIBC LEBC HOLEBC
Proton Synchrotron (PS)
PSB LEIR BEBC PS215/CLOUD Gargamelle 2 m Bubble Chamber 30 cm Bubble Chamber 81 cm Saclay Bubble Chamber
Linear accelerators
AWAKE CTF3 CLEAR Linac Linac 2 Linac 3 Linac4
Other accelerators
AA (part of AAC) AC (part of AAC) AD ISOLDE
ISOLTRAP WITCH ISR LEAR
PS210 LEIR LPI (LIL and EPA) n-TOF SC SppS
Non-accelerator experiments
CAST
Future projects
High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider Compact Linear Collider Future Circular Collider
Related articles
LHC@home Safety of high-energy particle collision experiments CERN Courier CERN openlab Worldwide LHC Computing Grid Microcosm exhibition Streets in CERN The Globe of Science and Innovation Particle Fever (2013 documentary)
Category Category
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Super Proton Synchrotron experiments
EMU experiments
EMU1 EMU2 EMU3 EMU4 EMU5 EMU6 EMU7 EMU8 EMU9 EMU10 EMU11 EMU12 EMU13 EMU14 EMU15 EMU16 EMU17 EMU18 EMU19 EMU20
NA experiments
NA1 NA2 NA3 NA4 NA5 NA6 NA7 NA8 NA9 NA10 NA11 NA12/2 NA13 NA14/2 NA15 NA16 NA17 NA18 NA19 NA20 NA21 NA22 NA23 NA24 NA25 NA26 NA27 NA28 NA29 NA30 NA31/2 NA32 NA33 NA34/2/3 NA35 NA36 NA37 NA38 NA39 NA40 NA41 NA42 NA43/2 NA44 NA45/2 NA46 NA47 NA48/1/2 NA49 NA50 NA51 NA52 NA53 NA54 NA55 NA56 NA57 NA58 NA59 NA60 NA61 NA62 NA63
UA experiments
UA1 UA2 UA3 UA4/2 UA5/2 UA6 UA7 UA8 UA9
WA experiments
WA1/2 WA2 WA3 WA4 WA5 WA6 WA7 WA8 WA9 WA10 WA11 WA12 WA13 WA14 WA15 WA16 WA17 WA18/2 WA19 WA20 WA21 WA22 WA23 WA24 WA25 WA26 WA27 WA28 WA29 WA30 WA31 WA32 WA33 WA34 WA35 WA36 WA37 WA38 WA39 WA40 WA41 WA42 WA43 WA44 WA45 WA46 WA47 WA48 WA49 WA50 WA51 WA52 WA53 WA54 WA55 WA56 WA57 WA58 WA59 WA60 WA61 WA62 WA63 WA64 WA65 WA66 WA67 WA68 WA69 WA70 WA71 WA72 WA73 WA74 WA75 WA76 WA77 WA78 WA79 WA80 WA81 WA82 WA83 WA84 WA85 WA86 WA87 WA88 WA89 WA90 WA91 WA92 WA93 WA94 WA95 WA96 WA97 WA98 WA99/2 WA100 WA101 WA102 WA103
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