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SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Paper S-114

•Mr.D.A. Meyers,.

From ................

.B. ...... Funt,

..)........

ofSenate .

Dean of Science.

Subject ....................... TRIUMF

Date .... ............

February

I suggest that for the March meeting of Senate, the

question of TRIUMF be placed on the agenda. In addition to

the need of Senate being aware of the implication of this

major project, it is important that we develop a policy

towards:

(1)

staff appointments funded completely from external

research funds,

(2)

status of the appointments should the external

funding cease.

enc.

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

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TRI -UNIVERSITY MESON FACILIT-Y

.PL

The

TRRJMF

Project

C_^ 71

proton area

lens

meson

producing target/

proton beam

neutron

bending

The "Tr-University Meson Facility"

(TRIUMF)

will

enable nuclear scientists on Canada's West Coast to

pioneer a major new field of science, intermediate

energy physics, by a major breakthrough in the tech-

nology of accelerators, the sector-focused H

—

cyclotron.

The conjunction of the right field and the right machine

comes at the right time to continue the growth of the

presently strong nuclear research programme in British

Columbia into one of the best in the world. The project

is proposed by a group of 36 scientists who are staff

members of the three West Coast universities in British

Columbia: the University of British Columbia, Simon

Fraser University, the University of Victoria. A measure

of the opportunity which TRIUMF offers is the decision

by the nuclear physicists at the University of Alberta

(Edmonton) to work with TRIUMF in lieu of other

major plans. TRIUMF is expected to be the first

project of its kind to be completed anywhere in the

world. As such it will attract scientists and graduate

students from across Canada and abroad. As a by-

product to its nuclear science TRIUMF will provide

major facilities for chemistry and materials science.

The development of the project offers challenges to

Canadian industry and the TRIUMF research pro-

gramme promises to stimulate the development of

new industry and technology in British Columbia.

The Research Facility

p1 meson area

mu meson area\\\\

bending

magnet

path of

stripping

W particles magnet poles

foil

H — Cyclotron with Experimental Area

Beams: Protons: Energy 200-500 MeV, Current 100 micro-

amperes, duty cycle

100%

Pi-mesons

Mu-mesons

Neutrons; Thermal Flux of 10 13

neutrons/cm2sec

The research facility for TRIUMF consists of an

accelerator and an experimental area as shown on

the drawing. It would be located on a site given to

the project by the University of British Columbia.

The TRIUMF accelerator is a new version of a cyclo-

tron. As in all cyclotrons, electrically charged particles

of low energy are brought into the machine at its

center between the poles of a large magnet. The

magnet guides the particles in a circular path. A

suitably designed electric field boosts the energy of

the particles, each boost making them travel in larger

circles so that they spiral outward, as shown, until

the particles achieve a high energy at the outer edge of

the machine. Two very recent innovations make it

possible to achieve an intense beam of particles out-

beam dump

side the cyclotron. The first of these is the unusual

shape of the magnet consisting of six spiral sectors

as shown in the drawing. This keeps the particles in

step with the boosting mechanism and allows an al-

most unbroken stream of particles to pass through

the machine. The second is the use of negative hydro-

gen ions (H

—

ions) which are produced from hydrogen

atoms by adding an extra electron instead of removing

one to leave a proton. The use of the H ions makes

it now possible to get almost all of the accelerated

particles out of the cyclotron. At the outer edge of the

machine a stripping foil removes the two electrons

from each H

—

particle, changing it into a proton. Be-

cause the proton has an electric charge opposite to

that of the H

—

ion, the magnetic field makes it swing

S . PA

.out of the machine as shown. Both of these innova-

tions have been successfully tested in the last two

years in machines producing proton beams of energy

about 50 MeV. TRIUMF would be the first project to

extend this use to the higher energies (500 MeV)

required to produce the unusual kinds of subatomic

particles called mesons. The proton beams of TRIUMF

would have an intensity 1000 times greater than that

of any existing machine at this energy.

The various beams available in the TRIUMF experi-

mental area are shown on the drawing. Secondary

beams of mesons are produced when the proton beam

passes through a suitable target. Experiments with

the proton beam itself can be carried out simultane-

ously. The neutrons produced in the beam dump

yield a flux of thermal neutrons comparable to that

of a nuclear reactor. For all of these beams TRIUMF

yields a higher intensity than any existing accelerator

facility. No other project planned anywhere in the

world has all the beam qualities listed in the drawing.

Research Staff and Graduate Training

The TRIUMF Study Group now includes 42 physi-

cists and chemists on the staff of the four participating

universities. Members of this group presently have

about 90 graduate students. When the project comes

into full operation (1972) these numbers might grow

to 90 staff members (including 20 postdoctoral fel-

lows) and 180 graduate students. In addition the

machine will be staffed by about 80 technical per-

sonnel. It will provide an ideal research opportunity

for many of the large numbers of graduate students

in science expected by 1972.

Research Aims

As the first facility with very intense beams of

mesons and high energy protons TRIUMF would open

up new areas in the understanding of nuclear pro-

cesses, contribute to the long-range exploitation of

nuclear energy and provide new tools for materials

science.

The atomic nucleus consists of fundamental build-

ing blocks, neutrons and protons, held together by

the very strong nuclear forces which provide nuclear

energy. These forces act through the exchange of

other subatomic particles (called mesons) between

the neutrons and the protons. The hierarchy of par-

ticles and forces is still a scientific mystery whose study

constitutes the field of elementary particle physics—

pursued throughout the world with large accelerators

of much higher energy but much loNer intensity than

that of TRIUMF. On the other hand, the structure of

atomic nuclei, whose study constitutes the field of

nuclear physics, has been pursued with low energy

accelerators (energy below 100 MeV). TRIUMF aims

to straddle the unexplored middle ground between the

two fields. Some of the research problems in this new

•fleld of intermediate energy physics are:

1) photographing the structure of nuclei with new

tools capable of providing much clearer pictures than

heretofore; the nucleus exhibits an astonishingly rich

variety of substructures and changes in shos

understanding will extend nuclear technology and tell

us more about the interior of stars;

probing new sources of nuclear energy, for

example the release of neutrons in the collisions of

high energy proton beams with heavy nuclei;

forming new nuclear systems consisting of

atomic nuclei with added mesons; many major sur-

prises are expected in such systems;

4) examining the structure of the mesons them.

selves under more controlled conditions than are pos-

sible with the weak beams presently available;

The above list will grow—many of the greatest

rewards in such a new field of science cannot be

anticipated now.

The proton and meson beams of TRIUMF would

be useful in many new chemistry experiments studying

the deposition of energy in materials. The neutrons.

in the beam dump would be used, like those from a

nuclear reactor, to study the structure and vibrations

of matter, to make radioctive isotopes, for the analysis

of metallurgical and other specimens for industry and

research. TRIUMF would offer the first such facilities

in Western Canada.

Side Benefits for Industry

Major components of the facility include six 600

ton steel magnet cores, two 50 ton water-cooled hollow.

conductor coils, a 25 Mc/sec radiofrequency accelerat-

ing system, a large high vacuum system, an ion source

and injection system, beam focusing magnets, beam

bending magnets, etc.

The coils will require 2 megawatts of highly stable

D.C. electric power. Another 2 megawatts is needed

for the radiofrequency system. The total power re-

quired for the facility may rise to as much as 10

megawatts.

It is clear that TRIUMF will provide a challenge

to awide variety of Canadian industry. The operation

of the project will require many new research tools

which will encourage the development of local in-

dustries particularly in the area of electronics and

instrumentation.

Timetable and Cost

The project will take 5 years to build. The

design study has shown that construction will cost

$19,000,000. Of these costs $4,000,000 are for a

building, $8,000,000 for the accelerator and control

system and $7,000,000 for the beam transport system,

moveable shielding and other items associated with

the experimental area. The project would require

about $3,000,000 in annual operating costs after

completion.

TRIUMF constitutes an opportunity for a major

research facility, unique on the world scene; it enjoys

unparalleled cooperation of scientists from four uni-

versities whose enthusiasm for the project forecasts an

exciting and stimulating period in Western Canada.

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A model magnet (one-twentieth scale), its 150 kilowatt power supply and

computerized measuring equipment being used to design the TRIUMF accelerator.