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Author archive: Rika Takahashi

Collaboration between India and Japan for SCRF technology

| 10 April 2008 India's Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) is a leading institute for research and development in lasers, accelerators and their applications. In the Indian government's current five-year plan (April 2007-April 2012), building infrastructure and developing the technology of niobium superconducting radiofrequency (SCRF) cavities are the two major objectives for high-energy physics and accelerator-related projects. Following this plan, RRCAT wants to build its own electropolishing (EP) facility in India, and three scientists visited Japan to participate in the commissioning of the new EP system at KEK. Category: Feature | Tagged: , , , ,

Polishing the safety standards

| 27 March 2008 Superconducting cavities are the core, the heartbeat of the International Linear Collider. Their inside will be polished to literally make them sparkle without any speck of dust or crack because these could cause a decline of performance of the accelerator. There are several methods to polish the inside of the cavities, and electropolishing (EP) is one of them. The new EP system at KEK has started its test-run in January, and scientists are gathering basic data to evaluate the machine's capability. Category: Around the World | Tagged: ,

Meet Kazuko Toyomura

| 28 February 2008 Kazuko Toyomura has been assisting KEK's ILC activity for four years, and since Sakue Yamada was appointed as a Research Director last October, her involvement has become even deeper. “She is not 'officially' assigned as secretary for the International Detector Advisory Group (IDAG), but she has been taking care of my activities,” says Yamada. Toyomura is a secretary for the Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies at KEK. Other than her new role in ILC detector community, Toyomura is managing the day-to-day activities for KEK's ILC detector and ZEUS experimental groups, including travel arrangements, guests and visitors support, and helping post-doc students. Category: Around the World | Tagged: ,

Looking inside

| 21 February 2008 At the ILC, roughly 16,000 superconducting RF cavities made of pure niobium will accelerate electrons and positrons to the high energy of 500 GeV. Each one-metre-long cavity consists of nine cells, polished to provide micrometre-level surface smoothness and absolutely no impurities. The inside of the cavities need to literally sparkle since any surface blemishes or dust could cause them to lose their superconductivity, making them unable to sustain the electric field needed to accelerate particles. ILC scientists around the world are devoted to trying to get a higher yield rate for producing good-quality cavities by improving surface treatment methods and inspection procedures. A group of scientists from Kyoto University and KEK jointly developed the novel inspection system to take a close look at the interior surface of the cavities, and produced remarkable results. Category: Feature | Tagged: , , , , ,

Attract a younger generation

| 24 January 2008 From 7 to 11 January, the first school on the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) technology was held at the China Center for Advanced Science and Technology (CCAST) in Beijing. Over 50 students, young scientists and senior researchers from Asia and the rest of the world gathered to learn and discuss about TPC Technology for the International Linear Collider. Category: Around the World | Tagged: ,

Podcasting the ILC

| 29 November 2007 Blogs, Social Network Services, Podcasting, Social Bookmarks -- these types of social media have become influential sources of information. Some might say that they have as much influential power as the conventional media. Scientists working on the International Linear Collider are catching on too and realise that podcasting is another way to promote the proposed project to a non-scientific audience. Category: Around the World | Tagged: ,

One world, one dream

| 15 November 2007 New expressways and subways are under construction. New hotels and apartment buildings are popping up. This city with a population of over 15 million people, which is already big enough, is getting ready for the coming year of increasing visitors who will attend the Olympic Games. This is Beijing. Category: Feature | Tagged: , , ,

An alternative with many applications

| 8 November 2007 The R&D for an ILC positron source using a laser-compton scheme is ongoing around the world. The efforts in Europe and Asia complement each other. In Europe, scientists are pursuing R&D for the laser path stacking cavity, a complicated, highly sophisticated system with four mirrors. In Asia, scientists aim to accumulate experience in gamma ray generation with simpler cavity structures. They also want to gain experience in installing these cavities into damping rings with high quality beams without degrading its quality. Category: Feature | Tagged: ,

Getting to know you – Research Director Sakue Yamada

| 4 October 2007 “My direct work with Sakue goes back to the early 80s. I was a PhD student at the PETRA electron-positron storage ring at DESY,” says Karlheinz Meier, Professor of the University of Heidelberg. He is also a member of the International Linear Collider Steering Committee, and he chaired the sub-committee to nominate the newly appointed Research Director Sakue Yamada. Category: Feature | Tagged: , ,

Kicking off a new phase

| 20 September 2007 Since their appointment in May, the three Global Design Effort Project Managers have been busy scheduling and planning the Engineering Design Report kick-off meetings. Since mid-August they have been touring the world for these meetings. Their purpose is, of course, to kick-start the engineering design phase of the International Linear Collider. During one of these recent meetings, from 10-14 September, the members of the ILC community gathered at KEK to discuss conventional facilities and siting, cryomodules and cryogenics. Category: Feature | Tagged: ,