As hundreds of particle bunches pass through an accelerator, physicists need to steer them into collision at specific locations within the detector’s centre. But given how tiny these particles are, it can happen that beams of particles cross and yet no collisions occur. To maximise the chances of collision at the interaction point, the beams […]
I found the Higgs!
On 2 September, KEK in Japan held a laboratory open house. About 4600 people visited KEK’s Tsukuba campus, one-and-a-half times as many as last year. Presumably one of the reasons for the pushed-up number of visitors was the discovery of Higgs-like particle at CERN. At the ILC exhibit, particle badges exclusively designed for the open […]
Japanese high-energy physics community says go for the linear collider
Research projects in high-energy physics tend to be on larger scales, since they require huge experimental facilities. The realisation of such large-scale projects requires an enormous amount of long-term preparation, and also a big budget. That’s why high-energy physicists have decided the priorities for the future experiments by community-wide discussions. On 8 August, the Japanese […]
Quantity, quality and keeping the resources
Today's issue features a Director's Corner from Kaoru Yokoya, Global Design Effort Asian Regional Director.
Recently, public interest in the International Linear Collider in Japan has rocketed sky high, almost as if it keeps in step with the activity of the Global Design Effort: we are in the final stage of completing the Technical Design Report. One might have noticed that the amount of ILC-related media coverage is increasing in […]
Test facility at KEK becomes an accelerator
On 13 April at KEK’s superconducting radiofrequency test facility (STF), researchers successfully transported beam to the beam dump. The dump, located in the last part of the accelerator, is designed to absorb the energy of particles within accelerated beam. Now STF is no longer a test facility: it is the STF accelerator. STF is an […]
Light in the darkness
KEK staff perform a facility disaster prevention and training at the accelerator test facility (ATF), recreating laboratory conditions in an emergency situation. One resourceful staff member flips open his cell phone for a light source.
Akira Yamamoto: new year, new role
Akira Yamamoto, project manager of the ILC Global Design Effort (GDE), was appointed new head of KEK’s Linear Collider Project Office in Tsukuba, Japan. He has been already wearing two hats since he became one of the three ILC project managers in 2007, since he’s also head of KEK’s cryogenics science centre. He will be […]
Nobu Toge promoted to KEK trustee
On 30 March, KEK announced a management reshuffle for the new term, Japanese fiscal years 2012 to 2014. The ILC programme’s Nobu Toge was appointed as one of the four trustees. Toge is now in charge of planning and evaluating the laboratory’s medium-term objectives, information technology systems and crisis management. He is also responsible for […]
Extracting 1-millisecond beam
At KEK’s superconducting RF test facility, better known as STF, scientists are conducting beam tests of their photocathode RF gun towards beam operation of the accelerator for the Quantum Beam Project. On 22 March, scientists succeeded in the extraction of a 1-millisecond beam for a 162.5-megahertz bunch train. Pictured here is a signal from the […]
A cavity made in KEK’s Cavity Fabrication Facility
To realise the International Linear Collider, scientists need to address many issues. One of the most important is the primary cost driver for the ILC, the superconducting radiofrequency (SCRF) cavity and cryomodule systems. At KEK, the team responsible for SCRF activity intends to seek cost-effective mass-production scenarios for the SCRF cavity. The ILC will have […]