Accelerators
Applications
By far the most common use of particle accelerators is basic research on the composition of matter. The quantities of energy released in such machines are unmatched anywhere on Earth. At these energy levels, new forms of matter are produced that do not exist under ordinary conditions. These forms of matter provide clues about the ultimate structure of matter.
Accelerators have also found some important applications in medical and industrial settings. As particles travel through an accelerator, they give off a form of radiation known as synchrotron radiation. This form of radiation is somewhat similar to x rays and has been used for similar purposes.
Resources
Books
Gribbin, John. Q is for Quantum: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics. New York: The Free Press, 1998.
Livingston, M. Stanley, and John P. Blewett. Particle Accelerators. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
Newton, David E. Particle Accelerators: From the Cyclotron to the Superconducting Super Collider. New York: Franklin Watts, 1989.
Wilson, E.J. N. An Introduction to Particle Accelerators. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001.
Periodicals
Glashow, Sheldon L., and Leon M. Lederman, "The SSC: A Machine for the Nineties." Physics Today (March 1985): 28-37.
LaPorta, A. "Fluid Particle Accelerations in Fully Developed Turbulence." Nature 409, no. 6823 (2001):1017-1019.
"Particle Acceleration and Kinematics in Solar Flares." Space Science Reviews 101, nos. 1-2 (2002): 1-227.
Winick, Herman, "Synchrotron Radiation." Scientific American (November 1987): 88-99.
David E. Newton
Additional topics
Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: 1,2-dibromoethane to AdrenergicAccelerators - Linear Accelerators, Circular Accelerators, Cyclotron Modifications, Applications