The Non Scaling FIxed Field Alternating Gradient (NS-FFAG) Accelerator

粒子加速器用于产生带电粒子束，例如质子或电子，然后用于医学和工业以及纯研究中的各种应用。迫切需要更容易操作和维护并且更可靠和紧凑，但更灵活和有效的新型加速器。其中一种加速器是非定标固定场交变梯度（NS-FFAG）加速器，它是一个非常有前途的候选者，但还没有人建造这样的机器，在这样的机器可以商业化使用之前，还有许多技术挑战需要克服。一个机会正在出现，它可以允许NS-FFAG被用作治疗癌症的新型带电粒子治疗机器。这种机器的尺寸减小，可靠性和灵活性增加，都将导致更低的拥有成本，同时提供更有效的治疗。质子束或碳离子等较重的粒子可以直接在癌症中存款更多的辐射，而在周围健康组织中损失的能量要少得多。NS-FFAG还可用于许多其他目的。它们可以用来帮助发电，而不会产生大量的温室气体排放，同时减少产生的长期核废料的数量。它们可能是新一代非常强的中子源的核心，用于研究材料结构和化学反应动力学，物理学家，化学家，生物学家，工程师和许多行业都感兴趣。它们也可能在基本粒子物理学中发挥重要作用，也许会导致我们今天所看到的宇宙的起源和结构的新发现。我们是一群来自不同学科的科学家，他们相信非标度固定场交变梯度加速器可能有很多优点。英国在开发这项新技术方面处于独特的有利地位，对科学和社会都有重大利益。国际上对NS-FFAG也很感兴趣。在这个国家的示范，这些机器能够满足上述期望将使英国在这一令人兴奋的新发展的前沿。

Particle accelerators are used to produce beams of charged particles such as protons or electrons which are then used for a wide variety of applications in medicine and industry and for pure research. There is a compelling need for new types of accelerator that are easier to operate and maintain and are more reliable and compact, yet are more flexible and efficient. One such accelerator is the non-scaling fixed field alternating gradient (NS-FFAG) accelerator, and it is a very promising candidate, but no-one has yet built such a machine, and there are many technical challenges to be overcome before such a machine could be used commercially.An opportunity is arising which could allow the NS-FFAG to be used as a new type of charged particle therapy machine for treating cancer. The reduced size, increased reliability and flexibility of such machines should all lead to lower costs of ownership while delivering more effective therapies. Beams of protons or heavier particles such as carbon ions can deposit much more radiation directly in the cancer while losing much less energy in the surrounding healthy tissue. NS-FFAGs could also be used for many other purposes. They could be used to help generate electricity without significant greenhouse gas emissions while reducing the amount of long-lived nuclear waste produced. They could be at the heart of a new generation of very intense sources of neutrons for studying the structure of materials and the dynamics of chemical reactions, of interest to physicists, chemists, biologists, engineers and many industries. They could also play a significant rle in elementary particle physics, perhaps leading to new discoveries about the origin and structure of the universe we see around us today.We are a group of scientists from many different disciplines who believe that the non-scaling fixed field alternating gradient accelerator could have many advantages. The UK is uniquely well placed to develop this new technology, with significant benefits to both science and society. There is also a lot of international interest in NS-FFAGs. The demonstration in this country that these machines are able to meet the expectations listed above would place the UK in the forefront of this exciting new development.