Project description
Plasma acceleration research for advanced high-energy applications
High-energy physics faces an impasse: the next particle collider will cost billions. Plasma acceleration could reduce the size and cost of future accelerators, but there's a gap between what it can do and what is needed. The European Strategy for Particle Physics calls for intensified plasma-accelerator research and an intermediate demonstrator facility. The ERC-funded SPARTA project aims to solve two main challenges in plasma acceleration: to reach high-energy levels by connecting multiple accelerator stages without compromising the beam's quality and to establish a stable acceleration process. The goal is to provide access to stable high-energy electron beams at a fraction of today’s cost, leading to innovative advances in strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SFQED).
Objective
High-energy physics is headed for an impasse: the next particle collider will cost several billion euros, and while designs have been ready for a decade, they are so expensive that no host country has come forward—a problem that will soon impact progress in the field.
Plasma acceleration is a novel technology promising to fix this issue—with accelerating fields 1000 times larger than in conventional machines, the size and cost of future accelerators can be drastically reduced. However, there is a gap between what current plasma accelerators can do and what the next collider requires. Therefore, a recent R&D roadmap (European Strategy for Particle Physics) calls for intensified plasma-accelerator research, as well as an intermediate demonstrator facility.
SPARTA tackles two basic problems in plasma acceleration: to reach high energy by connecting multiple accelerator stages without degrading the accelerated beam, and to do so in a stable manner. Access to stable, high-energy electron beams at a fraction of today’s cost will enable ground-breaking advances in strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SFQED), an important near-term experiment that doubles as a demo facility.
I have proposed two concepts for overcoming these problems: nonlinear plasma lenses for transport between stages, and a new mechanism for self-stabilization. Can these concepts be realized in practice?
Making use of numerical simulations and beam-based experiments at international accelerator labs, this project has 3 objectives:
1. Develop nonlinear plasma lenses experimentally;
2. Investigate self-stabilization, theoretically and experimentally;
3. Design a plasma-accelerator facility for SFQED.
Reaching this goal will not only impact high-energy physics, producing advances in SFQED and as a major step toward realizing a collider, but also society at large: applications of high-energy electrons, from bright x-ray beams to advanced cancer treatments, will all become significantly more affordable.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics particle accelerator
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-STG
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0313 Oslo
Norway
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