Accelerators are playing increasingly important roles in basic science,
technology, and medicine including nuclear power, industrial irradiation,
material science, and neutrino production. Proton and light-ion accelerators in
particular have many research, energy and medical applications, providing one
of the most effective treatments for many types of cancer. Ultra high-intensity
and high-energy (GeV) proton drivers are a critical technology for
accelerator-driven sub-critical reactors (ADS) and many HEP programs (Muon
Collider). These high-intensity GeV-range proton drivers are particularly
challenging, encountering duty cycle and space-charge limits in the synchrotron
and machine size concerns in the weaker-focusing cyclotrons; a 10-20 MW proton
driver is not presently considered technically achievable with conventional
re-circulating accelerators. One, as-yet, unexplored re-circulating
accelerator, the Fixed-field Alternating Gradient, or FFAG, is an attractive
alternative to the cyclotron. Its strong focusing optics are expected to
mitigate space charge effects, and a recent innovation in design has coupled
stable tunes with isochronous orbits, making the FFAG capable of
fixed-frequency, CW acceleration, as in the classical cyclotron. This paper
reports on these new advances in FFAG accelerator technology and references
advanced modeling tools for fixed-field accelerators developed for and unique
to the code COSY INFINITY.Comment: 3 pp. Particle Accelerator, 24th Conference (PAC'11) 2011. 28 Mar - 1
Apr 2011. New York, US