LINEAR ACCELERATOR USING A STACKED ARRAY OF CYCLOTRONS

Abstract

A linear accelerator comprises a plurality of cyclotrons arranged axially in a cyclotron stack, each cyclotron having a set of dees and a central aperture passing through the set of dees. Each central aperture is axially aligned with one another in the stack, forming a central channel having an inlet and an outlet that passes through the stack. Magnets are positioned so as to generate a magnetic field perpendicular to the set of dees. A power supply applies an oscillating voltage to each set of dees of the stack. In operation, subatomic particles are ejected radially outwardly of the stack, creating a dead zone within the central channel that is void of particles and electromagnetic fields. A mass or light beam is accelerated as it passes through the central channel's dead zone, due to the absence of frictional forces acting on the mass or light within the dead zone.

Claims

1. A linear accelerator, comprising: a plurality of cyclotrons arranged axially in a cyclotron stack, each cyclotron of the plurality of cyclotrons comprising a set of dees and a central aperture passing through the set of dees, wherein each central aperture of each said cyclotron is axially aligned with one another so as to form a central channel passing through the cyclotron stack, the central channel having an inlet and an outlet, and wherein a first magnet is positioned adjacent the inlet and a second magnet is positioned adjacent the outlet; a power supply configured to apply an oscillating voltage to each set of dees of the cyclotron stack; wherein when in operation, subatomic particles are ejected radially outwardly of the plurality of cyclotrons thereby creating a dead zone within the central channel, wherein the dead zone is void of particles, subatomic particles and electromagnetic fields; and wherein a mass entering the inlet of the central channel of the cyclotron stack is accelerated as it passes through the dead zone of the central channel and the outlet as a result of the absence of frictional forces acting on the mass within the dead zone of the central channel.

2. The linear accelerator of claim 1, wherein the first and second magnets are electromagnets and wherein the power supply is additionally configured to power the electromagnets.

3. The linear accelerator of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of interleaved magnets, the plurality of interleaved magnets positioned so as to interleave each magnet of the plurality of interleaved magnets between each set of dees of the plurality of cyclotrons.

4. The linear accelerator of claim 3, wherein the first and second magnets and the plurality of interleaved magnets are electromagnets and wherein the power supply is additionally configured to power the electromagnets.

5. The linear accelerator of claim 1, wherein the power supply is a controlled pulsed power supply configured to apply a pulsed power voltage to each set of dees of the plurality of cyclotrons.

6. The linear accelerator of claim 1, wherein the mass comprises a projectile.

7. The linear accelerator of claim 1, wherein the mass comprises a vehicle for space travel.

8. The linear accelerator of claim 1, wherein the mass comprises an atmosphere surrounding the vehicle and wherein the linear accelerator is configured as a propulsion system for propelling the vehicle through the said atmosphere.

9. The linear accelerator of claim 1, wherein the subatomic particles comprise electrons and virtual particles.

10. A linear accelerator, comprising: a plurality of cyclotrons arranged axially in a cyclotron stack, each cyclotron of the plurality of cyclotrons comprising a set of dees and a central aperture passing through the set of dees, wherein each central aperture of each said cyclotron is axially aligned with one another so as to form a central channel passing through the cyclotron stack, the central channel having an inlet and an outlet, and wherein a first magnet is positioned adjacent the inlet and a second magnet is positioned adjacent the outlet; a power supply configured to apply an oscillating voltage to each set of dees of the cyclotron stack; wherein when in operation, subatomic particles are ejected radially outwardly of the plurality of cyclotrons thereby creating a dead zone within the central channel, wherein the dead zone is void of particles, subatomic particles and electromagnetic fields; and wherein a beam of light entering the inlet of the cyclotron stack gains energy as it passes through the central channel and the outlet of the cyclotron stack.

11. The linear accelerator of claim 10, wherein the first and second magnets are electromagnets and wherein the power supply is additionally configured to power the electromagnets.

12. The linear accelerator of claim 10 further comprising a plurality of interleaved magnets, the plurality of interleaved magnets positioned so as to interleave each magnet of the plurality of interleaved magnets between each set of dees of the plurality of cyclotrons.

13. The linear accelerator of claim 12, wherein the first and second magnets and the plurality of interleaved magnets are electromagnets and wherein the power supply is additionally configured to power the electromagnets.

14. The linear accelerator of claim 10, wherein the power supply is a controlled pulsed power supply configured to apply a pulsed power voltage to each set of dees of the plurality of cyclotrons.

15. The linear accelerator of claim 10, wherein the beam of light is configured as a laser.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a linear accelerator, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a cut-away perspective view of a cyclotron stack of the linear accelerator illustrated in FIG. 1, with lines representing ejected electrons or virtual particles removed for clarity.

[0021] FIG. 3 is the cut-away perspective view of a cyclotron stack of FIG. 2, additionally illustrating lines representing the ejected electrons or virtual particles that are proximate the cyclotron illustrated therein.

[0022] FIG. 4 is an illustration of lines representing ejected electrons or virtual particles proximate the linear accelerator shown in FIG. 1, and lines representing a light wave entering and exiting the linear accelerator, with the linear accelerator removed for clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The principles and operations of a cyclotron, which is a type of particle accelerator, are well known in the art. Invented in the 1930s, early designs of the cyclotron comprised a flattened, cylindrical vacuum chamber installed between the two poles of a large electromagnet. When current is supplied to the two poles of the electromagnet, a magnetic field is created perpendicular to the direction of travel of the particle beam within the vacuum chamber. The flat vacuum chamber consists of two hollow, D-shaped electrodes, referred to as “dees”, which are separated from each other by a gap. When an oscillating voltage is applied to the two dees, which are insulated from each other across the gap, the oscillating voltage creates an oscillating electric field in the gap between the dees which accelerates the particles each time the particles pass through the gap while moving through their spiral-shaped path of travel within the flattened cylindrical vacuum chamber.

[0024] The frequency of voltage oscillation is set so that the particles make one circuit during a single voltage cycle. In order to achieve this, the frequency must match the particles' cyclotron resonance frequency. In this manner, each time the particles cross the gap from one electrode to the other electrode (the dees), the polarity of the applied voltage reverses, and so the electric field in the gap is in the correct direction to accelerate the particles passing through the gap. The increasing speed of the particles, due to the acceleration across the gap that occurs, causes the particles to move in a spiral path outwardly from the center of the chamber to the rim of the dees. In a cyclotron, the particles encounter the accelerating voltage many times during their spiral path, and so they are accelerated many times such that the output energy of the particle beam may be many times the accelerating voltage.

[0025] Advancements in the design of cyclotrons include the design of dees having different geometries, such as the spiral dees, which may include three or more dee electrodes within the set of dees of a cyclotron. However, the general principle remains the same, in that each dee within a set of dees are each insulated from one another by a gap, and applying an oscillating voltage to the set of dees creates an oscillating electric field across the gaps between the dees, thereby accelerating the particles each time the particles cross a gap between dees.

[0026] Other developments in the field of cyclical particle accelerators include the synchrocyclotron, which is a type of cyclotron that was patented by Edwin McMillan. A synchrocyclotron differs from a cyclotron in that the frequency of the radiofrequency (“RF”) electric field is varied to compensate for the relativistic effects of the particles' velocity as the particles begin to approach the speed of light. One terminal of the power supply's oscillating electric potential, varying periodically, is applied to the dee and the other terminal is at ground potential. Thus, the resulting electric field generated by the oscillating electric potential has a variable frequency, which contrasts with the classical cyclotron design, in which the frequency of the generated electric field is constant.

[0027] Other developments in the field of cyclical particle accelerators include the synchrotron, which was invented by Vladimir Veksler in 1944. In a synchrotron, acceleration of the particles is done by variation of the magnetic field strength in time, rather than in space. For particles that are not close to the speed of light, the frequency of the applied electromagnetic field may also be varied so as to follow the non-constant circulation time of the particles. These principles allow particles to gain energy as they are accelerated.

[0028] Although some designs of the cyclotron utilized an oscillating voltage source to generate the oscillating electric field between the dees, it will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that other methods of generating an oscillating electric field may be used, such as using a controlled pulse power supply.

[0029] As the term “cyclotron” is used herein, the applicant intends for this term to include not only cyclotrons, but also synchrotrons, synchrocyclotrons, and other configurations or variations of particle accelerators that accelerate particles as the particles travel in a circular or spiral path. As will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, different configurations of particle accelerators that accelerate particles in a circular or spiral path, and which thereby have the effect of removing particles from a space in the center of the particle accelerator, may be used in the novel linear accelerator that is described herein.

[0030] The applicant observes that the operation of the cyclotron has the effect of accelerating particles away from the center of the vacuum chamber of the cyclotron, and towards the outer edges of that vacuum chamber. Thus, in the absence of a source of new particles being introduced to the center of the cyclotron's vacuum chamber, the operation of the cyclotron effectively removes any particles from the center of the cyclotron and evacuates the electrons from the cyclotron. Such particles may include, for example, the molecules, atoms and subatomic particles that make up an atmosphere surrounding the cyclotron apparatus. As another example, if the cyclotron is located beyond a planetary atmosphere in outer space, even outer space is not truly “empty” and includes the existence of molecules, atoms and subatomic particles within the central aperture of the cyclotron, or the central channel of a stack of cyclotrons, that would be accelerated and thus, removed from the center of the cyclotron (or stack of cyclotrons) during operation. This causes formation of a dead zone within the central channel of the cyclotron stack, such that no particles exist within the dead zone. The applicant postulates the dead zone may be void of any particles or fields, or that the dead zone may consist of a negative field.

[0031] Furthermore, the applicant hypothesizes that the removal of any particles from the center of the cyclotron, such as electrons, also effectively removes any field, such as an electromagnetic field or a Higgs field, from the center of the cyclotron. According to quantum mechanics, a vacuum is not completely “empty”. Rather, a vacuum, from which atoms and subatomic particles have been evacuated, still contains quantum energy and particles that momentarily blink into and out of existence; in other words, detected signals that are known as quantum fluctuations. In physics, a virtual particle is a transient quantum fluctuation that exhibits some of the characteristics of an ordinary particle, while having its existence limited by the uncertainty principle.

[0032] By removing all particles and fields from the center of the cyclotron, including electromagnetic fields and the Higgs field, the applicant theorizes that a dead zone is created within the center of the cyclotron, where no fields and no particles exist. In the dead zone, because there are no particles and no electromagnetic field or any other type of field (other than, perhaps, a negative field), there is nothing to produce the force of friction in order to slow down particles that may be travelling through the dead zone. The applicant theorizes that, with the absence of the Higgs field, the relativistic mass formula does not apply. As a result, in the dead zone: 1) there is no increase in mass; 2) there is no contraction in the direction of travel (referred to as the Lorentz Transformation); and 3) there is no “slowing down” of time (referred to as lime Dilation). The applicant hypothesizes that this may mean the accelerating mass (ie: the relativistic mass) would never approach infinite mass in special relativity. Assuming that any particles which enter the dead zone have a momentum at the time that they enter the dead zone, the applicant theorizes that the particle will retain that momentum as it exists the dead zone, due to the absence of friction forces within the dead zone.

[0033] Usefully, the applicant observes that because each cyclotron in the stack of a plurality of cyclotrons includes an aperture, and because the apertures of the plurality of cyclotrons are axially aligned with one another, the dead space that is created within the aperture of each cyclotron align with the dead space created in the center of the other cyclotrons of the stack to form an elongated dead zone channel or conduit through which particles may travel a given linear distance. The applicant thereby theorizes that a stack of cyclotrons, so arranged, may be configured to produce a linear accelerator, whereby it is the creation of the dead zone within the central aperture of each cyclotron in the stack of cyclotrons which forms a linear acceleration channel through the center of the stack of axially aligned cyclotrons.

[0034] As an illustrative example, not intended to be limiting, applicant will describe an example of the novel linear accelerator constructed of a stacked plurality cyclotrons, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. As shown in FIG. 1, a linear accelerator 10 comprises a plurality of cyclotron stacks 12. As best seen in FIG. 2, each cyclotron stack 12 comprises a cylindrical acceleration vacuum chamber 14 having a plurality of spiral dees 16, the spiral dees 16 spaced apart so as to create a plurality of electron vents 18. Magnets, which may be electromagnets, are interleaved between each set of spiral dees 16 (not shown). A central aperture 19 passes through the center of each set of spiral dees 16, thereby creating a void or channel passing through the cyclotron stack 12.

[0035] Returning to FIG. 1, each of the cyclotron stacks 12 are arranged in axial alignment relative to the other cyclotron stacks 12 so as to form a stacked array of cyclotron stacks 12, whereby the central aperture 19 of each set of spiral dees 16 is axially aligned with one another in the stack 12. Although FIG. 1 illustrates three cyclotron stacks 12, each stack containing a plurality of cyclotrons 16, it will be appreciated that fewer or greater than three cyclotron stacks 12 may be used in forming the stacked array of the linear accelerator. Each cyclotron stack 12 may be provided with a capacitor 15 for supplying the oscillating electromagnetic field between the electrodes (spiral dees 16) of the cyclotron stack 12. As mentioned above, each cyclotron stack 12 includes the spiral dee 16 of each cyclotron in the stack 12 interleaved by magnets, such as electromagnets, which interleaved electromagnets create a magnetic field in direction B. Furthermore, the capacitors and the electromagnets (for embodiments utilizing capacitors and/or electromagnets) may be powered by a power supply 17. The various components in the linear accelerator 10 may be supported by a frame 11. As will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, the capacitor 15 may be configured to produce the oscillating electromagnetic field for accelerating the particles through the gaps between the spiral dees in each set of spiral dees 16; however, the present invention is not limited to the use of capacitors for generating the oscillating electromagnetic field, and other means known in the art for producing an oscillating electromagnetic field may be employed, including but not limited to the use of a plurality of relays, gases, semiconductors, crystals or controlled pulse devices.

[0036] In some embodiments, a linear accelerator 10, comprised of an array of axially aligned cyclotron stacks 12, operates on the principle of creating a void or dead zone within the central channel 20 of the stack of cyclotrons 12. Although cyclotrons themselves are traditionally used as a particle accelerator, in this case, the cyclotrons are being used to evacuate the central channel 20 of the stack of cyclotrons 12 so as to create a space (otherwise referred to herein as the “dead zone”) that is devoid of any particles, and therefore also devoid of any field such as the electromagnetic field or the Higgs field, and it is this elongated, channel-shaped space which becomes the acceleration portion of the linear accelerator designed in accordance with the present disclosure. As such, although traditional cyclotrons utilize internal vertical deflectors so as to direct a beam of particles that have been accelerated at a given target, the cyclotrons 12 described herein are designed so as to leave open the sides of the cyclotron 12 such that electron vents 18 exist in the gaps between the plurality of spiral dees 16 within each cyclotron 12. The effect is that accelerated subatomic particles 22, which may include for example electrons, protons or neutrons, radiate outwardly of the stack of cyclotrons 12 in all directions surrounding the stack of cyclotrons 12, as shown for example in FIG. 1. In other embodiments, attempts may be made to direct the radiation 22 in a particular direction, and the design of the linear accelerator 10 is not intended to be limited to the design shown in FIG. 1, which is provided for illustrative purposes only.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1, the central channel 20 of the array 10 of cyclotron stacks 12 includes an inlet 20a and an outlet 20b. In some embodiments, the applicant theorizes that a particle, which may include for example a particle beam, may enter the inlet 20a of the central channel 20 and thereby pass through the dead zone that is created within the central channel 20 of linear accelerator 10. Because the applicant theorizes there are no particles, virtual particles, or a Higgs field within the dead zone, there is nothing within the dead zone that could slow down or otherwise impose a frictional force upon the mass that is passing through the dead zone. Therefore, as the particle or mass passes through the dead zone, the particle or mass accelerates. When the accelerated mass exits the outlet 20b of the central conduit 20, it again encounters the electromagnetic field surrounding linear accelerator 10, as well as, potentially, particles such as gases in a surrounding atmosphere, and therefore the mass or particle once again slows down as it is once again subjected to frictional forces. However, because the mass or particle was accelerated during its passage through the dead zone, the mass or particle will exit the outlet 20b of the linear accelerator 10 at a higher velocity than the velocity at which the mass or particle entered the inlet 20a.

[0038] In some embodiments, rather than passing particles or particle beams through the dead zone, it may be possible accelerate larger bodies, such as projectiles or even vehicles, by passing the projectiles or vehicle through the linear accelerator 10. As before with a particle beam, such projectiles or vehicles, referred to herein generally as a “mass,” have momentum before the mass enters the inlet 20a of the central passage 20, and the mass maintains that momentum when it exits the outlet 20b. As the mass passes through the dead zone of central channel 20, there is no friction to slow it down because the dead zone is void of any particles or fields. The mass may travel faster than the speed of light as it travels through the dead zone, and theoretically, the mass might even become light when it is in the dead zone. In this manner, the linear accelerator 10 may thereby be capable of accelerating vehicles or projectiles through a very short distance, because the distance of the void may, for example, be the total length L of the central channel 20.

[0039] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a light wave 30a may enter the dead zone through inlet 20a, rather than a mass. In such embodiments, the light wave 30a may enter at a given wavelength Δ.sub.1 and when the light wave exits 30b through the outlet 20b of the central channel 20, the light wave 30b upon exit may have a wavelength λ.sub.2, wherein the magnitude of the wavelength λ.sub.2 is less than the wavelength λ.sub.1, as a result of the light wave 30b gaining energy as compared to light wave 30a. The applicant theorizes that the light wave may come to a stop within the dead zone, and may have an increased energy density as it passes through the dead zone. Therefore, upon exit, the light wave would be shorter due to energy gained from passage through the dead zone, owing to the lack of friction existing in the dead zone. Thus, one practical application of the linear accelerator may include amplifying a laser beam, whereby the input laser 30a is of a given energy and wavelength, and then upon exit through the outlet 20b of the linear accelerator 10, the wavelength of the laser 30b may be shorter.