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What is a synchrophasotron? What is a synchrophasotron: operating principle and results obtained What is the operating principle of a synchrophasotron

It took UK parliamentarians only 15 minutes to decide on a government investment of £1 billion in the construction of a synchrophasotron. After that, they heatedly discussed the cost of coffee for one hour, no less, in the parliamentary buffet. And so they decided: they reduced the price by 15%.

It would seem that the tasks are not comparable in complexity at all, and everything, logically, should have happened exactly the opposite. An hour for science, 15 minutes for coffee. But no! As it turned out later, the majority of respectable politicians quickly gave their innermost “for”, having absolutely no idea what a “synchrophasotron” is.

Let us, dear reader, together with you fill this knowledge gap and not be like the scientific short-sightedness of some comrades.

What is a synchrophasotron?

Synchrophasotron is an electronic installation for scientific research - a cyclic accelerator of elementary particles (neutrons, protons, electrons, etc.). It has the shape of a huge ring, weighing more than 36 thousand tons. Its ultra-powerful magnets and accelerating tubes provide microscopic particles with colossal energy of directed motion. In the depths of the phasotron resonator, at a depth of 14.5 meters, truly fantastic transformations occur at the physical level: for example, a tiny proton receives 20 million electron volts, and a heavy ion receives 5 million eV. And this is only a modest fraction of all the possibilities!

It is thanks to the unique properties of the cyclic accelerator that scientists were able to learn the most intimate secrets of the universe: to study the structure of negligible particles and the physical and chemical processes occurring inside their shells; observe the synthesis reaction with your own eyes; discover the nature of hitherto unknown microscopic objects.

Phazotron marked a new era of scientific research - a territory of research where the microscope was powerless, which even innovative science fiction writers spoke about with great caution (their insightful creative flight could not predict the discoveries made!).

History of the synchrophasotron

Initially, accelerators were linear, that is, they did not have a cyclic structure. But soon physicists had to abandon them. The requirements for energy levels increased - more was needed. But the linear design could not cope: theoretical calculations showed that for these values, it must be of incredible length.

In 1929 American E. Lawrence makes attempts to solve this problem and invents a cyclotron, the prototype of the modern phasotron. The tests are going well. Ten years later, in 1939. Lawrence receives the Nobel Prize.
In 1938 In the USSR, the talented physicist V.I. Veksler began to actively engage in the issue of creating and improving accelerators. In February 1944 he comes up with a revolutionary idea on how to overcome the energy barrier. Wexler calls his method “autophasing.” Exactly a year later, the same technology was discovered completely independently by E. Macmillan, a scientist from the USA.
In 1949 in the Soviet Union under the leadership of V.I. Veksler and S.I. Vavilov, a large-scale scientific project is being developed - the creation of a synchrophasotron with a power of 10 billion electron volts. For 8 years, at the Institute of Nuclear Research in the city of Dubno in Ukraine, a group of theoretical physicists, designers and engineers painstakingly worked on the installation. That’s why it is also called the Dubna Synchrophasotron.

The synchrophasotron was put into operation in March 1957, six months before the flight into space of the first artificial Earth satellite.

What research is being carried out at the synchrophasotron?

Wechsler's resonant cyclic accelerator gave rise to a galaxy of outstanding discoveries in many aspects of fundamental physics and, in particular, in some controversial and little-studied problems of Einstein's theory of relativity:

behavior of the quark structure of nuclei during interaction;
the formation of cumulative particles as a result of reactions involving nuclei;
studying the properties of accelerated deuterons;
interaction of heavy ions with targets (testing the resistance of microcircuits);
recycling of Uranium-238.

The results obtained in these areas are successfully used in the construction of spaceships, the design of nuclear power plants, the development of robotics and equipment for working in extreme conditions. But the most amazing thing is that a series of studies carried out at the synchrophasotron are bringing scientists ever closer to solving the great mystery of the origin of the Universe.

The whole world knows that in 1957 the USSR launched the world's first artificial Earth satellite. However, few people know that in the same year the Soviet Union began testing the synchrophasotron, which is the progenitor of the modern Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. The article will discuss what a synchrophasotron is and how it works.

Answering the question of what a synchrophasotron is, it should be said that it is a high-tech and science-intensive device that was intended for the study of microcosm. In particular, the idea of the synchrophasotron was as follows: it was necessary, using powerful magnetic fields created by electromagnets, to accelerate a beam of elementary particles (protons) to high speeds, and then direct this beam to a target at rest. From such a collision, protons will have to “break” into pieces. Not far from the target there is a special detector - a bubble chamber. This detector allows one to study their nature and properties using the tracks left by proton parts.

Why was it necessary to build the USSR synchrophasotron? In this scientific experiment, which was classified as "top secret", Soviet scientists tried to find a new source of cheaper and more efficient energy than enriched uranium. Purely scientific goals of a deeper study of the nature of nuclear interactions and the world of subatomic particles were also pursued.

Operating principle of the synchrophasotron

The above description of the tasks facing the synchrophasotron may not seem too difficult to many to implement in practice, but this is not so. Despite the simplicity of the question of what a synchrophasotron is, in order to accelerate protons to the required enormous speeds, electrical voltages of hundreds of billions of volts are needed. Such tensions cannot be created even today. Therefore, it was decided to distribute the energy pumped into protons over time.

The principle of operation of the synchrophasotron was as follows: a beam of protons begins its movement through a ring-shaped tunnel, in some place of this tunnel there are capacitors that create a voltage surge at the moment when the beam of protons flies through them. Thus, at each turn there is a slight acceleration of protons. After the particle beam makes several million revolutions through the synchrophasotron tunnel, the protons will reach the desired speeds and will be directed towards the target.

It is worth noting that the electromagnets used during the acceleration of protons played a guiding role, that is, they determined the trajectory of the beam, but did not participate in its acceleration.

Problems that scientists encountered when conducting experiments

To better understand what a synchrophasotron is and why its creation is a very complex and knowledge-intensive process, one should consider the problems that arise during its operation.

Firstly, the higher the speed of the proton beam, the more mass they begin to have according to Einstein’s famous law. At speeds close to light, the mass of particles becomes so large that to keep them on the desired trajectory, it is necessary to have powerful electromagnets. The larger the size of the synchrophasotron, the larger the magnets that can be installed.

Secondly, the creation of a synchrophasotron was also complicated by the energy losses of the proton beam during their circular acceleration, and the higher the beam speed, the more significant these losses become. It turns out that in order to accelerate the beam to the required gigantic speeds, it is necessary to have enormous powers.

What results were obtained?

Undoubtedly, experiments at the Soviet synchrophasotron made a huge contribution to the development of modern fields of technology. Thus, thanks to these experiments, USSR scientists were able to improve the process of processing used uranium-238 and obtained some interesting data by colliding accelerated ions of different atoms with a target.

The results of experiments at the synchrophasotron are still used to this day in the construction of nuclear power plants, space rockets and robotics. The achievements of Soviet scientific thought were used in the construction of the most powerful synchrophasotron of our time, which is the Large Hadron Collider. The Soviet accelerator itself serves the science of the Russian Federation, being located at the FIAN Institute (Moscow), where it is used as an ion accelerator.

What is a synchrophasotron: the principle of operation and the results obtained - all about traveling to the site

This is the elusively familiar word “synchrophasotron”! Remind me how it got into the ears of the common man in the Soviet Union? There was some movie or a popular song, I remember exactly what it was! Or was it simply an analogue of an unpronounceable word?

Now let’s remember what it is and how it was created...

In 1957, the Soviet Union made a revolutionary scientific breakthrough in two directions at once: in October the first artificial Earth satellite was launched, and a few months earlier, in March, the legendary synchrophasotron, a giant installation for studying the microworld, began operating in Dubna. These two events shocked the whole world, and the words “satellite” and “synchrophasotron” became firmly established in our lives.

The synchrophasotron is a type of charged particle accelerator. The particles in them are accelerated to high speeds and, therefore, to high energies. Based on the results of their collisions with other atomic particles, the structure and properties of matter are judged. The probability of collisions is determined by the intensity of the accelerated particle beam, that is, the number of particles in it, therefore intensity, along with energy, is an important parameter of the accelerator.

Accelerators reach enormous sizes, and it is no coincidence that the writer Vladimir Kartsev called them pyramids of the nuclear age, by which descendants will judge the level of our technology.

Before accelerators were built, the only source of high-energy particles was cosmic rays. These are mainly protons with an energy of the order of several GeV, freely coming from space, and secondary particles arising from their interaction with the atmosphere. But the flow of cosmic rays is chaotic and has low intensity, so over time, special installations began to be created for laboratory research - accelerators with controlled beams of high-energy and higher-intensity particles.

The operation of all accelerators is based on a well-known fact: a charged particle is accelerated by an electric field. However, it is impossible to obtain particles of very high energy by accelerating them only once between two electrodes, since this would require applying a huge voltage to them, which is technically impossible. Therefore, high-energy particles are obtained by repeatedly passing them between electrodes.

Accelerators in which a particle passes through successively located accelerating gaps are called linear. The development of accelerators began with them, but the requirement to increase the particle energy led to almost unrealistically long installation lengths.

In 1929, the American scientist E. Lawrence proposed the design of an accelerator in which a particle moves in a spiral, repeatedly passing the same gap between two electrodes. The trajectory of the particle is bent and twisted by a uniform magnetic field directed perpendicular to the orbital plane. The accelerator was called a cyclotron. In 1930-1931, Lawrence and his colleagues built the first cyclotron at the University of California (USA). For this invention he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1939.

In a cyclotron, a uniform magnetic field is created by a large electromagnet, and an electric field is generated between two D-shaped hollow electrodes (hence their name, “dees”). An alternating voltage is applied to the electrodes, which changes polarity every time the particle makes a half revolution. Due to this, the electric field always accelerates the particles. This idea could not be realized if particles with different energies had different periods of revolution. But, fortunately, although the speed increases with increasing energy, the period of revolution remains constant, since the diameter of the trajectory increases in the same ratio. It is this property of the cyclotron that allows the use of a constant frequency of the electric field for acceleration.

Soon, cyclotrons began to be created in other research laboratories.

Synchrophasotron building in the 1950s

The need to create a serious accelerator base in the Soviet Union was announced at the government level in March 1938. A group of researchers from the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology (LPTI), led by Academician A.F. Ioffe turned to the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V.M. Molotov with a letter in which it was proposed to create a technical basis for research in the field of the structure of the atomic nucleus. Questions about the structure of the atomic nucleus became one of the central problems of natural science, and the Soviet Union lagged significantly behind in solving them. So, if America had at least five cyclotrons, then the Soviet Union had none (the only cyclotron of the Radium Institute of the Academy of Sciences (RIAN), launched in 1937, practically did not work due to design defects). The appeal to Molotov contained a request to create conditions for the completion of the construction of the LPTI cyclotron by January 1, 1939. Work on its creation, which began in 1937, was suspended due to departmental inconsistencies and the cessation of funding.

Indeed, at the time the letter was written, there was a clear misunderstanding in government circles of the country about the relevance of research in the field of atomic physics. According to the memoirs of M.G. Meshcheryakov, in 1938 there was even a question of liquidating the Radium Institute, which, in some opinion, was engaged in unnecessary research on uranium and thorium, while the country was trying to increase coal production and steel smelting.

The letter to Molotov had an effect, and already in June 1938, a commission from the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by P.L. Kapitsa, at the request of the government, gave a conclusion on the need to build a 10–20 MeV cyclotron at the LFTI, depending on the type of accelerated particles, and to improve the RIAN cyclotron.

In November 1938, S.I. Vavilov, in an appeal to the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, proposed to build the LPTI cyclotron in Moscow and transfer I.V.’s laboratory to the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences (FIAN) from LPTI. Kurchatova, who was involved in its creation. Sergei Ivanovich wanted the central laboratory for the study of the atomic nucleus to be located in the same place where the Academy of Sciences was located, that is, in Moscow. However, he was not supported at LPTI. The controversy ended at the end of 1939, when A.F. Ioffe proposed creating three cyclotrons at once. On July 30, 1940, at a meeting of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, it was decided to instruct RIAN to retrofit the existing cyclotron this year, FIAN to prepare the necessary materials for the construction of a new powerful cyclotron by October 15, and LFTI to complete the construction of the cyclotron in the first quarter of 1941.

In connection with this decision, the FIAN created the so-called cyclotron team, which included Vladimir Iosifovich Veksler, Sergei Nikolaevich Vernov, Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov, Leonid Vasilyevich Groshev and Evgeniy Lvovich Feinberg. On September 26, 1940, the Bureau of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (OPMS) heard information from V.I. Wexler on the design specifications for the cyclotron, approved its main characteristics and construction estimates. The cyclotron was designed to accelerate deuterons to an energy of 50 MeV. FIAN planned to begin its construction in 1941 and launch it in 1943. The plans were disrupted by the war.

The urgent need to create an atomic bomb forced the Soviet Union to mobilize efforts in the study of the microworld. Two cyclotrons were built one after another at Laboratory No. 2 in Moscow (1944, 1946); in Leningrad, after the blockade was lifted, the cyclotrons of RIAN and LPTI were restored (1946).

Although the FIAN cyclotron project was approved before the war, it became clear that Lawrence’s design had exhausted itself, since the energy of accelerated protons could not exceed 20 MeV. It is from this energy that the effect of increasing the mass of a particle at speeds commensurate with the speed of light begins to be felt, which follows from Einstein’s theory of relativity

Due to the increase in mass, the resonance between the passage of a particle through the accelerating gap and the corresponding phase of the electric field is disrupted, which entails braking.

It should be noted that the cyclotron is designed to accelerate only heavy particles (protons, ions). This is due to the fact that due to the too small rest mass, the electron already at energies of 1–3 MeV reaches a speed close to the speed of light, as a result of which its mass increases noticeably and the particle quickly leaves resonance.

The first cyclic electron accelerator was the betatron, built by Kerst in 1940 based on Wideroe's idea. The betatron is based on Faraday's law, according to which, when the magnetic flux penetrating a closed circuit changes, an electromotive force appears in this circuit. In a betatron, a closed loop is a stream of particles moving in a circular orbit in a vacuum chamber of constant radius in a gradually increasing magnetic field. When the magnetic flux inside the orbit increases, an electromotive force arises, the tangential component of which accelerates the electrons. In a betatron, like a cyclotron, there is a limitation to producing very high energy particles. This is due to the fact that, according to the laws of electrodynamics, electrons moving in circular orbits emit electromagnetic waves, which carry away a lot of energy at relativistic speeds. To compensate for these losses, it is necessary to significantly increase the size of the magnet core, which has a practical limit.

Thus, by the early 1940s, the possibilities for obtaining higher energies from both protons and electrons had been exhausted. For further research of the microworld, it was necessary to increase the energy of accelerated particles, so the task of finding new acceleration methods became urgent.

In February 1944, V.I. Wexler put forward a revolutionary idea on how to overcome the energy barrier of the cyclotron and betatron. It was so simple that it seemed strange why they had not come to it earlier. The idea was that during resonant acceleration, the rotation frequencies of particles and the accelerating field should constantly coincide, in other words, be synchronous. When accelerating heavy relativistic particles in a cyclotron, for synchronization it was proposed to change the frequency of the accelerating electric field according to a certain law (later on, such an accelerator was called a synchrocyclotron).

To accelerate relativistic electrons, an accelerator was proposed, which was later called a synchrotron. In it, acceleration is carried out by an alternating electric field of constant frequency, and synchronism is ensured by a magnetic field varying according to a certain law, which keeps particles in an orbit of constant radius.

For practical purposes, it was necessary to theoretically verify that the proposed acceleration processes are stable, that is, with minor deviations from resonance, the phasing of particles will occur automatically. Theoretical physicist of the cyclotron team E.L. Feinberg drew Wexler's attention to this and himself strictly mathematically proved the stability of the processes. That is why Wexler’s idea was called the “autophasing principle.”

To discuss the resulting solution, FIAN held a seminar, at which Wexler gave an introductory report, and Feinberg gave a report on sustainability. The work was approved, and in the same 1944, the journal “Reports of the USSR Academy of Sciences” published two articles that discussed new methods of acceleration (the first article dealt with an accelerator based on multiple frequencies, later called a microtron). Their author was listed only as Wexler, and Feinberg's name was not mentioned at all. Very soon, Feinberg's role in the discovery of the autophasing principle was undeservedly consigned to complete oblivion.

A year later, the principle of autophasing was independently discovered by the American physicist E. MacMillan, but Wexler retained priority.

It should be noted that in accelerators based on the new principle, the “rule of leverage” was clearly manifested - a gain in energy entailed a loss in the intensity of the beam of accelerated particles, which is associated with the cyclical nature of their acceleration, in contrast to the smooth acceleration in cyclotrons and betatrons. This unpleasant point was immediately pointed out at the session of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences on February 20, 1945, but at the same time everyone unanimously came to the conclusion that this circumstance should in no case interfere with the implementation of the project. Although, by the way, the struggle for intensity subsequently constantly annoyed the “accelerators”.

At the same session, at the proposal of the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences S.I. Vavilov, it was decided to immediately build two types of accelerators proposed by Wexler. On February 19, 1946, the Special Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR instructed the relevant commission to develop their projects, indicating the capacity, production time and place of construction. (The creation of a cyclotron was abandoned at FIAN.)

As a result, on August 13, 1946, two resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR were simultaneously issued, signed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR I.V. Stalin and the manager of the affairs of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Ya.E. Chadaev, to create a synchrocyclotron with a deuteron energy of 250 MeV and a synchrotron with an energy of 1 GeV. The energy of the accelerators was dictated primarily by the political confrontation between the USA and the USSR. In the USA, they have already created a synchrocyclotron with a deuteron energy of about 190 MeV and have begun to build a synchrotron with an energy of 250–300 MeV. Domestic accelerators were supposed to exceed American ones in energy.

The synchrocyclotron was associated with hopes for the discovery of new elements, new ways of producing atomic energy from sources cheaper than uranium. With the help of a synchrotron, they intended to artificially produce mesons, which, as Soviet physicists assumed at that time, were capable of causing nuclear fission.

Both resolutions were issued with the stamp “Top Secret (special folder)”, since the construction of accelerators was carried out as part of the project to create an atomic bomb. With their help, they hoped to obtain an accurate theory of nuclear forces necessary for bomb calculations, which at that time were carried out only using a large set of approximate models. True, everything turned out to be not as simple as initially thought, and it should be noted that such a theory has not been created to this day.

The resolutions determined the construction sites for accelerators: the synchrotron - in Moscow, on Kaluzhskoe Highway (now Leninsky Prospekt), on the territory of the Lebedev Physical Institute; synchrocyclotron - in the area of the Ivankovskaya hydroelectric station, 125 kilometers north of Moscow (at that time Kalinin region). Initially, the creation of both accelerators was entrusted to FIAN. V.I. was appointed head of the synchrotron work. Veksler, and for the synchrocyclotron - D.V. Skobeltsyn.

On the left is Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor L.P. Zinoviev (1912–1998), on the right - Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences V.I. Wexler (1907–1966) during the creation of the synchrophasotron

Six months later, the head of the nuclear project I.V. Kurchatov, dissatisfied with the progress of work on the Fianov synchrocyclotron, transferred this topic to his Laboratory No. 2. He appointed M.G. as the new leader of the topic. Meshcheryakov, freed from work at the Leningrad Radium Institute. Under the leadership of Meshcheryakov, Laboratory No. 2 created a model of a synchrocyclotron, which has already experimentally confirmed the correctness of the autophasing principle. In 1947, construction of an accelerator began in the Kalinin region.

On December 14, 1949, under the leadership of M.G. Meshcheryakov synchrocyclotron was successfully launched on schedule and became the first accelerator of this type in the Soviet Union, exceeding the energy of a similar accelerator created in 1946 in Berkeley (USA). It remained a record until 1953.

Initially, the laboratory, based on a synchrocyclotron, was called the Hydrotechnical Laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences (GTL) for secrecy purposes and was a branch of Laboratory No. 2. In 1953, it was transformed into an independent Institute of Nuclear Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences (INP), headed by M.G. Meshcheryakov.

Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences A.I. Leypunsky (1907–1972), based on the principle of autophasing, proposed the design of an accelerator, later called a synchrophasotron (photo: “Science and Life”)
The creation of a synchrotron was not possible for a number of reasons. Firstly, due to unforeseen difficulties, it was necessary to build two synchrotrons at lower energies - 30 and 250 MeV. They were located on the territory of the Lebedev Physical Institute, and they decided to build a 1 GeV synchrotron outside of Moscow. In June 1948, he was allocated a place several kilometers from the synchrocyclotron already under construction in the Kalinin region, but it was never built there either, since preference was given to the accelerator proposed by Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Alexander Ilyich Leypunsky. It happened as follows.

In 1946, A.I. Leypunsky, based on the principle of autophasing, put forward the idea of the possibility of creating an accelerator that combined the features of a synchrotron and a synchrocyclotron. Subsequently, Wexler called this type of accelerator a synchrophasotron. The name becomes clear if we consider that the synchrocyclotron was initially called a phasotron and, in combination with a synchrotron, a synchrophasotron is obtained. In it, as a result of changes in the control magnetic field, particles move in a ring, as in a synchrotron, and acceleration produces a high-frequency electric field, the frequency of which varies over time, as in a synchrocyclotron. This made it possible to significantly increase the energy of accelerated protons compared to the synchrocyclotron. In a synchrophasotron, protons are pre-accelerated in a linear accelerator - an injector. Particles introduced into the main chamber begin to circulate in it under the influence of a magnetic field. This mode is called betatron. Then the high-frequency accelerating voltage is turned on on the electrodes placed in two diametrically opposed straight gaps.

Of all three types of accelerators based on the autophasing principle, the synchrophasotron is technically the most complex, and then many doubted the possibility of its creation. But Leypunsky, confident that everything would work out, boldly set out to implement his idea.

In 1947, in Laboratory “B” near the Obninskoye station (now the city of Obninsk), a special accelerator group under his leadership began developing an accelerator. The first theorists of the synchrophasotron were Yu.A. Krutkov, O.D. Kazachkovsky and L.L. Sabsovich. In February 1948, a closed conference on accelerators was held, which, in addition to ministers, was attended by A.L. Mints, already a well-known specialist in radio engineering at that time, and the chief engineers of the Leningrad Elektrosila and transformer plants. They all stated that the accelerator proposed by Leypunsky could be made. Encouraging first theoretical results and the support of engineers from leading factories made it possible to begin work on a specific technical project for a large accelerator with a proton energy of 1.3–1.5 GeV and to begin experimental work that confirmed the correctness of Leipunsky’s idea. By December 1948, the technical design of the accelerator was ready, and by March 1949, Leypunsky was supposed to present a preliminary design of a 10 GeV synchrophasotron.

And suddenly in 1949, in the midst of work, the government decided to transfer the work on the synchrophasotron to the Lebedev Physical Institute. For what? Why? After all, FIAN is already creating a 1 GeV synchrotron! Yes, the fact of the matter is that both projects, the 1.5 GeV synchrotron and the 1 GeV synchrotron, were too expensive, and the question arose about their feasibility. It was finally resolved at one of the special meetings at FIAN, where the country's leading physicists gathered. They considered it unnecessary to build a 1 GeV synchrotron due to the lack of much interest in electron acceleration. The main opponent of this position was M.A. Markov. His main argument was that it is much more effective to study both protons and nuclear forces using the already well-studied electromagnetic interaction. However, he failed to defend his point of view, and the positive decision turned out to be in favor of Leipunsky’s project.

This is what a 10 GeV synchrophasotron looks like in Dubna

Wexler's cherished dream of building the largest accelerator was crumbling. Not wanting to put up with the current situation, he, with the support of S.I. Vavilova and D.V. Skobeltsyna proposed to abandon the construction of a 1.5 GeV synchrophasotron and begin designing a 10 GeV accelerator, previously entrusted to A.I. Leypunsky. The government accepted this proposal, since in April 1948 it became known about the 6-7 GeV synchrophasotron project at the University of California and they wanted to be ahead of the United States at least for a while.

On May 2, 1949, a decree was issued by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the creation of a synchrophasotron with an energy of 7–10 GeV on the territory previously allocated for the synchrotron. The topic was transferred to the Lebedev Physical Institute, and V.I. was appointed its scientific and technical director. Wexler, although Leypunsky was doing quite well.

This can be explained, firstly, by the fact that Wexler was considered the author of the autophasing principle and, according to the recollections of contemporaries, L.P. was very favorable towards him. Beria. Secondly, S.I. Vavilov was at that time not only the director of FIAN, but also the president of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Leypunsky was offered to become Wexler's deputy, but he refused and did not participate in the creation of the synchrophasotron in the future. According to Deputy Leypunsky O.D. Kazachkovsky, “it was clear that two bears would not get along in one den.” Subsequently A.I. Leypunsky and O.D. Kazachkovsky became leading experts on reactors and in 1960 were awarded the Lenin Prize.

The resolution included a clause on the transfer to work at the Lebedev Physical Institute of Laboratory “B” employees involved in the development of the accelerator, with the transfer of the corresponding equipment. And there was something to convey: work on the accelerator in Laboratory “B” had by that time been brought to the stage of a model and justification of the main decisions.

Not everyone was enthusiastic about the transfer to FIAN, since Leypunsky was easy and interesting to work with: he was not only an excellent scientific supervisor, but also a wonderful person. However, it was almost impossible to refuse the transfer: at that harsh time, refusal threatened with trial and camps.

The group transferred from Laboratory “B” included engineer Leonid Petrovich Zinoviev. He, like other members of the accelerator group, in Leypunsky's laboratory first worked on the development of individual components necessary for the model of the future accelerator, in particular the ion source and high-voltage pulse circuits for powering the injector. Leypunsky immediately drew attention to the competent and creative engineer. On his instructions, Zinoviev was the first to be involved in the creation of a pilot installation in which the entire process of proton acceleration could be simulated. Then no one could have imagined that, having become one of the pioneers in bringing the idea of a synchrophasotron to life, Zinoviev would be the only person who would go through all the stages of its creation and improvement. And he will not just pass, but lead them.

Theoretical and experimental results obtained in Laboratory “B” were used at the Lebedev Physical Institute when designing a 10 GeV synchrophasotron. However, increasing the accelerator energy to this value required significant modifications. The difficulties of its creation were greatly aggravated by the fact that at that time there was no experience in the construction of such large installations throughout the world.

Under the guidance of theorists M.S. Rabinovich and A.A. Kolomensky at FIAN made a physical substantiation of the technical project. The main components of the synchrophasotron were developed by the Moscow Radiotechnical Institute of the Academy of Sciences and the Leningrad Research Institute under the leadership of their directors A.L. Mints and E.G. Mosquito.

To obtain the necessary experience, we decided to build a model of a synchrophasotron with an energy of 180 MeV. It was located on the territory of the Lebedev Physical Institute in a special building, which, for reasons of secrecy, was called warehouse No. 2. At the beginning of 1951, Wexler entrusted all work on the model, including installation of equipment, adjustment and its comprehensive launch, to Zinoviev.

The Fianov model was by no means small - its magnet with a diameter of 4 meters weighed 290 tons. Subsequently, Zinoviev recalled that when they assembled the model in accordance with the first calculations and tried to launch it, at first nothing worked. Many unforeseen technical difficulties had to be overcome before the model was launched. When this happened in 1953, Wexler said: “That’s it! The Ivankovsky synchrophasotron will work!” We were talking about a large 10 GeV synchrophasotron, which had already begun to be built in 1951 in the Kalinin region. Construction was carried out by an organization code-named TDS-533 (Technical Directorate of Construction 533).

Shortly before the launch of the model, a message unexpectedly appeared in an American magazine about a new design of the accelerator magnetic system, called hard-focusing. It is performed in the form of a set of alternating sections with oppositely directed magnetic field gradients. This significantly reduces the amplitude of oscillations of accelerated particles, which in turn makes it possible to significantly reduce the cross-section of the vacuum chamber. As a result, a large amount of iron used for the construction of the magnet is saved. For example, the 30 GeV accelerator in Geneva, based on hard focusing, has three times the energy and three times the circumference of the Dubna synchrophasotron, and its magnet is ten times lighter.

The design of hard focusing magnets was proposed and developed by American scientists Courant, Livingston and Snyder in 1952. A few years before them, Christofilos came up with the same idea, but did not publish it.

Zinoviev immediately appreciated the Americans’ discovery and proposed redesigning the Dubna synchrophasotron. But this would have to sacrifice time. Wexler said then: “No, at least for one day, but we must be ahead of the Americans.” Probably, in the conditions of the Cold War, he was right - “one doesn’t change horses in midstream.” And they continued to build the large accelerator according to the previously developed project. In 1953, on the basis of the synchrophasotron under construction, the Electrophysical Laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences (EFLAN) was created. V.I. was appointed its director. Wexler.

In 1956, INP and EFLAN formed the basis of the established Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). Its location became known as the city of Dubna. By that time, the proton energy at the synchrocyclotron was 680 MeV, and the construction of the synchrophasotron was being completed. From the first days of the formation of JINR, a stylized drawing of the synchrophasotron building (by V.P. Bochkarev) became its official symbol.

The model helped solve a number of issues for the 10 GeV accelerator, but the design of many nodes underwent significant changes due to the large difference in size. The average diameter of the synchrophasotron electromagnet was 60 meters, and the weight was 36 thousand tons (according to its parameters, it still remains in the Guinness Book of Records). A whole range of new complex engineering problems arose, which the team successfully solved.

Finally, everything was ready for the comprehensive launch of the accelerator. By order of Wexler, it was led by L.P. Zinoviev. Work began at the end of December 1956, the situation was tense, and Vladimir Iosifovich did not spare either himself or his employees. We often stayed overnight on cots right in the installation’s huge control room. According to the memoirs of A.A. Kolomensky, Wexler spent most of his inexhaustible energy at that time on “extorting” help from external organizations and on implementing sensible proposals, which largely came from Zinoviev. Wexler highly valued his experimental intuition, which played a decisive role in the launch of the giant accelerator.

For a very long time they could not get the betatron mode, without which launch is impossible. And it was Zinoviev who, at a crucial moment, understood what had to be done to breathe life into the synchrophasotron. The experiment, which had been prepared for two weeks, was finally crowned with success, to everyone’s joy. On March 15, 1957, the Dubna synchrophasotron started working, as the Pravda newspaper reported to the whole world on April 11, 1957 (article by V.I. Veksler). It is interesting that this news appeared only when the energy of the accelerator, gradually raised from the day of launch, exceeded the energy of 6.3 GeV of the then leading American synchrophasotron in Berkeley. “There are 8.3 billion electron volts!” - the newspaper reported, announcing that a record accelerator had been created in the Soviet Union. Wexler's cherished dream has come true!

On April 16, the proton energy reached the design value of 10 GeV, but the accelerator was put into operation only a few months later, since there were still quite a few unsolved technical problems. And yet the main thing was behind us - the synchrophasotron started working.

Wexler reported this at the second session of the Academic Council of the Joint Institute in May 1957. At the same time, the director of the institute D.I. Blokhintsev noted that, firstly, the synchrophasotron model was created in a year and a half, while in America it took about two years. Secondly, the synchrophasotron itself was launched in three months, on schedule, although at first it seemed unrealistic. It was the launch of the synchrophasotron that brought Dubna its first worldwide fame.

At the third session of the scientific council of the institute, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences V.P. Dzhelepov noted that “Zinoviev was in all respects the soul of the startup and contributed a colossal amount of energy and effort to this matter, namely creative effort during the setup of the machine.” A D.I. Blokhintsev added that “Zinoviev actually bore the enormous labor of complex adjustment.”

Thousands of people were involved in the creation of the synchrophasotron, but Leonid Petrovich Zinoviev played a special role in this. Veksler wrote: “The success of the launch of the synchrophasotron and the possibility of starting a wide range of physical work on it are largely associated with the participation of L.P. in these works. Zinoviev."

Zinoviev planned to return to FIAN after the launch of the accelerator. However, Wexler begged him to stay, believing that he could not entrust anyone else with the management of the synchrophasotron. Zinoviev agreed and supervised the work of the accelerator for more than thirty years. Under his leadership and direct participation, the accelerator was constantly improved. Zinoviev loved the synchrophasotron and very subtly felt the breath of this iron giant. According to him, there was not a single part of the accelerator, even the slightest bit, that he did not touch and the purpose of which he did not know.

In October 1957, at an extended meeting of the scientific council of the Kurchatov Institute, chaired by Igor Vasilyevich himself, seventeen people from various organizations who participated in the creation of the synchrophasotron were nominated for the most prestigious Lenin Prize in the Soviet Union at that time. But according to the conditions, the number of laureates could not exceed twelve people. In April 1959, the prize was awarded to the director of the JINR High Energy Laboratory V.I. Veksler, head of department of the same laboratory L.P. Zinoviev, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for the Use of Atomic Energy under the Council of Ministers of the USSR D.V. Efremov, director of the Leningrad Research Institute E.G. Komar and his collaborators N.A. Monoszon, A.M. Stolov, director of the Moscow Radio Engineering Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences A.L. Mints, employees of the same institute F.A. Vodopyanov, S.M. Rubchinsky, FIAN employees A.A. Kolomensky, V.A. Petukhov, M.S. Rabinovich. Veksler and Zinoviev became honorary citizens of Dubna.

The synchrophasotron remained in service for forty-five years. During this time, a number of discoveries were made on it. In 1960, the synchrophasotron model was converted into an electron accelerator, which is still operating at the Lebedev Physical Institute.

sources

Literature:
Kolomensky A. A., Lebedev A. N. Theory of cyclic accelerators. - M., 1962.
Komar E. G. Accelerators of charged particles. - M., 1964.
Livingood J. Principles of operation of cyclic accelerators - M., 1963.
Oganesyan Yu. How the cyclotron was created / Science and Life, 1980 No. 4, p. 73.
Hill R. Following the tracks of particles - M., 1963.

http://elementy.ru/lib/430461?page_design=print

http://www.afizika.ru/zanimatelniestati/172-ktopridumalsihrofazatron

http://theor.jinr.ru/~spin2012/talks/plenary/Kekelidze.pdf

http://fodeka.ru/blog/?p=1099

http://www.larisa-zinovyeva.com

And I’ll remind you about some other settings: for example, and what it looks like. Remember also what . Or maybe you don't know? or what is it The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

In 1957, the USSR made a scientific and technical breakthrough in several areas: it successfully launched an artificial Earth satellite, and a few months before this event, the synchrophasotron began operating in Dubna. What is it and why is such an installation needed? This issue worried not only the citizens of the USSR at that time, but the whole world. Of course, the scientific community understood what it was, but ordinary citizens were perplexed when they heard this word. Even today, most people do not understand the essence and principle of the synchrophasotron, although they have heard this word more than once. Let's figure out what this device is and what it was used for.

What is a synchrophasotron used for?

This installation was developed to study the microcosm and understand the structure of elementary particles and the laws of their interaction with each other. The method of knowledge itself was extremely simple: break a particle and see what is inside. However, how can you break a proton? For this purpose, a synchrophasotron was created, which accelerates particles and hits them on a target. The latter can be stationary, but in the modern Large Hadron Collider (which is an improved version of the good old synchrophasotron) the target is moving. There, beams of protons move towards each other at great speed and hit each other.

It was believed that this installation would allow for a scientific breakthrough, the discovery of new elements and methods for producing atomic energy from cheap sources that would be more efficient than enriched uranium and would be safer and less harmful to the environment.

Military purposes

Of course, military goals were also pursued. The creation of atomic energy for peaceful purposes is just an excuse for the naive. It is not for nothing that the synchrophasotron project was classified as “Top Secret”, because the construction of this accelerator was carried out as part of the project to create a new atomic bomb. With its help, they wanted to obtain an improved theory of nuclear forces, which is necessary for calculating and creating a bomb. True, everything turned out to be much more complicated, and even today this theory is missing.

What is a synchrophasotron in simple words?

To summarize, this installation is an accelerator of elementary particles, protons in particular. The synchrophasotron consists of a non-magnetic looped tube with a vacuum inside, as well as powerful electromagnets. Alternately, the magnets turn on, guiding charged particles inside the vacuum tube. When they reach maximum speed with the help of accelerators, they are sent to a special target. The protons hit it, break the target itself and break themselves. The fragments fly in different directions and leave marks in the bubble chamber. Using these traces, a group of scientists analyzes their nature.

This was the case before, but modern installations (such as the Large Hadron Collider) use more modern detectors instead of a bubble chamber, which provide more information about proton fragments.

The installation itself is quite complex and high-tech. We can say that the synchrophasotron is a “distant relative” of the modern Large Hadron Collider. In fact, it can be called an analogue of a microscope. Both of these devices are intended for studying the microworld, but the principle of study is different.

More about the device

So, we already know what a synchrophasotron is, and also that here particles are accelerated to enormous speeds. As it turns out, to accelerate protons to enormous speeds, it is necessary to create a potential difference of hundreds of billions of volts. Unfortunately, humanity is unable to do this, so they came up with the idea of accelerating the particles gradually.

In the installation, the particles move in a circle, and at each revolution they are fed with energy, receiving acceleration. And although such recharge is small, over millions of revolutions you can gain the necessary energy.

The operation of the synchrophasotron is based on this very principle. Elementary particles accelerated to small values are launched into a tunnel where magnets are located. They create a magnetic field perpendicular to the ring. Many people mistakenly believe that these magnets accelerate particles, but this is actually not the case. They only change their trajectory, forcing them to move in a circle, but do not accelerate them. The acceleration itself occurs at certain acceleration intervals.

Particle acceleration

Such an acceleration period is a capacitor to which voltage is applied at a high frequency. By the way, this is the basis of the entire operation of this installation. A beam of protons flies into this capacitor at the moment when the voltage in it is zero. As the particles fly through the capacitor, the voltage has time to increase, which speeds up the particles. On the next circle, this is repeated, since the frequency of the alternating voltage is specially selected equal to the frequency of the particle’s circulation around the ring. Consequently, protons are accelerated synchronously and in phase. Hence the name - synchrophasotron.

By the way, this method of acceleration has a certain beneficial effect. If suddenly a beam of protons flies faster than the required speed, then it flies into the acceleration gap at a negative voltage value, which is why it slows down a little. If the speed of movement is lower, then the effect will be the opposite: the particle receives acceleration and catches up with the main bunch of protons. As a result, a dense and compact beam of particles moves at the same speed.

Problems

Ideally, particles should be accelerated to the highest possible speed. And if protons move faster and faster on each circle, then why can’t they be accelerated to the maximum possible speed? There are several reasons.

First, an increase in energy implies an increase in the mass of particles. Unfortunately, relativistic laws do not allow any element to be accelerated above the speed of light. In a synchrophasotron, the speed of protons almost reaches the speed of light, which greatly increases their mass. As a result, they become difficult to keep in a circular orbit of radius. It has been known since school that the radius of motion of particles in a magnetic field is inversely proportional to mass and directly proportional to the strength of the field. And since the mass of particles increases, the radius must be increased and the magnetic field made stronger. These conditions create limitations in the implementation of conditions for research, since technologies are limited even today. So far it has not been possible to create a field with an induction higher than several teslas. That’s why they make tunnels of great length, because with a large radius, heavy particles at enormous speed can be kept in a magnetic field.

The second problem is motion with acceleration in a circle. It is known that a charge that moves at a certain speed emits energy, that is, loses it. Consequently, particles constantly lose some energy during acceleration, and the higher their speed, the more energy they spend. At some point, an equilibrium occurs between the energy received in the acceleration section and the loss of the same amount of energy per revolution.

Research carried out at the synchrophasotron

Now we understand what principle underlies the operation of the synchrophasotron. It allowed a number of studies and discoveries to be made. In particular, scientists were able to study the properties of accelerated deuterons, the behavior of the quantum structure of nuclei, the interaction of heavy ions with targets, and also develop a technology for recycling uranium-238.

Application of test results

The results obtained in these areas are used today in the construction of spaceships, the design of nuclear power plants, as well as in the development of special equipment and robotics. From all this it follows that the synchrophasotron is a device whose contribution to science is difficult to overestimate.

Conclusion

For 50 years, such installations have served for the benefit of science and are actively used by scientists all over the planet. The previously created synchrophasotron and similar installations (they were created not only in the USSR) are just one link in the chain of evolution. Today, more advanced devices are appearing - nuclotrons, which have enormous energy.

One of the most advanced of these devices is the Large Hadron Collider. In contrast to the action of the synchrophasotron, it collides two beams of particles in opposite directions, as a result of which the energy released from the collision is many times higher than the energy at the synchrophasotron. This opens up opportunities for more accurate study of elementary particles.

Perhaps now you should understand what a synchrophasotron is and why it is needed. This installation allowed us to make a number of discoveries. Today it has been turned into an electron accelerator, and is currently working at the Lebedev Physical Institute.

Technology in the USSR developed rapidly. Just look at the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, which was watched by the whole world. Few people know that in the same year, 1957, the synchrophasotron started working in the USSR (that is, it was not just completed and put into operation, but launched). This word means an installation for accelerating elementary particles. Almost everyone today has heard about the Large Hadron Collider - it is a newer and improved version of the device described in this article.

What is this - a synchrophasotron? What is it for?

This installation is a large accelerator of elementary particles (protons), which allows for a more in-depth study of the microcosm, as well as the interaction of these same particles with each other. The way to study is very simple: break protons into small parts and see what is inside. It all sounds simple, but breaking a proton is an extremely difficult task, which required the construction of such a huge structure. Here, through a special tunnel, particles are accelerated to enormous speeds and then sent to the target. When they hit it, they scatter into small fragments. The closest “colleague” of the synchrophasotron, the Large Hadron Collider, operates on approximately the same principle, only there the particles accelerate in opposite directions and do not hit a standing target, but collide with each other.

Now you understand a little that this is a synchrophasotron. It was believed that the installation would make it possible to make a scientific breakthrough in the field of microworld research. In turn, this will allow the discovery of new elements and ways to obtain cheap energy sources. Ideally, they wanted to discover elements that were superior in efficiency and at the same time less harmful and easier to recycle.

Military use

It is worth noting that this installation was created to carry out a scientific and technological breakthrough, but its goals were not only peaceful. The scientific and technological breakthrough owes much to the military arms race. The synchrophasotron was created under the heading "Top Secret", and its development and construction were carried out as part of the creation of the atomic bomb. It was assumed that the device would make it possible to create a perfect theory of nuclear forces, but everything turned out to be not so simple. Even today this theory is missing, although technological progress has made great strides forward.

in simple words?

If we summarize and speak in understandable language? A synchrophasotron is a facility where protons can be accelerated to high speed. It consists of a looped tube with a vacuum inside and powerful electromagnets that prevent protons from moving randomly. When the protons reach their maximum speed, their flow is directed towards a special target. Hitting it, protons scatter into small fragments. Scientists can see traces of flying fragments in a special bubble chamber, and from these traces they analyze the nature of the particles themselves.

The bubble chamber is a slightly outdated device for capturing traces of protons. Today, such installations use more accurate radars, which provide more information about the movement of proton fragments.

Despite the simple principle of the synchrophasotron, this installation itself is high-tech, and its creation is possible only with a sufficient level of technical and scientific development, which, of course, the USSR possessed. To give an analogy, an ordinary microscope is a device whose purpose coincides with the purpose of a synchrophasotron. Both devices allow you to explore the microworld, only the latter allows you to “dig deeper” and has a somewhat unique research method.

Details

The operation of the device was described above in simple words. Of course, the operating principle of a synchrophasotron is more complex. The fact is that to accelerate particles to high speeds, it is necessary to provide a potential difference of hundreds of billions of volts. This is impossible even at the current stage of technology development, not to mention the previous one.

Therefore, it was decided to accelerate the particles gradually and drive them in a circle for a long time. On each lap, the protons were energized. As a result of passing millions of revolutions, it was possible to gain the required speed, after which they were sent to the target.

This is exactly the principle that was used in the synchrophasotron. At first, the particles moved through the tunnel at low speed. On each lap, they entered so-called acceleration intervals, where they received an additional charge of energy and gained speed. These acceleration sections are capacitors, the frequency of the alternating voltage of which is equal to the frequency of protons passing through the ring. That is, the particles hit the acceleration section with a negative charge, at this moment the voltage increased sharply, which gave them speed. If the particles hit the acceleration site with a positive charge, then their movement was slowed down. And this is a positive feature, since because of it the entire proton beam moved at the same speed.

And this was repeated millions of times, and when the particles acquired the required speed, they were sent to a special target, on which they crashed. Afterwards, a group of scientists studied the results of the particle collision. This is how the synchrophasotron worked.

The role of magnets

It is known that powerful electromagnets were also used in this huge particle acceleration machine. People mistakenly believe that they were used to accelerate protons, but this is not the case. Particles were accelerated with the help of special capacitors (acceleration sections), and magnets only kept the protons in a strictly specified trajectory. Without them, the consistent movement of a beam of elementary particles would be impossible. And the high power of electromagnets is explained by the large mass of protons at high speeds.

What problems did scientists face?

One of the main problems in creating this installation was precisely the acceleration of particles. Of course, they could be accelerated on each lap, but as they accelerated, their mass became higher. At a speed close to the speed of light (as we know, nothing can move faster than the speed of light), their mass became enormous, making it difficult to keep them in a circular orbit. We know from the school curriculum that the radius of motion of elements in a magnetic field is inversely proportional to their mass, therefore, as the mass of protons increased, we had to increase the radius and use large, strong magnets. Such laws of physics greatly limit the possibilities for research. By the way, they can also explain why the synchrophasotron turned out to be so huge. The larger the tunnel, the larger magnets can be installed to create a strong magnetic field to keep the protons moving in the desired direction.

The second problem is the loss of energy when moving. Particles, when passing around a circle, emit energy (lose it). Consequently, when moving at speed, part of the energy evaporates, and the higher the speed, the higher the losses. Sooner or later, a moment comes when the values of emitted and received energy are compared, which makes further acceleration of particles impossible. Consequently, there is a need for greater capacity.

We can say that we now more accurately understand that this is a synchrophasotron. But what exactly did scientists achieve during the tests?

What research has been done?

Naturally, the work of this installation did not pass without a trace. And although it was expected to produce more serious results, some studies turned out to be extremely useful. In particular, scientists studied the properties of accelerated deuterons, interactions of heavy ions with targets, and developed a more effective technology for recycling spent uranium-238. And although for the average person all these results mean little, in the scientific field their significance is difficult to overestimate.

Application of results

The results of tests carried out at the synchrophasotron are used even today. In particular, they are used in the construction of power plants operating on space rockets, robotics and complex equipment. Of course, the contribution to science and technical progress of this project is quite large. Some results are also applied in the military sphere. And although scientists have not been able to discover new elements that could be used to create new atomic bombs, no one really knows whether this is true or not. It is quite possible that some results are being hidden from the population, because it is worth considering that this project was implemented under the heading “Top Secret”.

Conclusion

Now you understand that this is a synchrophasotron, and what its role is in the scientific and technological progress of the USSR. Even today, such installations are actively used in many countries, but there are already more advanced options - nuclotrons. The Large Hadron Collider is perhaps the best implementation of the synchrophasotron idea to date. The use of this installation allows scientists to more accurately understand the microworld by colliding two beams of protons moving at enormous speeds.