I.13 — Cyclotrons and fixed field alternating gradient accelerators

The cyclotrons are the most used hadron accelerators: they represent a compact and efficient solution with 100% duty cycle, very well adapted for the medical applications and for the nuclear physics research. The cyclotron maximal energy is typically 1 GeV for a proton beam. In this introductory lecture, we present the underlying concepts. The longitudinal and transverse beam dynamics in these accelerators are covered. We present specific cyclotrons (compact cyclotrons at low energy, synchrocyclotrons, “Fixed Field Alternating Gradient” accelerators, superconducting cyclotrons, separated sector cyclotrons). The concepts used in the cyclotrons are numerous, and the topic is an ideal application of many ideas introduced in a basic course in accelerator physics. We provide many exercises for a better understanding.