An energy recovery proton linear accelerator for muon production

Muons have important applications in both scientific research and industry. In order to produce muons, an effective way is to use a high-power proton beam interacting with a targeting material. After the interaction, the proton beam is disposed of for other purposes. In this paper, we propose a new type of proton accelerator, an energy recovery proton linear accelerator, so that the high-energy proton beam can be reused to give its energy back to the accelerator. This substantially saves the operational cost of the accelerator and also avoids the burden of high-power beam dumps.