The acceleration and storage of radioactive ions for a neutrino factory

Abstract

The term beta-beam has been coined for the production of a pure beam of\nelectron neutrinos or their antiparticles through the decay of radioactive ions\ncirculating in a storage ring. This concept requires radioactive ions to be\naccelerated to a Lorentz gamma of 150 for 6He and 60 for 18Ne. The neutrino\nsource itself consists of a storage ring for this energy range, with long\nstraight sections in line with the experiment(s). Such a decay ring does not\nexist at CERN today, nor does a high-intensity proton source for the production\nof the radioactive ions. Nevertheless, the existing CERN accelerator\ninfrastructure could be used as this would still represent an important saving\nfor a beta-beam facility. This paper outlines the first study, while some of\nthe more speculative ideas will need further investigations.\n