There are 2 types of atom smashers: linear and circular. Linacs (linear accelerators) are in a line, while the other is a circle. Shouldn’t linacs be not as good as circular accelerators since circular colliders have unlimited space to accelerate while linacs have a limited amount? I understand it might need more force to go in a circle but the length makes up for it.
In: Physics
Radiation losses are greater in cyclotrons (the circular accelerators), which means it takes more energy input to get equivalent kinetic energy for the particles. However, they are more compact in design.
Some accelerators start with a cyclotrons to ramp up to a particular point, then fire those into a linear accelerator to increase the efficiency.
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