A new report outlines suggestions for federal investments needed for the next generation of transformative discoveries in particle physics and cosmology, including priority projects at SLAC.

What could smaller particle accelerators look like in the future? SLAC scientists are working on innovations that could give more researchers access to accelerator science.

The future of experimental particle physics is exciting –  and energy intensive. SLAC physicists are thinking about how to make one proposal, the Cool Copper Collider, more sustainable.

With up to a million X-ray flashes per second, 8,000 times more than its predecessor, it transforms the ability of scientists to explore atomic-scale, ultrafast phenomena that are key to a broad range of applications, from quantum materials to clean...

They used synthetic diamond crystals as mirrors to make X-ray pulses run laps inside a vacuum chamber, demonstrating a key process needed for future generations of performance-enhanced X-ray lasers.     

The long – but not too long – cavity would ping-pong X-ray pulses inside of a particle accelerator facility to help capture nature’s fastest movements.

The algorithm pairs machine-learning techniques with classical beam physics equations to avoid massive data crunching.

SLAC works with two small businesses to make its ACE3P software easier to use in supercomputer simulations for optimizing the shapes of accelerator structures.

An extension of the Stanford Research Computing Facility will host several data centers to handle the unprecedented data streams that will be produced by a new generation of scientific projects.

Knowing a magnet’s past will allow scientists to customize particle beams more precisely in the future. As accelerators stretch for higher levels of performance, understanding subtle effects, such as those introduced by magnetic history, is becoming more critical.

Edelen draws on machine learning to fine tune particle accelerators, while Kurinsky develops dark matter detectors informed by quantum information science.

The facility, LCLS-II, will soon sharpen our view of how nature works on ultrasmall, ultrafast scales, impacting everything from quantum devices to clean energy.