<i>The behind the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is developing a muon particle accelerator that could achieve ten times higher energies compared to the Large Hadron Collider.</i>

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<h3>Muons Are The Future</h3>

Particle accelerators are used not only to break the limits of our knowledge – such as the LHC in CERN does – but for many other things as well. Beams of accelerated particles can help us find out what is the chemical structure of drugs or various materials, they can heal tumors or even help us make microchips. Current particle accelerators usually accelerate protons, electrons, or ions in concentrated beams.

The experiment known as MICE is looking into the future of accelerators. The scientists there are working on a new generation of particle accelerators that would accelerate muons. These are negatively electrically charged leptons – elemental particles that are similar to electrons. But they are much more massive than electrons – about two-hundred times as massive. This is why muons could make beams that would have an energy that is ten times higher than the energies achieved at LHC. Muons could also allow us to research the atomic structure of materials, to analyze materials so dense that even x-rays cannot pass through them, and potentially they could play an important role when starting fusion reactions.

<h3>Muon Clouds</h3>

Scientists at the MICE experiment recently announced that they succeeded in a major step of developing the technology needed for future muon accelerators. They managed to “herd” the muons into a small space thus increasing the probability that the muons will hit each other during acceleration. Such technology is required to create functional muon beams.

Muons are created when a beam of protons hits a special target. The muons then have to be separated from the rest of the material and directed using magnetic lenses. This creates a cloud of muons. But a very thin cloud. If such muon clouds collided there will be only a very low chance that any muons collide with each other. To thicken the muon clouds we can use a process known as beam cooling that allows the muons to get closer to each other. The problem lies in the fact that you cannot use the magnetic lenses to cool the muon beam while directing them.

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The MICE experiment team tried a completely new method to cool down the beam of muons. The method lets the muons pass through a specially designed material that absorbs the energy of the passing particles The muon cloud was also very precisely directed with powerful lenses made from superconductive magnets.

Once the muon beam is cooled down and thickens then it is essentially possible to just shoot them through a conventional particle accelerator and let them collide. But another possibility to is slow the muons even more and study the products of their decay in great detail. Either way, a muon particle accelerator is closer to reality.

<h4>Sources:</h4>
* https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1958-9

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