The operating principle of the synchrophasotron is operation. What is a synchrophasotron? Research carried out at the synchrophasotron

The whole world knows that in 1957 the USSR launched the world's first artificial Earth satellite. However, few people know that in the same year the Soviet Union began testing the synchrophasotron, which is the progenitor of the modern Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. The article will discuss what a synchrophasotron is and how it works.

Answering the question of what a synchrophasotron is, it should be said that it is a high-tech and science-intensive device that was intended for the study of microcosm. In particular, the idea of ​​the synchrophasotron was as follows: it was necessary, using powerful magnetic fields created by electromagnets, to accelerate a beam of elementary particles (protons) to high speeds, and then direct this beam to a target at rest. From such a collision, protons will have to “break” into pieces. Not far from the target there is a special detector - a bubble chamber. This detector allows one to study their nature and properties using the tracks left by proton parts.

Why was it necessary to build the USSR synchrophasotron? In this scientific experiment, which was classified as "top secret", Soviet scientists tried to find a new source of cheaper and more efficient energy than enriched uranium. Purely scientific goals of a deeper study of the nature of nuclear interactions and the world of subatomic particles were also pursued.

Operating principle of the synchrophasotron

The above description of the tasks facing the synchrophasotron may not seem too difficult to many to implement in practice, but this is not so. Despite the simplicity of the question of what a synchrophasotron is, in order to accelerate protons to the required enormous speeds, electrical voltages of hundreds of billions of volts are needed. Such tensions cannot be created even today. Therefore, it was decided to distribute the energy pumped into protons over time.

The principle of operation of the synchrophasotron was as follows: a beam of protons begins its movement through a ring-shaped tunnel, in some place of this tunnel there are capacitors that create a voltage surge at the moment when the beam of protons flies through them. Thus, at each turn there is a slight acceleration of protons. After the particle beam makes several million revolutions through the synchrophasotron tunnel, the protons will reach the desired speeds and will be directed towards the target.

It is worth noting that the electromagnets used during the acceleration of protons played a guiding role, that is, they determined the trajectory of the beam, but did not participate in its acceleration.

Problems that scientists encountered when conducting experiments

To better understand what a synchrophasotron is and why its creation is a very complex and knowledge-intensive process, one should consider the problems that arise during its operation.

Firstly, the higher the speed of the proton beam, the more mass they begin to have according to Einstein’s famous law. At speeds close to light, the mass of particles becomes so large that to keep them on the desired trajectory, it is necessary to have powerful electromagnets. The larger the size of the synchrophasotron, the larger the magnets that can be installed.

Secondly, the creation of a synchrophasotron was also complicated by the energy losses of the proton beam during their circular acceleration, and the higher the beam speed, the more significant these losses become. It turns out that in order to accelerate the beam to the required gigantic speeds, it is necessary to have enormous powers.

What results were obtained?

Undoubtedly, experiments at the Soviet synchrophasotron made a huge contribution to the development of modern fields of technology. Thus, thanks to these experiments, USSR scientists were able to improve the process of processing used uranium-238 and obtained some interesting data by colliding accelerated ions of different atoms with a target.

The results of experiments at the synchrophasotron are still used to this day in the construction of nuclear power plants, space rockets and robotics. The achievements of Soviet scientific thought were used in the construction of the most powerful synchrophasotron of our time, which is the Large Hadron Collider. The Soviet accelerator itself serves the science of the Russian Federation, being located at the FIAN Institute (Moscow), where it is used as an ion accelerator.

What is a synchrophasotron: the principle of operation and the results obtained - all about traveling to the site

Technology in the USSR developed rapidly. Just look at the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, which was watched by the whole world. Few people know that in the same year, 1957, the synchrophasotron started working in the USSR (that is, it was not just completed and put into operation, but launched). This word means an installation for accelerating elementary particles. Almost everyone today has heard about the Large Hadron Collider - it is a newer and improved version of the device described in this article.

What is this - a synchrophasotron? What is it for?

This installation is a large accelerator of elementary particles (protons), which allows for a more in-depth study of the microcosm, as well as the interaction of these same particles with each other. The way to study is very simple: break protons into small parts and see what is inside. It all sounds simple, but breaking a proton is an extremely difficult task, which required the construction of such a huge structure. Here, through a special tunnel, particles are accelerated to enormous speeds and then sent to the target. When they hit it, they scatter into small fragments. The closest “colleague” of the synchrophasotron, the Large Hadron Collider, operates on approximately the same principle, only there the particles accelerate in opposite directions and do not hit a standing target, but collide with each other.

Now you understand a little that this is a synchrophasotron. It was believed that the installation would make it possible to make a scientific breakthrough in the field of microworld research. In turn, this will allow the discovery of new elements and ways to obtain cheap energy sources. Ideally, they wanted to discover elements that were superior in efficiency and at the same time less harmful and easier to recycle.

Military use

It is worth noting that this installation was created to carry out a scientific and technological breakthrough, but its goals were not only peaceful. The scientific and technological breakthrough owes much to the military arms race. The synchrophasotron was created under the heading "Top Secret", and its development and construction were carried out as part of the creation of the atomic bomb. It was assumed that the device would make it possible to create a perfect theory of nuclear forces, but everything turned out to be not so simple. Even today this theory is missing, although technological progress has made great strides forward.

in simple words?

If we summarize and speak in understandable language? A synchrophasotron is a facility where protons can be accelerated to high speed. It consists of a looped tube with a vacuum inside and powerful electromagnets that prevent protons from moving randomly. When the protons reach their maximum speed, their flow is directed towards a special target. Hitting it, protons scatter into small fragments. Scientists can see traces of flying fragments in a special bubble chamber, and from these traces they analyze the nature of the particles themselves.

The bubble chamber is a slightly outdated device for capturing traces of protons. Today, such installations use more accurate radars, which provide more information about the movement of proton fragments.

Despite the simple principle of the synchrophasotron, this installation itself is high-tech, and its creation is possible only with a sufficient level of technical and scientific development, which, of course, the USSR possessed. To give an analogy, an ordinary microscope is a device whose purpose coincides with the purpose of a synchrophasotron. Both devices allow you to explore the microworld, only the latter allows you to “dig deeper” and has a somewhat unique research method.

Details

The operation of the device was described above in simple words. Of course, the operating principle of a synchrophasotron is more complex. The fact is that to accelerate particles to high speeds, it is necessary to provide a potential difference of hundreds of billions of volts. This is impossible even at the current stage of technology development, not to mention the previous one.

Therefore, it was decided to accelerate the particles gradually and drive them in a circle for a long time. On each lap, the protons were energized. As a result of passing millions of revolutions, it was possible to gain the required speed, after which they were sent to the target.

This is exactly the principle that was used in the synchrophasotron. At first, the particles moved through the tunnel at low speed. On each lap, they entered so-called acceleration intervals, where they received an additional charge of energy and gained speed. These acceleration sections are capacitors, the frequency of the alternating voltage of which is equal to the frequency of protons passing through the ring. That is, the particles hit the acceleration section with a negative charge, at this moment the voltage increased sharply, which gave them speed. If the particles hit the acceleration site with a positive charge, then their movement was slowed down. And this is a positive feature, since because of it the entire proton beam moved at the same speed.

And this was repeated millions of times, and when the particles acquired the required speed, they were sent to a special target, on which they crashed. Afterwards, a group of scientists studied the results of the particle collision. This is how the synchrophasotron worked.

The role of magnets

It is known that powerful electromagnets were also used in this huge particle acceleration machine. People mistakenly believe that they were used to accelerate protons, but this is not the case. Particles were accelerated with the help of special capacitors (acceleration sections), and magnets only kept the protons in a strictly specified trajectory. Without them, the consistent movement of a beam of elementary particles would be impossible. And the high power of electromagnets is explained by the large mass of protons at high speeds.

What problems did scientists face?

One of the main problems in creating this installation was precisely the acceleration of particles. Of course, they could be accelerated on each lap, but as they accelerated, their mass became higher. At a speed close to the speed of light (as we know, nothing can move faster than the speed of light), their mass became enormous, making it difficult to keep them in a circular orbit. We know from the school curriculum that the radius of motion of elements in a magnetic field is inversely proportional to their mass, therefore, as the mass of protons increased, we had to increase the radius and use large, strong magnets. Such laws of physics greatly limit the possibilities for research. By the way, they can also explain why the synchrophasotron turned out to be so huge. The larger the tunnel, the larger magnets can be installed to create a strong magnetic field to keep the protons moving in the desired direction.

The second problem is the loss of energy when moving. Particles, when passing around a circle, emit energy (lose it). Consequently, when moving at speed, part of the energy evaporates, and the higher the speed, the higher the losses. Sooner or later, a moment comes when the values ​​of emitted and received energy are compared, which makes further acceleration of particles impossible. Consequently, there is a need for greater capacity.

We can say that we now more accurately understand that this is a synchrophasotron. But what exactly did scientists achieve during the tests?

What research has been done?

Naturally, the work of this installation did not pass without a trace. And although it was expected to produce more serious results, some studies turned out to be extremely useful. In particular, scientists studied the properties of accelerated deuterons, interactions of heavy ions with targets, and developed a more effective technology for recycling spent uranium-238. And although for the average person all these results mean little, in the scientific field their significance is difficult to overestimate.

Application of results

The results of tests carried out at the synchrophasotron are used even today. In particular, they are used in the construction of power plants operating on space rockets, robotics and complex equipment. Of course, the contribution to science and technical progress of this project is quite large. Some results are also applied in the military sphere. And although scientists have not been able to discover new elements that could be used to create new atomic bombs, no one really knows whether this is true or not. It is quite possible that some results are being hidden from the population, because it is worth considering that this project was implemented under the heading “Top Secret”.

Conclusion

Now you understand that this is a synchrophasotron, and what its role is in the scientific and technological progress of the USSR. Even today, such installations are actively used in many countries, but there are already more advanced options - nuclotrons. The Large Hadron Collider is perhaps the best implementation of the synchrophasotron idea to date. The use of this installation allows scientists to more accurately understand the microworld by colliding two beams of protons moving at enormous speeds.

As for the current state of the Soviet synchrophasotron, it was converted into an electron accelerator. Now he works at FIAN.

+ electron) is a resonant cyclic accelerator with a constant equilibrium orbit length during the acceleration process. In order for the particles to remain in the same orbit during the acceleration process, both the leading magnetic field and the frequency of the accelerating electric field change. The latter is necessary so that the beam always arrives at the accelerating section in phase with the high-frequency electric field. In the event that the particles are ultrarelativistic, the rotation frequency, for a fixed orbital length, does not change with increasing energy, and the frequency of the RF generator must also remain constant. Such an accelerator is already called a synchrotron.

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An excerpt characterizing the Synchrophasotron

The general's face frowned, his lips twitched and trembled. He took out a notebook, quickly drew something with a pencil, tore out a piece of paper, gave it to him, walked quickly to the window, threw his body on a chair and looked around at those in the room, as if asking: why are they looking at him? Then the general raised his head, craned his neck, as if intending to say something, but immediately, as if casually starting to hum to himself, he made a strange sound, which immediately stopped. The door to the office opened, and Kutuzov appeared on the threshold. The general with his head bandaged, as if running away from danger, bent down and approached Kutuzov with large, fast steps of his thin legs.
“Vous voyez le malheureux Mack, [You see the unfortunate Mack.],” he said in a broken voice.
The face of Kutuzov, standing in the doorway of the office, remained completely motionless for several moments. Then, like a wave, a wrinkle ran across his face, his forehead smoothed out; He bowed his head respectfully, closed his eyes, silently let Mac pass by him and closed the door behind himself.
The rumor, already spread before, about the defeat of the Austrians and the surrender of the entire army at Ulm, turned out to be true. Half an hour later, adjutants were sent in different directions with orders proving that soon the Russian troops, which had hitherto been inactive, would have to meet the enemy.
Prince Andrei was one of those rare officers at the headquarters who believed his main interest was in the general course of military affairs. Having seen Mack and heard the details of his death, he realized that half of the campaign was lost, understood the difficulty of the position of the Russian troops and vividly imagined what awaited the army, and the role that he would have to play in it.

In 1957, the Soviet Union made a revolutionary scientific breakthrough in two directions at once: in October the first artificial Earth satellite was launched, and a few months earlier, in March, the legendary synchrophasotron, a giant installation for studying the microworld, began operating in Dubna. These two events shocked the whole world, and the words “satellite” and “synchrophasotron” became firmly established in our lives.

The synchrophasotron is a type of charged particle accelerator. The particles in them are accelerated to high speeds and, therefore, to high energies. Based on the results of their collisions with other atomic particles, the structure and properties of matter are judged. The probability of collisions is determined by the intensity of the accelerated particle beam, that is, the number of particles in it, therefore intensity, along with energy, is an important parameter of the accelerator.

The need to create a serious accelerator base in the Soviet Union was announced at the government level in March 1938. A group of researchers from the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology (LPTI), led by Academician A.F. Ioffe turned to the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V.M. Molotov with a letter in which it was proposed to create a technical base for research in the field of the structure of the atomic nucleus. Questions about the structure of the atomic nucleus became one of the central problems of natural science, and the Soviet Union lagged significantly behind in solving them. So, if America had at least five cyclotrons, then the Soviet Union had none (the only cyclotron of the Radium Institute of the Academy of Sciences (RIAN), launched in 1937, practically did not work due to design defects). The appeal to Molotov contained a request to create conditions for the completion of the construction of the LPTI cyclotron by January 1, 1939. Work on its creation, which began in 1937, was suspended due to departmental inconsistencies and the cessation of funding.

In November 1938, S.I. Vavilov, in an appeal to the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, proposed to build the LPTI cyclotron in Moscow and transfer I.V.’s laboratory to the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences (FIAN) from LPTI. Kurchatova, who was involved in its creation. Sergei Ivanovich wanted the central laboratory for the study of the atomic nucleus to be located in the same place where the Academy of Sciences was located, that is, in Moscow. However, he was not supported at LPTI. The controversy ended at the end of 1939, when A.F. Ioffe proposed creating three cyclotrons at once. On July 30, 1940, at a meeting of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, it was decided to instruct RIAN to retrofit the existing cyclotron this year, FIAN to prepare the necessary materials for the construction of a new powerful cyclotron by October 15, and LFTI to complete the construction of the cyclotron in the first quarter of 1941.

In connection with this decision, the FIAN created the so-called cyclotron team, which included Vladimir Iosifovich Veksler, Sergei Nikolaevich Vernov, Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov, Leonid Vasilyevich Groshev and Evgeniy Lvovich Feinberg. On September 26, 1940, the Bureau of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (OPMS) heard information from V.I. Wexler on the design specifications for the cyclotron, approved its main characteristics and construction estimates. The cyclotron was designed to accelerate deuterons to an energy of 50 MeV.

So, we come to the most important thing, to the person who made a significant contribution to the development of physics in our country in those years - Vladimir Iosifovich Veksler. This outstanding physicist will be discussed further.

V. I. Veksler was born in Ukraine in the city of Zhitomir on March 3, 1907. His father died in the First World War.

In 1921, during a period of severe famine and devastation, with great difficulties and without money, Volodya Veksler found himself in hungry pre-NEP Moscow. The teenager finds himself in a commune house established in Khamovniki, in an old mansion abandoned by the owners.

Wexler was distinguished by his interest in physics and practical radio engineering; he himself assembled a detector radio receiver, which in those years was an unusually difficult task, he read a lot, and studied well at school.
After leaving the commune, Wexler retained many of the views and habits he had fostered.
Let us note that the generation to which Vladimir Iosifovich belonged, the overwhelming majority treated the everyday aspects of their lives with complete disdain, but was fanatically interested in scientific, professional and social problems.

Wexler, along with other communards, graduated from a nine-year high school and, together with all the graduates, entered production as a worker, where he worked as an electrician for more than two years.
His thirst for knowledge, love of books and rare intelligence were noticed and in the late 20s the young man received a “Komsomol ticket” to the institute.
When Vladimir Iosifovich graduated from college, another reorganization of higher educational institutions was carried out and their names were changed. It turned out that Wexler entered the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy, and graduated from MPEI (Moscow Energy Institute) and received a qualification as an engineer with a specialty in X-ray technology.
In the same year, he entered the X-ray diffraction analysis laboratory of the All-Union Electrotechnical Institute in Lefortovo, where Vladimir Iosifovich began his work by building measuring instruments and studying methods for measuring ionizing radiation, i.e. streams of charged particles.

Wexler worked in this laboratory for 6 years, quickly rising from laboratory assistant to manager. Here Wexler’s characteristic “handwriting” as a talented experimental scientist has already appeared. His student, Professor M. S. Rabinovich subsequently wrote in his memoirs about Wexler: “For almost 20 years he himself assembled and installed various installations he invented, never shying away from any work. This allowed him to see not only the façade, not only its ideological side ", but also everything that is hidden behind the final results, behind the accuracy of measurements, behind shiny cabinets of installations. He studied and relearned all his life. Until the very last years of his life, in the evenings, on vacation, he carefully studied and took notes on theoretical works."

In September 1937, Wexler moved from the All-Union Electrotechnical Institute to the Physical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences named after P. N. Lebedev (FIAN). This was an important event in the life of the scientist.

By this time, Vladimir Iosifovich had already defended his Ph.D. thesis, the topic of which was the design and application of the “proportional amplifiers” he had designed.

At FIAN, Wexler began studying cosmic rays. Unlike A.I. Alikhanov and his colleagues, who took a fancy to the picturesque Mount Aragats in Armenia, Wexler participated in scientific expeditions to Elbrus, and then, later, to the Pamirs - the Roof of the World. Physicists around the world studied streams of high-energy charged particles that could not be obtained in earthly laboratories. Researchers rose closer to the mysterious streams of cosmic radiation.

Even now, cosmic rays occupy an important place in the arsenal of astrophysicists and specialists in high-energy physics, and excitingly interesting theories of their origin are put forward. At the same time, it was simply impossible to obtain particles with such energy for study, and for physicists it was simply necessary to study their interaction with fields and other particles. Already in the thirties, many atomic scientists had a thought: how good it would be to obtain particles of such high “cosmic” energies in the laboratory using reliable instruments for studying subatomic particles, the method of studying which was one - bombardment (as they figuratively used to say and rarely say now) some particles by others. Rutherford discovered the existence of the atomic nucleus by bombarding atoms with powerful projectiles - alpha particles. Nuclear reactions were discovered using the same method. To transform one chemical element into another, it was necessary to change the composition of the nucleus. This was achieved by bombarding nuclei with alpha particles, and now with particles accelerated in powerful accelerators.

After the invasion of Nazi Germany, many physicists immediately became involved in work of military significance. Wexler interrupted his study of cosmic rays and began designing and improving radio equipment for the needs of the front.

At this time, the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences, like some other academic institutes, was evacuated to Kazan. Only in 1944 was it possible to organize an expedition to the Pamirs from Kazan, where Wexler’s group was able to continue the research begun in the Caucasus on cosmic rays and nuclear processes caused by high-energy particles. Without considering in detail Wexler's contribution to the study of nuclear processes associated with cosmic rays, to which many years of his work were devoted, we can say that he was very significant and gave many important results. But perhaps most importantly, his study of cosmic rays led him to completely new ideas about particle acceleration. In the mountains, Wexler came up with the idea of ​​building charged particle accelerators to create his own “cosmic rays.”

Since 1944, V. I. Veksler moved to a new area, which occupied the main place in his scientific work. Since that time, Wexler's name has been forever associated with the creation of large "autophasing" accelerators and the development of new acceleration methods.

However, he did not lose interest in cosmic rays and continued to work in this area. Wexler participated in high-mountain scientific expeditions to the Pamirs during 1946-1947. Particles of fantastically high energies that are inaccessible to accelerators are detected in cosmic rays. It was clear to Wexler that the “natural accelerator” of particles up to such high energies cannot be compared with the “creation of human hands.”

Wexler proposed a way out of this impasse in 1944. The author called the new principle by which Wechsler's accelerators operated autophasing.

By this time, an accelerator of charged particles of the “cyclotron” type had been created (Wechsler, in a popular newspaper article, explained the principle of operation of the cyclotron as follows: “In this device, a charged particle, moving in a magnetic field in a spiral, is continuously accelerated by an alternating electric field. Thanks to this, it is possible to communicate to the cyclotron particles with an energy of 10-20 million electron volts"). But it became clear that the 20 MeV threshold could not be passed using this method.

In a cyclotron, the magnetic field changes cyclically, accelerating charged particles. But in the process of acceleration, the mass of particles increases (as it should be according to SRT - the special theory of relativity). This leads to a disruption of the process - after a certain number of revolutions, the magnetic field, instead of accelerating, begins to slow down the particles.

Wexler proposes to begin to slowly increase the magnetic field in the cyclotron over time, feeding the magnet with alternating current. Then it turns out that, on average, the frequency of rotation of particles in a circle will automatically be maintained equal to the frequency of the electric field applied to the dees (a pair of magnetic systems that bend the path and accelerate the particles with a magnetic field).

With each passage through the slit of the dees, the particles have and additionally receive a different increase in mass (and, accordingly, they receive a different increment of the radius along which the magnetic field turns them) depending on the field voltage between the dees at the moment of acceleration of a given particle. Among all particles, equilibrium (“lucky”) particles can be distinguished. For these particles, the mechanism that automatically maintains the constancy of the orbital period is especially simple.

“Lucky” particles experience an increase in mass and an increase in the radius of the circle each time they pass through the dee slit. It precisely compensates for the decrease in radius caused by the increment in the magnetic field during one revolution. Consequently, “lucky” (equilibrium) particles can be resonantly accelerated as long as the magnetic field increases.

It turned out that almost all other particles have the same ability, only acceleration lasts longer. During the acceleration process, all particles will experience oscillations around the orbital radius of the equilibrium particles. The energy of particles on average will be equal to the energy of equilibrium particles. So, almost all particles participate in resonant acceleration.

If, instead of slowly increasing the magnetic field in the accelerator (cyclotron) over time, feeding the magnet with alternating current, we increase the period of the alternating electric field applied to the dees, then the “autophasing” mode will be established.

"It may seem that in order for autophasing to occur and resonant acceleration to occur, it is necessary to change in time either the magnetic field or the electric period. In fact, this is not so. Perhaps the simplest in concept (but far from simple in practical implementation) method of acceleration, established by the author earlier than other methods, can be implemented with a magnetic field constant over time and a constant frequency."

In 1955, when Wexler wrote his brochure on accelerators, this principle, as the author pointed out, formed the basis of an accelerator - a microtron - an accelerator requiring powerful sources of microwaves. According to Wexler, the microtron “has not yet become widespread (1955). However, several electron accelerators with energies up to 4 MeV have been operating for a number of years.”

Wexler was a brilliant popularizer of physics, but, unfortunately, due to his busy schedule, he rarely published popular articles.

The autophasing principle has shown that it is possible to have a stable phase region and, therefore, it is possible to change the frequency of the accelerating field without fear of leaving the resonant acceleration region. You just need to choose the right acceleration phase. By changing the field frequency it became possible to easily compensate for the change in particle mass. Moreover, changing the frequency allowed the rapidly spinning spiral of the cyclotron to be brought closer to a circle and accelerate the particles until the magnetic field strength was enough to keep the particles in a given orbit.

The described accelerator with autophasing, in which the frequency of the electromagnetic field changes, is called a synchrocyclotron, or phasotron.

The synchrophasotron uses a combination of two autophasing principles. The first of them lies at the heart of the phasotron, which has already been mentioned - this is a change in the frequency of the electromagnetic field. The second principle is used in synchrotrons - here the magnetic field strength changes.

Since the discovery of autophasing, scientists and engineers have begun designing accelerators capable of billions of electron volts. The first of these in our country was a proton accelerator - a 10 billion electron-volt synchrophasotron in Dubna.

The design of this large accelerator began in 1949 on the initiative of V. I. Veksler and S. I. Vavilov, and was put into operation in 1957. The second large accelerator was built in Protvino near Serpukhov with an energy of 70 GeV. Not only Soviet researchers, but also physicists from other countries are now working on it.

But long before the launch of two giant “billion-dollar” accelerators, relativistic particle accelerators were built at the Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences (FIAN), under the leadership of Wexler. In 1947, an electron accelerator up to energies of 30 MeV was launched, which served as a model of a larger electron accelerator - a synchrotron with an energy of 250 MeV. The synchrotron was launched in 1949. Using these accelerators, researchers at the Physics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences carried out first-class work on meson physics and the atomic nucleus.

After the launch of the Dubna synchrophasotron, a period of rapid progress began in the construction of high-energy accelerators. Many accelerators were built and put into operation in the USSR and other countries. These include the already mentioned 70 GeV accelerator in Serpukhov, 50 GeV in Batavia (USA), 35 GeV in Geneva (Switzerland), 35 GeV in California (USA). Currently, physicists are setting themselves the task of creating accelerators of several teraelectron-volts (teraelectron-volt - 1012 eV).

In 1944, when the term "autophasing" was born. Wexler was 37 years old. Wexler turned out to be a gifted organizer of scientific work and the head of a scientific school.

The autophasing method, like a ripe fruit, was waiting for a scientist-seer who would remove it and take possession of it. A year later, independently of Wexler, the principle of autophasing was discovered by the famous American scientist McMilan. He recognized the priority of the Soviet scientist. McMillan met with Wexler more than once. They were very friendly, and the friendship of two remarkable scientists was never overshadowed by anything until Wexler’s death.

Accelerators built in recent years, although based on Wechsler's autophasing principle, are, of course, significantly improved compared to first-generation machines.

In addition to autophasing, Wexler came up with other ideas for particle acceleration that turned out to be very fruitful. These ideas of Wexler are widely developed in the USSR and other countries.

In March 1958, the traditional annual meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences took place in the House of Scientists on Kropotkinskaya Street. Wexler outlined the idea of ​​a new principle of acceleration, which he called “coherent.” It allows you to accelerate not only individual particles, but also plasma clots consisting of a large number of particles. The "coherent" acceleration method, as Wechsler cautiously said in 1958, allows one to think about the possibility of accelerating particles to energies of a thousand billion electron volts and even higher.

In 1962, Wexler, at the head of a delegation of scientists, flew to Geneva to participate in the International Conference on High Energy Physics. Among the forty members of the Soviet delegation were such prominent physicists as A. I. Alikhanov, N. N. Bogolyubov, D. I. Blokhintsev, I. Ya. Pomeranchuk, M. A. Markov. Many of the scientists on the delegation were accelerator specialists and students of Wexler.

Vladimir Iosifovich Veksler was for a number of years the chairman of the Commission on High Energy Physics of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Physics.

On October 25, 1963, Wexler and his American colleague, Edwin McMillan, director of the radiation laboratory at Lawrence University of California, were awarded the American Atoms for Peace Prize.

Wexler was the permanent director of the High Energy Laboratory of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna. Now the street named after him reminds us of Wexler’s stay in this city.

Wexler's research work was concentrated in Dubna for many years. He combined his work at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research with work at the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, where in his distant youth he began his career as a researcher, and was a professor at Moscow State University, where he headed the department.

In 1963, Veksler was elected Academician-Secretary of the Department of Nuclear Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences and permanently held this important post.

The scientific achievements of V. I. Veksler were highly appreciated by awarding him the State Prize of the First Degree and the Lenin Prize (1959). The outstanding scientific, pedagogical, organizational and social activities of the scientist were awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals of the USSR.

Vladimir Iosifovich Veksler died suddenly on September 20, 1966 from a second heart attack. He was only 59 years old. In life, he always seemed younger than his years, was energetic, active and tireless.

What is a synchrophasotron?

First, let's go a little deeper into history. The need for this device first arose in 1938. A group of physicists from the Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute turned to Molotov with a statement that the USSR needed a research base to study the structure of the atomic nucleus. This request was justified by the fact that such an area of ​​study plays a very important role, and at the moment the Soviet Union is somewhat behind its Western colleagues. After all, at that time in America there were already 5 synchrophasotrons, but in the USSR there were none. It was proposed to complete the construction of a cyclotron that had already begun, the development of which was suspended due to poor funding and lack of competent personnel.

In the end, a decision was made to build a synchrophasotron, and Wexler was at the head of this project. Construction was completed in 1957. So what is a synchrophasotron? Simply put, it is a particle accelerator. It imparts enormous kinetic energy to the particles. It is based on a variable leading magnetic field and a variable frequency of the main field. This combination allows particles to be kept in a constant orbit. This device is used to study the diverse properties of particles and their interactions at high energy levels.

The device has very intriguing dimensions: it occupies an entire university building, its weight is 36 thousand tons, and the diameter of the magnetic ring is 60 m. Quite impressive dimensions for a device whose main task is to study particles whose sizes are measured in micrometers.

Operating principle of the synchrophasotron

Many physicists have tried to develop a device that would make it possible to accelerate particles, imparting enormous energy to them. The solution to this problem is the synchrophasotron. How does it work and what is it based on?

The beginning was made with the cyclotron. Let's consider the principle of its operation. The ions that will accelerate fall into the vacuum where the dee is located. At this time, the ions are affected by a magnetic field: they continue to move along the axis, picking up speed. Having overcome the axis and getting into the next gap, they begin to gain speed. For greater acceleration, a constant increase in the arc radius is required. In this case, the travel time will be constant, despite the increase in distance. Due to the increase in speed, an increase in the mass of ions is observed.

This phenomenon entails a loss in speed gain. This is the main disadvantage of the cyclotron. In the synchrophasotron, this problem is completely eliminated - by changing the induction of the magnetic field with the attached mass and simultaneously changing the particle charge exchange frequency. That is, the particle energy increases due to the electric field, setting the direction due to the presence of a magnetic field.