Crab Cavity

Crab Cavitys (English crab, crab ' and cavity, cavity ' ) are special cavity resonators, which can be used in particle accelerators to increase the luminosity and thus the rate of particle collisions.

In synchrotrons and high-energy linear accelerators the particles are not accelerated as a continuous beam, but in individual packets ( " Bunches "). These packages are very elongated and thin. In collision points in the particle beams have to technical reasons at a small angle cross rather than to meet head-on, so the bunches do not penetrate completely. Crab cavities have a rapidly oscillating electromagnetic field in a different direction to deflect the forward portion of the particles than the rear part. Thus, the particle bunches can be rotated slightly so that they completely penetrate at the collision point.

Crab Cavitys were used at the KEKB accelerator and incorporated into its successor SuperKEKB, their use is also planned at the Large Hadron Collider and the International Linear Collider.