This entry contributed by Dana Romero
A device invented by E. O. Lawrence and M. S. Livingston at Berkeley in 1931 that is used to accelerate charged particles by means of a magnetic field. A particle of mass m and charge q moving with a velocity v will interact with a magnetic field of strength B whose direction is perpendicular to the plane of its travel with force
The force of the magnetic field is perpendicular to the particle's direction, resulting in a circular path inside the cyclotron. Equating F with a centripetal force gives
so
gives the charge-to-mass ratio of the particle in terms of known values for v, B, and R.
Particles in cyclotrons emit radiation called cyclotron radiation.
Cyclotron Formula, Cyclotron Radiation, Dee, Cyclotron Radiation, Mass Spectrometer, Synchrotron
References
Edwards, D. A. and Syphers, M. J. Introduction to the Physics of High Energy Accelerators. 1993.
Livingston, M. S. (Ed.). The Development of High-Energy Accelerators. New York: Dover, 1966.
Livingston, M. S. High-Energy Accelerators. New York: Interscience Publishers, 1954.
Livingston, M. S. and Blewett, J. P. Particle Accelerators. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
Livingston, M. S. Particle Accelerators: A Brief History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1969.
Mann, W. B. The Cyclotron, 2nd ed. New York: Chemical Publishing Co., 1945.
Weisstein, E. W. "Books about Cyclotrons." http://www.ericweisstein.com/encyclopedias/books/Cyclotrons.html.
Wiedemann, H. Particle Accelerator Physics. 1995.
Wilson, R. R. and Littauer, R. Accelerators: Machines of Nuclear Physics. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1960.
