gwynfryn wrote:
QuantumChemist wrote:
gwynfryn wrote:
If any cyclotron directors are unwilling to fit this simple experiment into their schedules, then they really should be made to answer why!
I can answer the why and I am not a cyclotron director. (I have worked with particle beams back in my graduate school days.) One reason that they will turn it down is that it would cost them money to do the experiment. They are not running “free” experiments for just anyone who wants to use it, as it costs electrical power to generate the beam and to run the detectors. You also have to have the right credentials to be able to buy time on the beam. Most cyclotrons are booked months or even years in advance. Without that ability, the theoretical experiment is basically dead in the water.
I’m aware of the difficulties, but there’s an outside chance, given the likely outcome, someone may find the time to fit it in. Don’t directors of such centres have some leeway on what they’d like to do? It would be a truly boring job if all they can do is pursue projects derived elsewhere!
Thank you for staying on topic.
It greatly depends who is really in charge of the cyclotron. It is usually shared between several organizations due to the costs, so that does play into who gets to run and who has to wait. That is the case for CERN. Setting up the experiment equipment may cut into runtime on the particle beam for others who have a short window of time to use it. I am not trying to shoot down your idea, just giving possible reasons why it may not get runtime on a cyclotron.
You are not alone in wanting to use a cyclotron. I have theoretical quantum physics research that I would love to have tested myself. However the technology does not currently exist that can accurately measure some of the quantities that I want information on. It would give clues into what is going on in certain radioactive events. We know certain things that can lead to these events (best guesses), but I want to know specifically what triggers the event itself. I have an idea of what is going on in the substructure of particles that plays into the process. It is important to know as it unlocks some key information on how String Theory is put together.