In the Accelerator Science Program, students learn and conduct research on various scientific technologies related to the principles, design and fabrication of particle accelerators and related devices. Education and research activities in the Accelerator Science Program are conducted at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), an Inter-University Research Organization.

Particle accelerators are widely used as a tool for all hierarchies of matter to reveal nature in the fields of the universe, elementary particles, atomic nuclei, material structure, materials, life, and medicine.
At Tsukuba campus, the electron-positron collider B factory (KEKB ring with a circumference of 3 km and a 600-meter-long linear accelerator), which experimentally verified the Kobayashi-Masukawa theory (2008 Nobel Prize in Physics) and boasted the world’s highest luminosity, was upgraded for higher luminosity to SuperKEKB.
For the material structure science, two synchrotron radiation rings (PF and PF-AR) and a linac for slow positrons are in operation.
At Tokai Campus, the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), which aims to achieve the world’s highest beam power for neutron science and neutrino experiments, is in operation. In addition, technology development for future accelerators such as the International Linear Collider (ILC) and the Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) is also underway.

Accelerator science is a comprehensive science, and it is impossible to build an ultra-high-performance accelerator without bringing together various knowledge and technologies in science and engineering. This is evident in the dramatic advances in accelerator science in recent years, such as the success of the B factory and the J-PARC accelerator, but at the same time there are still many unexplored mysteries and problems to be solved lurking in this field. The Accelerator Science Program has more than 180 faculty members, the largest number in Sokendai, and is well prepared to provide education and guidance on various topics related to ultra-high performance accelerators.

Takuya Kamitani
Chair of Accelerator Science Program