The production and properties of high energy X-radiation from a 30 MeV. electron synchrotron

The thesis can be divided roughly into two parts. The first part deals with the design, construction and operation of the accelerator, whilst the second is devoted mainly to a theoretical study of the process of betatron injection. The section on design is concerned with problems associated with synchrotron magnets and a critical survey of the important design criteria and techniques is presented. The 30 MeV. magnet is given as a particular example and some original work on the application of relaxation methods is described. The ways in which power can be supplied to the magnet are considered and also some experiments on the use of an on-load tap changer. Experimental results of magnet excitation characteristics are compared with calculated values and a detailed account is given of magnetic field measurements involving the use of new techniques. In the operation of the machine, original experiments are described and discussed on the effect of varying a number of operating parameters. An attempt is made to determine the relative importance of these and compare the working efficiency of American betatrons with the 30 MeV synchrotron. The theoretical study of the injection process can again be sub-divided into two main parts. The first is an original investigation of the Influence of charge and current images on the maximum theoretical circulating current. In the second part an attempt is made to develop a quantitative expression for Kerst Self-contraction and to compare theoretical calculations with experimental results. Whilst the comparison is favourable and, for the first time, a number of observed phenomena can be explained by the use of the theory, the validity of Kerst Self-contraction is questioned.