New electron accelerator at JGU reaches first milestone
As the production of two superconducting accelerator modules for the future electron accelerator MESA ("Mainz Energy-Recovering Superconducting Accelerator") at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) gets on its way, the MESA project launches into its next phase. MESA is based on a unique concept for recovering a part of the energy that is required for accelerating the electron beam. "The operating costs of MESA can thus be reduced significantly", said Professor Kurt Aulenbacher, head of the project team. MESA is the central instrument for several key experiments at the Cluster of Excellence "Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter" (PRISMA). These include precision measurements of the proton radius and the search for so-called dark photons, i.e., particles that may explain the mystery of dark matter.