New vacuum chamber for Mainz accelerator Mesa arrived!

New vacuum chamber for Mainz accelerator Mesa arrived!

Mainz, Deutschland - The construction of the energy-recess particle accelerator Mesa (Mainz Energy Recovery Accelerator) at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) continues to take shape. On April 10, 2025, a 3.3 ton vacuum chamber was delivered, which will play a central role in the experiments of the MESA. The project, which is part of the Mainz Excellence Cluster Prisma+, is making decisive progress and offers new perspectives for basic research in physics.

As early as November 2024, the installation of a 21 -ton suprale -leading magnets was an important milestone. Mesa will carry out two main experiments, Magix and P2 that aim to clarify basic questions of elementary particle physics. In particular, the P2 experiment should measure the weak mix angle and thus reveal more about the construction plans of the universe.

technical details on the vacuum chamber

The new vacuum chamber has an impressive length of 7 meters and a diameter of 2.4 meters, which results in a volume of 32 cubic meters. It creates the necessary vacuum for the target cell, which is operated at an extremely low temperature level of about -257 degrees Celsius. This special target cell contains around 70 liters of liquid hydrogen and needs the vacuum to be isolated.

A critical detail is that the heat caused by the electron beam on the target cell is dissipated with a helium cooler. A silicon pixel detector is used for the measurements in the back of the chamber to determine the impulse of the electrons. In order to meet the high demands on radiation resistance, the vacuum chamber consists of a high -strength aluminum alloy, which is equipped with special metal seals.

P2 experiment and technical developments

The development work of the P2 experiment is funded by the Excellence Cluster Prisma+ and the large device program of the German Research Foundation (DFG). In the context of this work, there have already been several tests and developments. On February 19, 2024, lead protection for the P2 spectrometer was delivered, while various prototypes were previously tested. These close backward-oriented detectors and photomultiplier tubes.

The technology that is implemented in facilities such as the MESA is part of a larger global trend in physics. The superconductive accelerator technology, similar to how it is also used in the international linear accelerator (ILC), enables high energy transmissions to the accelerated particles with lower performance losses. This procedure increases the quality of the particle rays generated and the collision rates that are of crucial importance for research.

With the delivery of the vacuum chamber, the researchers in Mainz have come closer to a decisive step in order to gain deeper insights into nature and physical laws. The upcoming experiments are expected to provide groundbreaking knowledge for physics and expand the understanding of the fundamental particles of the universe.