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Superconducting magnets in an accelerator usually do not cover 100% of the particle track. Particularly, I read that in the LEP, dipole magnets use to cover some 2/3 of the ring (27 km). Is the maximum energy reached by the particle determined by the magnetic field B reached by these magnets or is there a correction factor due to the fact that not 100% of the track is covered by magnets?

Does anyone know what is the coverage right not at the LHC?

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To bend a beam through an angle, what matters is $B l$ the product of field strength and length.

For a given field strength, the total length of magnets will determine the mean beam energy, because the beam has to bend through 369 degrees.

The ring circumference will be larger than the total magnet length due to spaces & equipment between the bending dipoles.

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  • $\begingroup$ So how do you calculate the maximum energy if only 2/3 of the LEP were covered by magnets? $\endgroup$
    – Juanjo
    Commented May 15, 2018 at 15:22
  • $\begingroup$ @Juanjo The fraction doesn’t matter to the energy. Just the number of meters of installed magnets does. If you add more straights (beam pipe with no bending magnets) you raise the circumference and lower the fill fraction, but you don’t change the energy. $\endgroup$
    – Bob Jacobsen
    Commented May 15, 2018 at 17:31

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