Recirculating linear accelerators for future muon facilities

Neutrino Factories (NF) and Muon Colliders (MC) require rapid acceleration of shortlived muons to multi-GeV and TeV energies. A Recirculating Linear Accelerator (RLA) that uses superconducting RF structures can provide exceptionally fast and economical acceleration to the extent that the focusing range of the RLA quadrupoles allows each muon to pass several times through each high-gradient cavity. A new concept of rapidly changing the strength of the RLA focusing quadrupoles as the muons gain energy is being developed to increase the number of passes that each muon will make in the RF cavities, leading to greater cost effectiveness. We discuss the optics and technical requirements for RLA designs, using RF cavities capable of simultaneous acceleration of both μ+ and μ− species. The design will include the optics for the multi-pass linac and droplet-shaped return arcs.