Superconducting magnets in high energy physics

The applications of superconducting magnets in high energy physics in the last ten years have made feasible developments which are vital to high energy research. These developments include high magnetic field, large volume detectors, such as bubble chambers, required for effective resolution of high energy particle trajectories, particle beam transport magnets, and superconducting focusing and bending magnets for the very high energy accelerators and storage rings needed to pursue the study of interactions between elementary particles. The acceptance of superconductivity as a proven technology in high energy physics was reinforced by the recognition that the existing large accelerators using copper-iron magnets had reached practical limits in terms of magnetic field intensity, cost, space, and energy usage, and that large-volume, high-field, copper-iron magnets were not economically feasible. Some of the superconducting magnets and associated systems being used in and being developed for high energy physics are described.