Researcher in accelerator physics towards neutrino experiments

Are you interested in working with accelerator physics towards large-scale neutron experiments, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a researcher position at Uppsala University.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy is one of Uppsala University's largest, with almost 400 employees, of which about 100 are doctoral students. The department conducts world-class research and education in both theoretical and experimental physics and has extensive collaboration with the outside world. Read more at www.physics.uu.se.

One of the divisions at the department is the FREIA Laboratory, where we work with designing, developing and testing equipment and instruments for particle accelerators. FREIA collaborates with industrial partners as well as with research institutes and universities nationally and globally, and has strong connections to research infrastructures such as the European Spallation Source in Lund, and CERN in Switzerland.

We are currently looking for a researcher to work with a European project in accelerator development for a large-scale neutrino physics project, the ESS neutrino Super-Beam (ESSnuSB). It is based on the use of the particle accelerator facility for the European Spallation Source (ESS), currently being built in Lund, Sweden. The main objective of the ESSnuSB project is to measure charge-parity violation in leptons by studying and comparing the oscillations of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos, respectively, with the purpose of explaining how matter could remain in the Universe following the global annihilation between the matter and antimatter created in the Big Bang. To achieve this, we need to expand the accelerator complex at ESS by adding an accumulator ring, where the pulses from the ESS linac are compressed. The compressed pulses will be sent to a target where the neutrino super-beam is formed. The neutrino oscillation parameters will be studied in a large detector, located about 360 km from the source. In addition, we are working on yet another addition: a nuSTORM facility (neutrinos from stored muons), which includes a muon storage ring that would be used for generating a neutrino beam for neutrino cross-section measurements. The design of the muon storage ring is particularly challenging due to the fact that the muon beam is large and has a large energy spread. We need to find a design that allows for storing enough muons to achieve the goals of the experiment. The successful candidate will be involved in the work with designing and evaluating the muon storage ring as well as with other aspects of the ESSnuSB accelerator complex, in accordance with the interest and background of the applicant.

The work is organized in a European consortium with partners at, for example, ESS in Sweden, Strasbourg in France, and CERN in Switzerland.

Duties
The researcher will together with other team members design a racetrack muon storage ring, including the injection system. The work will involve beam optics and dynamics simulations using multi-particle tracking software. It may also include assessing the technical feasibility of certain subsystems. Since the project is organized in a European consortium it will involve collaborating with other researchers in Uppsala and throughout Europe, and will involve traveling to partners and accelerator facilities. Regular oral and written reporting are also part of the duties.

Requirements
PhD degree in physics, or equivalent. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment

The following skills, competences and approaches are required for the position:

• Excellent collaboration skills
• Good communication skills, oral as well as in writing.
• Very good knowledge of English in speech and writing.
• A structured approach, to take initiative, and to independently push the project forward.
• Several years’ experience in accelerator physics and design, and associated computational methods are requirements.

Additional qualifications
The following experiences and skills are meriting for the position

• Documented skills in using beam optics software such as MADX, BMAD, TraceWin or similar.
• Experience from multi-particle tracking software such as Xsuite, pyORBIT, ORBIT, PTC-ORBT or G4Beamline.
• Experience from accelerator operations and commissioning.
• Experience from working with fixed-field alternating gradient accelerators (FFA).

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position, 12 months. Scope of employment 100%. Starting date 1 May 2024 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Maja Olvegård, +46 72 9999 627 maja.olvegard@physics.uu.se 

Please submit your application by 20 May 2024, UFV-PA 2024/963.

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