International Scoping Study of a Future Accelerator Neutrino Complex

The International Scoping Study (ISS), launched at NuFact05 to evaluate the physics case for a future neutrino facility, along with options for the accelerator complex and detectors, is laying the foundations for a subsequent conceptual-design study. It is hosted by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) and organized by the international community, with participants from Europe, Japan, and the U.S. Here we cover the work of the Accelerator Working Group. For the 4-MW proton driver, linacs, synchrotrons, and Fixed-Field Alternating Gradient (FFAG) rings are considered. For targets, issues of both liquid-metal and solid materials are examined. For beam conditioning, (phase rotation, bunching, and ionization cooling), we evaluate schemes both with and without cooling, the latter based on scaling-FFAG rings. For acceleration, we examine scaling FFAGs and hybrid systems comprising linacs, dogbone RLAs, and non-scaling FFAGs. For the decay ring, we consider racetrack and triangular shapes, the latter capable of simultaneously illuminating two different detectors at different long baselines. Comparisons are made between various technical approaches to identify optimum design choices