Successful test of superconducting dipoles for a relativistic heavy ion collider at Brookhaven

The first two full-lengths (9.7 m) R and D dipoles for the proposed Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider were successfully tested at Brookhaven National Laboratory in March and April. The magnets were fully assembled in horizontal cryostats and tested at 4.35 K in supercritical helium at 12 atmospheres pressure. The magnets reached fields in the range 4.25 to 4.5 T before quenching, comfortably above the 3.4 T central field required for operation with 100 GeV/nucleon gold nuclei. The field harmonics are close to expected values. (author) 1 ref., 2 figs