Large-acceptance linac for accelerating low-energy muons

We propose a high-gradient linear accelerator for accelerating low-energy muons and pions in a strong solenoidal magnetic field. The acceleration starts immediately after collection of pions from a target by solenoidal magnets and brings muons to a kinetic energy of about 200 MeV over a distance of the order of 10 m. At this energy, both an ionization cooling of the muon beam and its further acceleration in a superconducting linac become feasible. The project presents unique challenges - a very large energy spread in a highly divergent beam, as well as pion and muon decays - requiring large longitudinal and transverse acceptances. One potential solution incorporates a normal-conducting linac consisting of independently fed O-mode RF cavities with wide apertures closed by thin metal windows or grids. The guiding magnetic field is provided by external superconducting solenoids. The cavity choice, overall linac design considerations, and simulation results of muon acceleration are presented. While the primary applications of such a linac are for homeland defense and industry, it can provide muon fluxes high enough to be of interest for physics experiments.