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Storage ring
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<p>A storage ring is a type of circular <a href="/facts/Particle_accelerator/Pkuc08xC">particle accelerator</a> in which a continuous or pulsed <a href="/facts/Particle_beam/mg5EIlWb">particle beam</a> may be kept circulating, typically for many hours. Storage of a particular <a href="/facts/Elementary_particle/CTFDM97U">particle</a> depends upon the <a href="/facts/Mass/HHdc8XmF">mass</a>, <a href="/facts/Momentum/TTkGv5eY">momentum</a>, and usually the <a href="/facts/Charge_(physics)/jnQEDBI3">charge</a> of the particle to be stored. Storage rings most commonly store <a href="/facts/Electron/L0KBo5cW">electrons</a>, <a href="/facts/Positron/HgV4zBzA">positrons</a>, or <a href="/facts/Proton/clCjepXP">protons</a>. </p><p>Storage rings are most often used to store electrons that radiate <a href="/facts/Synchrotron_radiation/mTsSKmRz">synchrotron radiation</a>. Over 50 facilities based on electron storage rings exist and are used for a variety of studies in chemistry and biology. Storage rings can also be used to produce polarized high-energy electron beams through the <a href="/facts/Sokolov-Ternov_effect/BALEo7Am">Sokolov-Ternov effect</a>. The best-known application of storage rings is their use in <a href="/facts/Particle_accelerator/Pkuc08xC">particle accelerators</a> and in <a href="/facts/Collider/j6wTDohV">particle colliders</a>, where two counter-rotating beams of stored particles are brought into collision at discrete locations. The resulting <a href="/facts/Subatomic/tMEzcTWQ">subatomic</a> interactions are then studied in a surrounding <a href="/facts/Particle_detector/rYj0qKtA">particle detector</a>. Examples of such facilities are <a href="/facts/Large_Hadron_Collider/XWJCFSqT">LHC</a>, <a href="/facts/LEP/8hxB4TKe">LEP</a>, <a href="/facts/PEP-II/CzX2afas">PEP-II</a>, <a href="/facts/KEKB_(accelerator)/48hpnl52">KEKB</a>, <a href="/facts/RHIC/MhxfcI5h">RHIC</a>, <a href="/facts/Tevatron/dHkngs84">Tevatron</a>, and <a href="/facts/HERA/tntlRbfK">HERA</a>. </p><p>A storage ring is a type of <a href="/facts/Synchrotron/J1oWBgbU">synchrotron</a>. While a conventional synchrotron serves to accelerate particles from a low to a high energy state with the aid of radio-frequency accelerating cavities, a storage ring keeps particles stored at a constant energy and radio-frequency cavities are only used to replace energy lost through synchrotron radiation and other processes. </p><p><a href="/facts/Gerard_K._O%27Neill/vXsLmqw6">Gerard K. O'Neill</a> proposed the use of storage rings as building blocks for a <a href="/facts/Collider/j6wTDohV">collider</a> in 1956. A key benefit of storage rings in this context is that the storage ring can accumulate a high beam flux from an injection accelerator that achieves a much lower flux. </p>