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Cotton University, formerly known as Cotton College, is a premier institute of higher learning in Assam. It was established in 1901 by Sir Henry Stedman Cotton, the then Chief Commissioner of the erstwhile British province of Assam. The fame of academic excellence of the College has spread over the country and abroad since its inception. The Department of Physics is one of the few departments with which this premier institute started its epic journey in 1901. One of the first five founder teachers of Cotton College, Prof Chunilal De belonged to this Department. The Department has also been the pioneer in the field of research, especially Nuclear Physics, since the middle of the third decade of last century in the Northeast Region of the country. Stalwarts like Prof. H. C. Bhuyan, Prof. S. M. Mali, Prof. P. Shyam, Prof. G. C. Deka, Prof. K. D. Krori, Prof. P Borgohain and Prof. K. M. Pathak carried out their research work in this Department.
With a vision to improve and enhance nuclear physics research and its former glory, the Dean of R&D and Head of the DEpartment of Physics, Cotton University decided to establish an accelerator centre within the department. This proposal was strongly supported by other leading faculties: Professor Mahadev Patgiri, Professor JJ Das and Dr Abhijit Barthakur. It was under this visionary leadership, the Cotton University Particle Accelerator Centre (CUPAC) was established.
Particle accelerators are a “tool of modern scientific discovery'' that has applications in various fields of science and medicine. Due to the advanced technology used in the construction, operation and maintenance of accelerators, they are considered as a very important tool for training young generations in several high-tech fields. In fact, it is considered an important skill in nation building. Recognizing this, India has also launched a comprehensive accelerator development program. Several accelerator facilities have been set up in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, etc. India has also invested heavily in several international accelerator projects including Switzerland, Germany and France. Indian students and researchers receive funding from the government to work in these accelerator facilities, learn the latest technology and conduct research in these new fields.
However, it is also true that there is not a single accelerator in the entire northeastern part of our country. The general view in the research community is that this prevents students and researchers from acquiring practical skills in building and/or operating accelerators, depriving them of an important skill in modern science. The construction of the most modern accelerator center in the region will significantly close this gap. Therefore, Cotton University's Department of Physics focused on building state-of-the-art particle accelerators and related experimental facilities to study stellar processes, nanoscience and technology, history and archaeology, and to study the latest technologies used in the treatment of cancer.
With this motive Cotton University initiated a collaboration with researchers from Universities, Colleges and Institutes from all of the states of Northeast India. This led to the establishment of the CUPAC-NE collaboration. The CUPAC-NE collaboration is a proposed research facility that is going to occupy an earmarked five-acre (approx. 8 bighas) land in the Bongora Campus of the University.
Before diving deep into the details of the CUPAC-NE, a brief understanding about the particle accelerators in needed.
The Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator at BARC. Photo- Department of Atomic Energy, Goverment of India
From a layman's perspective, particle accelerators can be thought of as superfast race tracks for tiny particles that help scientists and researchers perform amazing experiments. In other words, Particle accelerators are like superchargers that produce and accelerate beams of charged particles such as electrons, protons and ions, of atomic and subatomic size to very high speeds. The particle source provides the particles, such as protons or electrons, that are to be accelerated. Electric fields are used to speed up and increase the energy of a beam of particles, which are steered and focused by magnetic fields. The beam of particles travels inside a vacuum in the metal beam pipe. The vacuum is crucial to maintaining an air and dust free environment for the beam of particles to travel unobstructed. Electromagnets steer and focus the beam of particles while it travels through the vacuum tube and delivered to experimental locations.
Based on this principle the accelerators are broadly categorized into linear accelerators (or LINACS) and cyclic accelerators (principally the Cyclotron and the Synchrotron). Linear accelerators propel particles along a linear, or straight, beam line. Circular accelerators propel particles around a circular track. In both cases the final energy of the particles depends on the cumulative effect of the fields, so that many small “pushes” add together to give the combined effect of one big “push.” Linear accelerators are used for fixed-target experiments, whereas circular accelerators can be used for both colliding beam and fixed target experiments.
There are approximately 30,000 accelerators worldwide. Of this, only about 1% is for research purposes at energies above a few MeV to 1 GeV, about 44% for radiotherapy, 41% for ion implantation, 9% for industrial processing and research, and 4% are for biomedical purposes. and other low energy research.
Internationally, few of the major accelerators are located at European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, Switzerland and GSI, Germany. CERN operates a complex of 9 accelerators. Large Hadron collider (LHC), Linear accelerator (LINAC3, LINAC4), Proton Synchroton and Super Proton Synchroton (PS & SPS) to name a few. GSI, Germany operates The Universal Linear Accelerator (UNILAC), Ring accelerator SIS18 and International Accelerator facility (FAIR).
In India, major accelerator related programs are being pursued at BARC/TIFR-Mumbai, VECC-Calcutta, IUCA (NSC) Delhi and RRCAT-Indore. Superconducting linear accelerator (LINAC), RF accelerator, Pelletron accelerator are some of the accelerators operational at IUCA, New Delhi and BARC/TIFR, Mumbai. Synchrotons INDUS1 and INDUS2 at RRCAT, Indore, RF type cyclotrons at VECC, Kolkata and Tandetron accelerator at SINP, Kolkata are some of the notable accelerators in India.
Photo - Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
The development and construction of particle accelerators and the research involved pushes the frontiers of knowledge and technology and had led to many benefits to society. Particle accelerators are and will be important for every field of sciences, medicine and high-tech industries and many more. This justifies the establishment of new accelerator centers. CUPAC-NE is one of the initiatives taken by the Cotton University to establish a state-of-the art accelerator in the northeast region of India to educate young students and faculties in accelerator science and technology to perform world class research.
The basic principles adopted by the CUPAC-NE core committee are:
On the basis of the above principles, CUPAC-NE aspires to construct an accelerator facility that will be the first of its kind in India. Novel elements of the proposed facility based on the above guiding principles will consist of two state of the art accelerators:
Both the accelerators are unique to the nation and will significantly enhance the research competitiveness in several domains. Some of the areas CUPAC-NE will focus are:
One of the highlights of this project is the development of a facility for treatment of brain cancer with a method known as Accelerator Driven Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (ADBNCT). The revolutionary ADBNCT is currently undergoing clinical trials in many developed Nations. Accelerator-Driven Boron Neutron Capture Therapy has emerged as a beacon of hope for cancer patients around the world. The innovative two-stage treatment process is designed to precisely target and eradicate cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. In the first stage, a specialized drug containing the isotope of boron (10B) is administered intravenously. This drug has a remarkable affinity for tumor cells, allowing it to selectively accumulate within the malignancies over the course of a few hours. Importantly, it concurrently washes out of healthy tissues, minimizing the impact on non-cancerous cells. The second stage of AD-BNCT involves the strategic irradiation of the tumor cells with epithermal neutrons. This high-energy neutron bombardment triggers the splitting of boron-10 atoms into helium-4 and lithium-7 ions. These highly ionizing particles are channeled directly into the cancer cells, resulting in their precise destruction. Notably, the range of these helium and lithium ions is so confined that it encompasses only a single cell, setting AD-BNCT apart from conventional cancer treatment methods and ensuring that exclusively cancer cells are targeted, thus preserving healthy tissue.
FDA (Food and Drug Administration) granting approval for first ever boron drug used in this therapy and the medical device required for this treatment in US and Japan holds the promise of broadening the therapeutic horizons in the fight against cancer.
The critical component of AD-BNCT is the neutral beam shaping assembly (BSA), the technology of which is under strict export control to India, hence demands indigenous development. The physics and the engineering design for this technology is one of the objective of the CUPAC-NE involving 15 different institutes and universities of the north east region and outside.
The Pelletron accelerator with ECRIS will produce beam lines of inert elements Xe, Kr or heavy ions such as Au, Ra, etc. for the first time in the country 1µA at ~100Mev with beam currents ~1µA. These Swift Heavy Ions will be extensively used for advanced engineering and testing of materials for nuclear safety and waste management.
Nuclear astrophysics is a specialized branch of astrophysics that focuses on understanding the behavior, formation and evolution of atomic nuclei and their role in the cosmos. It plays a crucial role on our comprehension of the universe’s structure and the origin of chemical elements. Nuclear astrophysics involves experimental studies in laboratories on Earth, involving particle accelerators and nuclear reactions. Currently, researchers in Nuclear Astrophysics are interested in the investigation of the nucleosynthesis processes which explains the origin of various isotopes and elements under different astrophysical conditions. In this field, some of the leading facilities are in the United States, Italy and Germany. The CUPAC-NE collaborations strives to fill this void in India by creating a National Facility for Nuclear Astrophysics. The facility will adopt technologies and techniques that are crucial for nuclear astrophysics investigations and are in line with the world’s leading facilities in this field.
There are new innovations in many fields. One such in accelerator technology is PIMS (The positive Ion Mass Spectrometry) which is expected to revolutionize the field of AMS due to far superior efficiencies, better precision and substantially lower cost of the construction and the operation. PIMS have high efficiencies due to the use of ECRIS compared to SNICS used in conventional AMS setup. It also has better precision and reproducibility compared to AMS because of the direct ionization of the radiocarbon sample without the graphitization step (which is essentially a mechanical process) used in AMS. CUPAC-NE proposes to utilize the PIMS facility to pursue discovery experiments that will benefit researchers in diverse fields of geology, archaeology, history etc. and compete globally.
The primary objectives of the CUPAC-NE project are truly fascinating and wide-ranging, with both academic and interdisciplinary dimensions. The foremost goal is to train the upcoming generation of students, scientists and engineers in the northeast region in the specialized field of accelerator physics and technologies. The trained generation will be committed to help in developing the facility and conduct world-class research in selected domains that hold fundamental and applied significance. The ultimate vision is to create the technology indigenously, promoting self sufficiency and fostering a strong, more self-reliant nation.
Working on a ground-breaking project is an exciting endeavor, but it also comes with some challenges, especially when the project in question involves considerable financial, academic, and logistical complexity. These hurdles are all too familiar in Assam, where visionaries are working to build an accelerator facility.
With an estimated cost in the hundreds of millions of rupees, securing the necessary funding for this project is a challenging task. However, some of the research and development work for the proposed project is already underway and has received funding from agencies such as UGC-DAE-CSR, BRNS, and IUAC. Its visionary approach to scientific objectives, facilities, interdisciplinary applications and strategies for the future makes it worthy of inclusion in the Prime Minister's Mega Science Vision 2035. The Government of India's Chief Scientific Adviser (PSA) has been given the responsibility of conducting the next national vision exercises for the Mega Science Projects till 2035 in the fields of High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Accelerator-based science and technology, Climate Science, Ecology and Environmental Science. This document details the linkage of specific mega-scientific projects and programs to larger national science, technology, and development goals in order to increase the country's global presence and competitiveness in this field.
“Mega Science Vision 2035 - Nuclear Physics Report” has been released by the Office of the Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. This National Roadmap was developed by the national nuclear physics community and describes expectations and aspirations for large-scale scientific activities through 2035. This document provides a future roadmap from the Indian Nuclear Physics Community to various funding agencies and research institutes. The report prioritizes plans to carry out large-scale scientific activities to upgrade the existing nuclear physics research facilities and build new ones. The Van de Graff Accelerator proposed by CUPAC-NE is one such upcoming facility, the details of which will be part of the “Accelerator based Science and Technology MSV2035” document.
Academically, to establish such a facility will demand a pool of highly skilled scientists, engineers and researchers and the need for specialized training and education is apparent, making the recruitment and development of this talent pool a demanding task.
The logistics involved in acquiring and installing the facility are intricate and would require acquiring and installing state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring a consistent power supply and maintaining complex infrastructure. The logistics of handling radioactive materials, ensuring strict safety procedures established by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the BARC Security Council, and working with international experts add to the complexity of the project. Public awareness and recognition are important to avoid misunderstandings and concerns. It is important to organize a well-structured educational campaign about the benefits and safety measures of the project and to avoid possible misunderstandings about health hazards and environmental impacts.
In essence, the CUPAC-NE project embodies the spirit of academic excellence, interdisciplinary collaboration, and national self-reliance, making strides in both fundamental physics and practical applications.
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