Application of Accelerators and Storage Rings

It is well known from Maxwell theory that electromagnetic radiation is emitted whenever electric charges are accelerated in free space. This radiation assumes quite extraordinary properties whenever the charged particles move at ultrarelativistic speed: The radiation becomes very powerful and tightly collimated in space, and it may easily cover a rather wide spectrum ranging from the THz into the hard X-ray regime. When generation of such radiation is intended rather than being a side effect, the charged particles are normally electrons, thus kinetic energies are then typically in the multi-MeV range.