To find the best possible shape for an accelerator component (left), researchers often have to tweak a number of factors at the same time, which would be tedious and time-consuming if done by hand. Software like SLAC’s ACE3P allows them to automate many of these tasks. In this case, they wanted to minimize electromagnetic fields that pull electrons away from the cavity surfaces (blue line) while keeping the electron beam (red line) traveling through the cavity at a particular frequency (green line and dot). Performing this complex task usually takes a number of simulation runs. In this case, the research team was able to reach both of their targets by removing a small amount of material (green) from one of the cavity’s internal surfaces.

A view of the dashboard Kitware developed for fine-tuning the design of accelerator components with SLAC’s ACE3P software. A simulated accelerator component, center, is surrounded by features and specifications researchers can choose when refining its design on DOE’s NERSC supercomputer in Berkeley. Rather than type in instructions for running the simulation, designers can use pull-down tabs (middle left) and other simple tools to set the specifications for their simulations, look at files that are remotely hosted on NERSC (top right), keep track of the analyses they’re running (middle right) and download their data to their own computers (bottom right).