Abstract
After Schott’s [3] unsuccessful attempt to explain atomic radiation with his electromagnetic theory no further progress was made for some 40 years mainly because of lack of interest. Only in the mid forties did the theory of electromagnetic radiation from free electrons become interesting again with the successful development of circular high-energy electron accelerators. At this time powerful betatrons [8] have been put into operation and it was Ivanenko and Pomeranchouk [9], who first in 1944 pointed out a possible limit to the betatron principle and maximum energy due to energy loss from emission of electromagnetic radiation. This prediction was used by Blewett [10] to calculate the radiation energy loss per turn in a newly constructed 100 MeV betatron at General Electric. In 1946 he measured the shrinkage of the orbit due to radiation losses and the results agreed with predictions. On April 24, 1947 visible radiation was observed for the first time at the 70 MeV synchrotron built at General Electric [11, 12, 13]. Since then, this radiation is called synchrotron radiation.
Published Version
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