Progress of MICE, the International Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment

Ionization Cooling is the only practical solution to preparing high
brilliance muon beams for a neutrino factory or muon collider. The
muon ionization cooling experiment (MICE) is under development at the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) by an international collaboration.

The muon beam line has been commissioned and, for the first time,
measurements of beam emittance with particle physics detectors have
been performed.

The remaining apparatus is currently under construction. First results
with a liquid-hydrogen absorber will be produced in 2013; a couple
of years later a full cell of a representative ionization cooling
channel, including RF re-acceleration, will be in operation. The design
offers opportunities to observe cooling with various absorbers and
several optics configurations. Results will be compared with detailed
simulations of cooling channel performance to ensure full understanding
of the cooling process.