THE MICE 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) [1] is under development at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK). The muon beamline has been commissioned and shown to produce adequate beams for cooling measurements. First measurements of emittance with particle physics detectors have been performed. Cooling measurements with liquidhydrogen and lithium hydride absorbers are planned for 2013. A full cell of the ionization cooling channel, including RF re-acceleration, is under construction, aimed at operation by 2016. The design offers opportunities for tests with various absorbers and optics configurations. Results will be compared with detailed simulations of cooling channel performance to ensure full understanding of the cooling process.