541st Brookhaven Lecture: EIC, Silent Interactions, Wakefields
September 15, 2025
Alexei Blednykh (Kevin Coughlin/Brookhaven National Laboratory)
To the human eye, a beam of light appears steady and unbroken. But really, that beam is made up of countless photons — tiny units of light.
Particle accelerators have a wide range of uses for research and industrial applications. Some accelerators are straight, others are circular. Some are miles long and others fit within a single room. Regardless of size and shape, all accelerators push beams of individual particles at incredibly high speeds.
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A rendering of the future Electron-Ion Collider's particle accelerator complex (Valerie Lentz/Brookhaven National Laboratory)
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory is home to several particle accelerators. The National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) produces beams of X-rays as much as 10 billion times brighter than the sun's for researchers to study a wide range of materials. The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) smashes together beams of heavy ions and protons so scientists can study some of nature's most basic building blocks.
Just as every accelerator has its own purpose, each has its own set of challenges, too.
Now, scientists, engineers, and technicians are designing new accelerator systems for the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), which will crash beams of electrons into beams of protons and ions to create never-before-seen views inside the atom’s nucleus.
All are invited to join Alexei Blednykh of the EIC when he presents the 541st Brookhaven Lecture on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. EDT. His talk is titled "Silent Interactions, Wakefields, and the Path to EIC Performance." Attendees can join:
- In person at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN, map) in the seminar room on the second floor
- Virtually on Zoom
During his talk, Blednykh will discuss particle beams and characteristics that make them more useful. He will then highlight developments that improved beam quality at NSLS-II and RHIC and will be applied at the EIC. He will also explain ways to minimize electromagnetic wakefields which, like the wakes that challenge ships in water, must be mitigated to increase the rate of collisions between electron and ion beams at the EIC.
NSLS-II, RHIC, and CFN are DOE Office of Science user facilities at Brookhaven Lab.
About the speaker
Alexei Blednykh is an accelerator physicist with nearly 20 years of experience designing, commissioning, and operating particle accelerators at Brookhaven Lab.
Blednykh joined Brookhaven in 2004 as a postdoctoral researcher. He made significant contributions to NSLS-II's accelerator complex while advancing to the rank of scientist, which he was named in 2015.
In 2020, Blednykh joined the EIC project as deputy division head for accelerator physics and R&D, where he provides technical guidance on collective effects, wakefields, and beam stability. He has served as pre-operations system manager since 2022. In this role, he leads planning and coordination efforts for commissioning activities across the EIC's accelerator complex.
Blednykh earned his Ph.D. at Technical University of Berlin in 2003 and master's degree at Moscow State Engineering Physics Institute in 2000.
About the Brookhaven Lecture Series
The Brookhaven Lecture Series began in 1960.
In the foreword to the first lectures, Brookhaven physicist Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber wrote, "The Brookhaven Lectures, held by and for the Brookhaven staff, are meant to provide an intellectual meeting ground for all scientists of the Laboratory. In this role, they serve a double purpose: They are to acquaint the listeners with new developments and ideas not only in their own field but also in other important fields of science, and to give them a heightened awareness of the aims and potentialities of Brookhaven National Laboratory."
That tradition continues today.
Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.
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