Physicists are divided over whether Europe's next large magnet should provide a continuous field, which would offer a wide variety of uses, or a pulsed field, which would give a much more powerful field but for a relatively short duration. Or, indeed, whether new high-field magnets are needed at all. A report from the European Science Foundation (ESF) on the scientific cases for developing both types of magnet argues that the most urgent need is for a long-pulse (10-100 millisecond duration) 100-tesla magnet facility, as US scientists are taking the lead in the development of pulsed fields.
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