Physics prospects with high intensity proton accelerator (J-PARC) at Tokai Original Research Article

From Japanese fiscal year JFY01, which started on April 1, 2001, a new accelerator project to provide high-intensity proton beams proceeded into its construction phase. This project, which is now called the J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) project, is conducted under a cooperation of two institutions, KEK and JAERI. We set a goal to achieve 1 MW proton beams at 3 GeV and 0.75 MW beams at 50 GeV. The project will be completed within six years, with the anticipated first beams in the spring of 2007. In this article I will describe a) the project itself, b) sciences to be pursued at this new accelerator complex and c) the present status and future plans of the project.