In December 1941 Kerst decided on "betatron", using the Greek letter "beta", which was the symbol for electrons, and "tron" meaning "instrument for". He went on to build more betatrons of increasing energy, a 20 MeV machine in 1941, an 80 MeV in 1948, and a 340 MeV machine, which was completed in 1950.
The betatron would influence all subsequent accelerators. Its success was due to a thorough understanding of the physics involved, and painstaking design of the magnets, vacuum pumps and power supply. In 1941, he teamed up with Robert Serber to provide the first theoretical analysis of the oscillations that occur in a betatron. The original 1940 machine was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1960.
The Los Alamos Laboratory was reorganized in August 1944 to concentrate on creating an implosion-type nuclear weapon. Studying implosion on a large scale, or even a full scale, required special diagnostic methods. As early as November 1943, Kerst suggested using a betatron employing 20 MeV gamma rays instead of x-rays to study implosion. In the August 1944 reorganization, he became joint head, with Seth Neddermeyer, of the G-5 Group, part of Robert Bacher's G (Gadget) Division specifically charged with betatron testing. Oppenheimer had the 20 MeV betatron at the University of Illinois shipped to Los Alamos, where it arrived in December. On January 15, 1945, the G-5 Group took their first betatron pictures of an implosion.
Kerst returned to the University of Illinois after the war. From 1953 to 1957 he was technical director of the Midwestern Universities Research Association, where he worked on advanced particle accelerator concepts, most notably the FFAG accelerator. He developed the spiral-sector focusing principle, which lies at the heart of many spiral ridge cyclotrons that are now in operation around the world. His team devised and analysed beam stacking, a process of radio frequency acceleration in fixed field machines that led to the development of the colliding beam accelerators.
Kerst was married to Dorothy Birkett Kerst. They had two children, a daughter, Marilyn, and a son, Stephen. After he retired, Kerst and Dorothy moved to Fort Myers, Florida. He died on August 19, 1993, at the University Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wisconsin, from a brain tumor. He was survived by his wife and children. His papers are in the University of Illinois Archives.
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Symon, Keith R.; Koch, H. William (January 1994). "Obituary: Donald Kerst". Physics Today. 47 (1): 58–59. Bibcode:1994PhT....47a..58S. doi:10.1063/1.2808381. /wiki/Keith_Symon
Kerst, D. W. (1940). "Acceleration of Electrons by Magnetic Induction". Physical Review. 58 (9): 841. Bibcode:1940PhRv...58..841K. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.58.841. S2CID 120616002.
Kerst, D. W. (1941). "The Acceleration of Electrons by Magnetic Induction" (PDF). Physical Review. 60 (1): 47–53. Bibcode:1941PhRv...60...47K. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.60.47.
"Smithsonian Gets Betatron". Daily Illini. October 20, 1960. p. 12. Retrieved October 2, 2014. http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=DIL19601020.2.58#
Anderson, Bethany (June 11, 2013). ""A Very Bold and Original Device": Donald Kerst and the Betatron". University of Illinois. Retrieved October 2, 2014. http://archives.library.illinois.edu/blog/donald-kerst-and-the-betatron/
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Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Kerst, D. W.; Serber, R. (July 1941). "Electronic Orbits in the Induction Accelerator". Physical Review. 60 (1): 53–58. Bibcode:1941PhRv...60...53K. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.60.53.
"Smithsonian Gets Betatron". Daily Illini. October 20, 1960. p. 12. Retrieved October 2, 2014. http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=DIL19601020.2.58#
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Symon, Keith R.; Koch, H. William (January 1994). "Obituary: Donald Kerst". Physics Today. 47 (1): 58–59. Bibcode:1994PhT....47a..58S. doi:10.1063/1.2808381. /wiki/Keith_Symon
Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 199–203. - Hoddeson, Lillian; Henriksen, Paul W.; Meade, Roger A.; Westfall, Catherine L. (1993). Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943–1945. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44132-3. OCLC 26764320. https://archive.org/details/criticalassembly0000unse
Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 199–203. - Hoddeson, Lillian; Henriksen, Paul W.; Meade, Roger A.; Westfall, Catherine L. (1993). Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943–1945. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44132-3. OCLC 26764320. https://archive.org/details/criticalassembly0000unse
Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 245–247. - Hoddeson, Lillian; Henriksen, Paul W.; Meade, Roger A.; Westfall, Catherine L. (1993). Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943–1945. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44132-3. OCLC 26764320. https://archive.org/details/criticalassembly0000unse
Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 154–157. - Hoddeson, Lillian; Henriksen, Paul W.; Meade, Roger A.; Westfall, Catherine L. (1993). Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943–1945. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44132-3. OCLC 26764320. https://archive.org/details/criticalassembly0000unse
Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 274–277. - Hoddeson, Lillian; Henriksen, Paul W.; Meade, Roger A.; Westfall, Catherine L. (1993). Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943–1945. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44132-3. OCLC 26764320. https://archive.org/details/criticalassembly0000unse
US patent 2932798, Donald William Kerst and Keith R. Symon, "Imparting Energy to Charged Particles", issued 1960-04-12
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2932798
Symon, Keith R.; Koch, H. William (January 1994). "Obituary: Donald Kerst". Physics Today. 47 (1): 58–59. Bibcode:1994PhT....47a..58S. doi:10.1063/1.2808381. /wiki/Keith_Symon
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Symon, Keith R.; Koch, H. William (January 1994). "Obituary: Donald Kerst". Physics Today. 47 (1): 58–59. Bibcode:1994PhT....47a..58S. doi:10.1063/1.2808381. /wiki/Keith_Symon
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Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
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Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
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Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
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Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler
Sessler, Andrew M.; Symon, Keith R. "Donald William Kerst" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2008. /wiki/Andrew_Sessler