Adjoint methods for electromagnetic shape optimization of the low-loss cavity for the International Linear Collider

We formulate the problem of designing the low-loss cavity for the International Linear Collider (ILC) as an electromagnetic shape optimization problem involving a Maxwell eigenvalue problem. The objective is to maximize the stored energy of a trapped mode in the end cell while maintaining a specified frequency corresponding to the accelerating mode. A continuous adjoint method is presented for computation of the design gradient of the objective and constraint. The gradients are used within a nonlinear optimization scheme to compute the optimal shape for a simplified model of the ILC in a small multiple of the cost of solving the Maxwell eigenvalue problem.