system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why doesn’t the LHC use an extra electric field to curve its beams instead of relying on magnets and the Lorentz force? Wouldn’t it be possible to have another electric field coming from the “sides”?
gpt
Magnetic fields are more convenient for bending/focusing elements at high beam velocities than electrostatic devices. Electrostatic methods are used for very low-velocity beams (typical v/c ~ 0.05 or less). After the pre-acceleration is done and the beam has been injected into some larger accelerator, magnetic methods are used instead.

Additionally, electric fields will not just bend and focus, but also change the energy of the beam particles. Magnetic fields don't do this (neglecting synchrotron radiation, which is currently only relevant for electron beams). This complicates the dynamics. In a synchrotron, you want the energy increases to occur in the RF cavities, not also in the bending/focusing elements. And in a storage ring, you just don't want the energy to change at all.