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Andrews, H. L., Taheri, F. B., Barros, J., Bartolini, R., Bharadwaj, V., Clarke, C., et al. (2014). Reconstruction of the time profile of 20.35 GeV, subpicosecond long electron bunches by means of coherent Smith-Purcell radiation. Phys. Rev. Spec. Top.-Accel. Beams, 17(5), 052802–13pp.
Abstract: We have used coherent Smith-Purcell radiation (cSPr) in order to determine the temporal profile of sub-ps long electron bunches at the Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests, at SLAC. The measurements reported here were carried out in June 2012 and April 2013. The rms values for the bunch length varied between 356 to 604 fs, depending on the accelerator settings. The resolution of the system was limited by the range of detectable wavelengths which was, in turn, determined by the choice of the grating periods used in these experiments and the achievable beam-grating separation. The paper gives the details of the various steps in the reconstruction of the time profile and discusses possible improvements to the resolution. We also present initial measurements of the polarization properties of cSPr and of the background radiation.
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Edgecock, T. R. et al, Agarwalla, S. K., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Donini, A., Ghosh, T., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., et al. (2013). High intensity neutrino oscillation facilities in Europe. Phys. Rev. Spec. Top.-Accel. Beams, 16(2), 021002–18pp.
Abstract: The EUROnu project has studied three possible options for future, high intensity neutrino oscillation facilities in Europe. The first is a Super Beam, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of pions created by bombarding targets with a 4 MW proton beam from the CERN High Power Superconducting Proton Linac. The far detector for this facility is the 500 kt MEMPHYS water Cherenkov, located in the Frejus tunnel. The second facility is the Neutrino Factory, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of mu(+) and mu(-) beams in a storage ring. The far detector in this case is a 100 kt magnetized iron neutrino detector at a baseline of 2000 km. The third option is a Beta Beam, in which the neutrinos come from the decay of beta emitting isotopes, in particular He-6 and Ne-18, also stored in a ring. The far detector is also the MEMPHYS detector in the Frejus tunnel. EUROnu has undertaken conceptual designs of these facilities and studied the performance of the detectors. Based on this, it has determined the physics reach of each facility, in particular for the measurement of CP violation in the lepton sector, and estimated the cost of construction. These have demonstrated that the best facility to build is the Neutrino Factory. However, if a powerful proton driver is constructed for another purpose or if the MEMPHYS detector is built for astroparticle physics, the Super Beam also becomes very attractive.
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Cauchi, M., Assmann, R. W., Bertarelli, A., Carra, F., Lari, L., Rossi, A., et al. (2015). Thermomechanical assessment of the effects of a jaw-beam angle during beam impact on Large Hadron Collider collimators. Phys. Rev. Spec. Top.-Accel. Beams, 18(2), 021001–14pp.
Abstract: The correct functioning of a collimation system is crucial to safely and successfully operate high-energy particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, the requirements to handle high-intensity beams can be demanding, and accident scenarios must be well studied in order to assess if the collimator design is robust against possible error scenarios. One of the catastrophic, though not very probable, accident scenarios identified within the LHC is an asynchronous beam dump. In this case, one (or more) of the 15 precharged kicker circuits fires out of time with the abort gap, spraying beam pulses onto LHC machine elements before the machine protection system can fire the remaining kicker circuits and bring the beam to the dump. If a proton bunch directly hits a collimator during such an event, severe beam-induced damage such as magnet quenches and other equipment damage might result, with consequent downtime for the machine. This study investigates a number of newly defined jaw error cases, which include angular misalignment errors of the collimator jaw. A numerical finite element method approach is presented in order to precisely evaluate the thermomechanical response of tertiary collimators to beam impact. We identify the most critical and interesting cases, and show that a tilt of the jaw can actually mitigate the effect of an asynchronous dump on the collimators. Relevant collimator damage limits are taken into account, with the aim to identify optimal operational conditions for the LHC.
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Bruce, R. et al, & Lari, L. (2014). Simulations and measurements of beam loss patterns at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Phys. Rev. Spec. Top.-Accel. Beams, 17(8), 081004–16pp.
Abstract: The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is designed to collide proton beams of unprecedented energy, in order to extend the frontiers of high-energy particle physics. During the first very successful running period in 2010-2013, the LHC was routinely storing protons at 3.5-4 TeV with a total beam energy of up to 146 MJ, and even higher stored energies are foreseen in the future. This puts extraordinary demands on the control of beam losses. An uncontrolled loss of even a tiny fraction of the beam could cause a superconducting magnet to undergo a transition into a normal-conducting state, or in the worst case cause material damage. Hence a multistage collimation system has been installed in order to safely intercept high-amplitude beam protons before they are lost elsewhere. To guarantee adequate protection from the collimators, a detailed theoretical understanding is needed. This article presents results of numerical simulations of the distribution of beam losses around the LHC that have leaked out of the collimation system. The studies include tracking of protons through the fields of more than 5000 magnets in the 27 km LHC ring over hundreds of revolutions, and Monte Carlo simulations of particle-matter interactions both in collimators and machine elements being hit by escaping particles. The simulation results agree typically within a factor 2 with measurements of beam loss distributions from the previous LHC run. Considering the complex simulation, which must account for a very large number of unknown imperfections, and in view of the total losses around the ring spanning over 7 orders of magnitude, we consider this an excellent agreement. Our results give confidence in the simulation tools, which are used also for the design of future accelerators.
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Cauchi, M., Assmann, R. W., Bertarelli, A., Carra, F., Cerutti, F., Lari, L., et al. (2015). Thermomechanical response of Large Hadron Collider collimators to proton and ion beam impacts. Phys. Rev. Spec. Top.-Accel. Beams, 18(4), 041002–14pp.
Abstract: The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is designed to accelerate and bring into collision high-energy protons as well as heavy ions. Accidents involving direct beam impacts on collimators can happen in both cases. The LHC collimation system is designed to handle the demanding requirements of high-intensity proton beams. Although proton beams have 100 times higher beam power than the nominal LHC lead ion beams, specific problems might arise in case of ion losses due to different particle-collimator interaction mechanisms when compared to protons. This paper investigates and compares direct ion and proton beam impacts on collimators, in particular tertiary collimators (TCTs), made of the tungsten heavy alloy INERMET (R) 180. Recent measurements of the mechanical behavior of this alloy under static and dynamic loading conditions at different temperatures have been done and used for realistic estimates of the collimator response to beam impact. Using these new measurements, a numerical finite element method (FEM) approach is presented in this paper. Sequential fast-transient thermostructural analyses are performed in the elastic-plastic domain in order to evaluate and compare the thermomechanical response of TCTs in case of critical beam load cases involving proton and heavy ion beam impacts.
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