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 un-controlled 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 multi-stage 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.
New experiments on crystal assisted collimation have been carried out at the CERN SPS with stored beams of 120 GeV/c protons and Pb ions. Bent silicon crystals of 2 mm long with about 170 μrad bend angle and a small residual torsion were used as primary collimators. In channeling conditions, the beam loss rate induced by inelastic interactions of particles with the crystal nuclei is minimal. The loss reduction was about 6 for protons and about 3 for Pb ions. Lower reduction value for Pb ions can be explained by their considerably larger ionization losses in the crystal. In one of the crystals, the measured fraction of the Pb ion beam halo deflected in channeling conditions was 74%, a value very close to that for protons. The intensity of the off-momentum halo leaking out from the collimation station was measured in the first high dispersion area downstream. The particle population in the shadow of the secondary collimator–absorber was considerably smaller in channeling conditions than for amorphous orientations of the crystal. The corresponding reduction was in the range of 2–5 for both protons and Pb ions
Simulations of collimation and beam cleaning were so far often performed with simplified computer models. However, the increase in available CPU power has opened the possibility for far more realistic simulations. For large accelerators like LHC it is now possible to track millions of particles, element by element over hundreds of turns. The well established SixTrack code treats the full six-dimensional phase space and considers the non-linear magnet components up to very high order. This code is being used for all LHC tracking simulations and has well developed linear and non-linear error models. SixTrack was extended for tracking of large ensembles of halo particles, taking into account halo interaction with arbitrarily placed collimators. An interface to a program for aperture analysis allows obtaining beam loss maps in the machine aperture. A standardized and portable SixTrack version is now available, providing all functionality of the old SixTrack, as well as the newly added support for halo tracking, collimation and aperture loss maps. EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH CERN -AB Department A NEW VERSION OF SIXTRACK WITH COLLIMATION AND APERTURE INTERFACEG. Robert-Demolaize, R. Assmann, S. Redaelli, F. Schmidt, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland AbstractSimulations of collimation and beam cleaning were so far often performed with simplified computer models. However, the increase in available CPU power has opened the possibility for far more realistic simulations. For large accelerators like LHC it is now possible to track millions of particles, element by element over hundreds of turns.The well established SixTrack code treats the full sixdimensional phase space and considers the non-linear magnet components up to very high order. This code is being used for all LHC tracking simulations and has well developed linear and non-linear error models. SixTrack was extended for tracking of large ensembles of halo particles, taking into account halo interaction with arbitrarily placed collimators.An interface to a program for aperture analysis allows obtaining beam loss maps in the machine aperture. A standardized and portable SixTrack version is now available, providing all functionality of the old SixTrack, as well as the newly added support for halo tracking, collimation and aperture loss maps.
A study of crystal assisted collimation has been continued at the CERN SPS for different energies of stored beams using 120 GeV/c and 270 GeV/c protons and Pb ions with 270 GeV/c per charge. A bent silicon crystal used as a primary collimator deflected halo particles using channeling and directing them into the tungsten absorber. A strong correlation of the beam losses in the crystal and off-momentum halo intensity measured in the first high dispersion (HD) area downstream was observed. In channeling conditions, the beam loss rate induced by inelastic interactions of particles with nuclei is significantly reduced in comparison with the non-oriented crystal. A maximal reduction of beam losses in the crystal larger than 20 was observed with 270 GeV/c protons. The off-momentum halo intensity measured in the HD area was also strongly reduced in channeling conditions. The reduction coefficient was larger than 7 for the case of Pb ions. A strong loss reduction was also detected in regions of the SPS ring far from the collimation area. It was shown by simulations that the miscut angle between the crystal surface and its crystallographic planes doubled the beam losses in the aligned crystal
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