Abstract
The LHC transverse feedback system (ADT) provides bunch by bunch, turn by turn, normalized and digitized beam position signals from four pick-ups per plane and for each beam. Together with ...already existing powerful computer-based observation systems, this data can be used to reconstruct in real-time the transverse phase space coordinates of the centre-of-charges, for each individual bunch. Such information is extremely valuable for machine operation, or transverse instability diagnostics.
This paper aims on discussing and evaluating methods of combining four position signals for such analysis in the presence of noise and with active transverse feedback. Comparisons are made based on the extraction of vital parameters like the fractional tune or transverse activity. Analytical and numerical results are further benchmarked against real beam data.
The transverse emittance growth rate of colliding hadron beams driven by external sources of noise is investigated based on existing analytical model as well as on macro-particle simulations and ...comparison to experimental data at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It is shown that an analytical description of the emittance growth rate neglecting the existence coherent beam-beam mode can nevertheless provide accurate estimate for operational conditions, featuring notably a high chromaticity. The model is used to investigate the level of noise experienced by the LHC beams. The results indicate that a significant reduction of the noise floor of the transverse feedback’s beam position monitor is required for operation with a large beam-beam tune shift, as the one anticipated for the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC).
The High Luminosity (HL) upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will increase the peak luminosity at the experiments by more than a factor of 5 with respect to the LHC design value. To achieve ...this goal, among the upgrade of several beam and machine parameters, the beam intensity will nearly double with respect to the operational LHC value, and the transverse beam emittance will decrease by 50% compared to the LHC design value. Past operational experience showed that coherent beam instabilities may occur for low, positive values of chromaticity, and a higher tune spread than predicted from simulations is required from the dedicated octupole magnets to provide enough Landau damping. With the HL-LHC brighter beams, stability margins will become tighter, and coherent instabilities become stronger if no dedicated mitigation measures are taken. An impedance reduction plan is therefore taking place targeting the collimation system, and the main contributor to the transverse beam coupling impedance at the flattop energy. New collimators with lower resistivity materials will replace the current LHC ones. In this work, we assess the benefits of this impedance reduction with respect to the transverse mode coupling instability threshold. This study quantifies the discrepancy between measured and predicted beam stability thresholds at low chromaticity. It also probes the expected gain of the impedance reduction plan of HL-LHC.
Micrometer-sized dust particles present in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) beam pipe are believed to have caused many thousands of sporadic beam loss events around the LHC. These so-called ...unidentified falling objects (UFOs) have been under continuous study since the start of high intensity beam operation in the LHC due to their impact on the LHC availability: 139 beam dumps and 12 magnet quenches during Run II (2015–2018) alone. To mitigate the impact of UFOs on future accelerators such as the High Luminosity LHC and the Future Circular Collider, it is fundamental to foster a better understanding of these beam loss events. In this paper, key observations made since the start of LHC operation are summarized and the prevailing UFO hypothesis is confronted by a compilation of observations acquired during Run II. In particular, it is shown that UFOs must carry an initial negative charge before entering the proton beam, or that they are by some other means accelerated toward the beam not only by gravity. A simulation model for the dynamics of the dust particles and their interaction with the beam was developed over the years. This model is improved and validated by measurements. It is however also shown that a subset of observed beam losses, which contain a positive time profile skewness, cannot be explained by it.
In the years 2009–2013 the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been operated with the top beam energies of 3.5 and 4 TeV per proton (from 2012) instead of the nominal 7 TeV. The currents in the ...superconducting magnets were reduced accordingly. To date only seventeen beam-induced quenches have occurred; eight of them during specially designed quench tests, the others during injection. There has not been a single beam-induced quench during normal collider operation with stored beam. The conditions, however, are expected to become much more challenging after the long LHC shutdown. The magnets will be operating at near nominal currents, and in the presence of high energy and high intensity beams with a stored energy of up to 362 MJ per beam. In this paper we summarize our efforts to understand the quench levels of LHC superconducting magnets. We describe beam-loss events and dedicated experiments with beam, as well as the simulation methods used to reproduce the observable signals. The simulated energy deposition in the coils is compared to the quench levels predicted by electrothermal models, thus allowing one to validate and improve the models which are used to set beam-dump thresholds on beam-loss monitors for run 2.
Electron cloud effects, which include heat load in the cryogenic system, pressure rise, and beam instabilities, are among the main intensity limitations for the LHC operation with 25 ns spaced ...bunches. A new observation tool was proposed and developed to monitor the e-cloud activity and it has already been used successfully during the LHC run 1 (2010–2012) and it is being intensively used in operation during the start of the LHC run 2 (2015–2018). It is based on the fact that the power loss of each bunch due to e-cloud can be estimated using bunch-by-bunch measurement of the synchronous phase. The measurements were done using the existing beam phase module of the low-level rf control system. In order to achieve the very high accuracy required, corrections for reflection in the cables and for systematic errors need to be applied followed by a post-processing of the measurements. Results clearly show the e-cloud buildup along the bunch trains and its time evolution during each LHC fill as well as from fill to fill. Measurements during the 2012 LHC scrubbing run reveal a progressive reduction in the e-cloud activity and therefore a decrease in the secondary electron yield. The total beam power loss can be computed as a sum of the contributions from all bunches and compared with the heat load deposited in the cryogenic system.
The High-Luminosity LHC Project aims to increase the integrated luminosity that will be collected by the Large Hadron Collider for the needs of the high energy physics frontier by the end of its Run ...3 by more than a factor ten. This will require doubling the beam intensity, and in order to ensure coherent stability until the brighter beams are put in collision, the transverse impedance of the machine has to be reduced. As the major portion of the ring impedance is generated by its collimation system, several low resistivity jaw materials have been considered to lower the collimator impedance and a special collimator has been built and installed in the machine to study their effect. In order to assess the performance of each material we performed a series of tune shift measurements with LHC beams. The results show a significant reduction of the resistive wall tune shift with novel materials, in good agreement with the impedance model and the bench impedance and resistivity measurements. The largest improvement is obtained with a molybdenum coating of a molybdenum-graphite jaw. This coating, applied to the most critical collimators, is estimated to lower the machine impedance by up to 30% and the stabilizing Landau octupole threshold by up to 240 A after accounting for uncertainties of the model and other destabilising effects. A half of the overall improvement can be obtained by coating the jaws of a subset of 4 out of 11 collimators identified as the highest contributors to machine impedance. This subset of low-impedance collimators is being installed during the Long Shutdown 2 in 2019-2020.
In the extremely unlikely event of a non-working beam dumping system in the LHC, the 360 MJ of stored beam energy can be dissipated in the collimation system as a last mitigation measure. In such a ...situation, it is important to reduce the stored beam energy both quickly and at the same time as smoothly as possible in order to limit the risk of trips of critical systems, to avoid quenches of superconducting magnets (which would lead to changes of the beam trajectory and damage to the accelerator) and ultimately damage to the collimators themselves. Detailed steps and parameters have been developed and validated during two dedicated experiments with beam in the LHC. This paper summarizes the key aspects in view of the preparation of such a procedure for operational use, which will allow for the safe disposal of the full LHC beam by the operation crews.
Micrometer sized particles entering the LHC beam (the so called Unidentified Falling Objects or UFOs) are a known cause of localized beam losses since the beginning of high intensity beam operation, ...however the origin of these particles is not fully known. Their effect limits LHC availability by causing premature dumps due to excessive beam losses and occasionally even magnet quenches. This could become an important limitation for future accelerators such as the High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC) and the Future Circular Collider (FCC). The dynamics of these UFOs was investigated in two dedicated experiments. In the first experiment, it was shown that the transverse movements of these particles can be studied by observing bunch-by-bunch losses from bunches with different horizontal and vertical emittances. In the second experiment, UFO-like events around the 16L2 interconnect in the LHC, which has seen intense UFO activity in 2017, were studied with the above method. This paper summarizes the results of both experiments.
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