Characterisation of the optics of the TT24 and P42 beamlines in the CERN SPS North Area

400 GeV protons extracted from the CERN SPS are transported to the T4 target via the TT20 transfer line. The P42 beamline then transports the protons that did not interact in the T4 target to the T10 target. During operation in 2021 and 2022, higher than expected beam losses were measured, in addition to the increased beam spot size that had previously been observed. It was previously suspected that the optics between TT24 and P42 might not be well matched but due to a lack of instrumentation this was not confirmed. The recent installation of additional beam profile monitors (BSG) in the P42 beamline has allowed the present optics to be evaluated for the first time. In addition, magnet response functions have been re-measured and updated. A kick response study was performed using corrector dipoles to kick the beam with the subsequent displacement measured on the BSGs. The dependence between the kick and the beam position was used to fit a MADX optics model of TT24 and P42. Quadrupole scans were then performed to determine the initial conditions of the model. These results are presented in this paper

The AWAKE Run 2 Programme and Beyond

Plasma wakefield acceleration is a promising technology to reduce the size of particle accelerators. The use of high energy protons to drive wakefields in plasma has been demonstrated during Run 1 of the AWAKE programme at CERN. Protons of energy 400 GeV drove wakefields that accelerated electrons to 2 GeV in under 10 m of plasma. The AWAKE collaboration is now embarking on Run 2 with the main aims to demonstrate stable accelerating gradients of 0.5-1 GV/m, preserve emittance of the electron bunches during acceleration and develop plasma sources scalable to 100s of metres and beyond. By the end of Run 2, the AWAKE scheme should be able to provide electron beams for particle physics experiments and several possible experiments have already been evaluated. This article summarises the programme of AWAKE Run 2 and how it will be achieved as well as the possible application of the AWAKE scheme to novel particle physics experiments.De fyra första författarna delar förstaförfattarskapet.</p