Algorithms to get a circulating beam

Two algorithms based of trajectory fitting have been used to obtain rapidly a circulating beam in LEP with strong focusing lattices. A new algorithm called "orbit closure" uses the beam positions measured at the first and the second turn. From their difference, it computes two corrector strengths per plane such that the second turn passes at the same place as the first turn at about ten BPM locations. This produces a closed orbit amplitude with an r.m.s. value close to that of the first turn trajectory. A new 'first turn threader' has been tried. It detects places where an oscillation with an r.m.s. amplitude larger than a specified value starts, and computes two corrector strengths to cancel it. By iterating this process, it should be possible to correct by steps the first turn trajectory so that its r.m.s amplitude is below a specified value. The orbit closure has been applied with success to a very low emittance lattice (135o in the horizontal plane) in LEP

Optimisation of the LHC dynamic aperture via the phase advance of the arc cells

The phase advances of the arc cells of storage rings are traditionally chosen to be simple fractions of p in order to take advantage of second order achromats they constitute. For the LHC, such a choice is not relevant because of the existence of high order systematic multipole components in the main dipoles. In this case it is better to choose the phase advances to cancel the driving term for the largest possi-ble number of non-linear resonances, which is straightforward for an ensemble of identical cells. This can also be achieved for an actual LHC arc featuring dispersion suppressors. The associated improvement of the dynamic aperture is shown in this paper

Robustness of Resonance Free Lattices Against Gradient Errors

Resonance-free lattices make it possible to cancel the effect of non-linear resonances due to systematic multipoles in an alternating gradient circular machine. These lattices are made of identical cells with specified phase advances. It is therefore mandatory to examine to what extent the property remains valid in presence of gradient errors. In the case of LHC, three times the nominal gradient errors are acceptable from the point of view of both a3 and b4 components

Correction of the Systematic b3 Error with the Resonance-Free Lattice in the LHC

The effect of the sextupole component b3 in the LHC dipoles on the resonance-free lattice has been investigated. It is shown that its dynamic aperture, without b3 spool piece correction, is close to that of the nominal LHC lattice version 6.0 with spool pice correction. A prerequisite is the addition of a few chromaticity sextupoles in the dispersion suppressors. Under this condition an increase of the b3 component by a factor of two can probably be accepted. Furthermore, a systematic relative gradient error up to one per mil can be tolerated without changing this result

Sound and light from fractures in scintillators

Prompted by intriguing events observed in certain particle-physics searches for rare events, we study light and acoustic emission simultaneously in some inorganic scintillators subject to mechanical stress. We observe mechanoluminescence in ${Bi}_4{Ge}_{3}{O}_{12}$, ${CdWO}_{4}$ and ${ZnWO}_{4}$, in various mechanical configurations at room temperature and ambient pressure. We analyze how the light emission is correlated to acoustic emission during fracture. For ${Bi}_4{Ge}_{3}{O}_{12}$, we set a lower bound on the energy of the emitted light, and deduce that the fraction of elastic energy converted to light is at least $3 \times 10^{-5}$

Monte Carlo Calculations on Electron Backscattering in Amorphous or Polycrystalline Targets

We propose an application of the Monte Carlo method in the field of backscattering. The results obtained for incident electron energies ranging from 0.3 to 3 MeV and for targets of Al, Cu, Ag and Au are compared with experimental values from several sources. An electron travelling through matter undergoes successive collisions between which it is assumed to travel in a straight line. In our case, we consider the elementary process of interaction electron-nucleus; we have used analytical models for the scattering cross-sections. In order to follow the electron through the specimen, we divide the real trajectory into elements of length much smaller than the mean free path. Pseudo-random number process permits us to determine whether or not an interaction occurs, also the type of interaction. For the energy losses, we introduced a relation derived from Landau\u27s theory. We then followed the electron until it is emerged from the material or halted. The backscattering coefficients obtained for thin and thick targets as a function of the incident electron energy are in good agreement with the experimental data. We have introduced the depth distribution function of the backscattered electrons, which allows us to test the predictions of various theoretical models proposed by other authors

Measurement of Resonance Driving Terms from Turn-by-Turn Data

It has been shown that the Fourier analysis of recorded turn-by-turn tracking data can be used to derive resonance terms of an accelerator. Besides the resonance driving terms, the non-linear one-turn map can be obtained with all non-linearities arising from magnetic imperfections and correction elements. This could be interesting for the LHC which will be a machine that is dominated by strong non-linear fields. The methods works very well for tracking data and is expected to work equally well for turn-by-turn beam data. The precision to which these terms can be determined relies on the frequency analysis tool. To demonstrate the feasibility of the method, measurements of real accelerators are presented in which the beam is kicked once and the beam oscillations are recorded over several thousand turns. Besides the tune, the strengths of resonance driving terms have been measured and the results are compared with numerical calculation