Summary of Fermilab's Recycler Electron Cooler Operation and Studies

Fermilab's Recycler ring was used as a storage ring for accumulation and subsequent manipulations of 8-GeV antiprotons destined for the Tevatron collider. To satisfy these missions, a unique electron cooling system was designed, developed and successfully implemented. The most important features that distinguish the Recycler cooler from other existing electron coolers are its relativistic energy (it employs a 4.3 MeV, 0.1 A DC electron beam), a weak continuous longitudinal magnetic field in the cooling section (~100 G), and lumped focusing elsewhere. With the termination of the collider operation at Fermilab, the cooler operation was also terminated. In this article, we will summarize the experience of commissioning, optimizing and running this unique machine over the 6 years of its existence.Comment: 3 pp. 3rd International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC 2012) 20-25 May 2012. New Orleans, Louisian

Determination of the pure silicon monocarbide content of silicon carbide and products based on silicon carbide

Experience has shown that different methods of analysis of SiC products give different results. Methods identified as AFNOR, FEPA, and manufacturer P, currently used to detect SiC, free C, free Si, free Fe, and SiO2 are reviewed. The AFNOR method gives lower SiC content, attributed to destruction of SiC by grinding. Two products sent to independent labs for analysis by the AFNOR and FEPA methods showed somewhat different results, especially for SiC, SiO2, and Al2O3 content, whereas an X-ray analysis showed a SiC content approximately 10 points lower than by chemical methods

Casimir stresses in active nematic films

We calculate the Casimir stresses in a thin layer of active fluid with nematic order. By using a stochastic hydrodynamic approach for an active fluid layer of finite thickness L, we generalize the Casimir stress for nematic liquid crystals in thermal equilibrium to active systems. We show that the active Casimir stress differs significantly from its equilibrium counterpart. For contractile activity, the active Casimir stress, although attractive like its equilibrium counterpart, diverges logarithmically as L approaches a threshold of the spontaneous flow instability from below. In contrast, for small extensile activity, it is repulsive, has no divergence at any L and has a scaling with L different from its equilibrium counterpart

The Recycler Electron Cooler

The Recycler Electron cooler was the first (and so far, the only) cooler working at a relativistic energy ({\gamma} = 9.5). It was successfully developed in 1995-2004 and was in operation at Fermilab in 2005-2011, providing cooling of antiprotons in the Recycler ring. This paper describes the cooler, difficulties in achieving the required electron beam parameters and the ways to overcome them, cooling measurements, and details of operation

Soft Listeria: actin-based propulsion of liquid drops

We study the motion of oil drops propelled by actin polymerization in cell extracts. Drops deform and acquire a pear-like shape under the action of the elastic stresses exerted by the actin comet. We solve this free boundary problem and calculate the drop shape taking into account the elasticity of the actin gel and the variation of the polymerization velocity with normal stress. The pressure balance on the liquid drop imposes a zero propulsive force if gradients in surface tension or internal pressure are not taken into account. Quantitative parameters of actin polymerization are obtained by fitting theory to experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Adaptation des fiches HT des Septa électrostatiques du SPS pour les Septa du PS en vue d’utiliser le câble EPR

Suite à de nombreux problèmes de destruction de câbles PB300b d’alimentation des Septa électrostatiques de l’accélérateur PS, il a été choisi de les remplacer par un câble de type EPR. En effet ces câbles haute tension PB300b devenus trop vieux et installés en milieu radioactif ne tiennent plus la tension nominale requise pour les Septa. De plus ceux-ci ne sont plus fabriqués dans l’industrie ce qui empêche tout échange avec un câble similaire. Le câble type EPR est basé sur une technologie plus récente et est aussi plus résistant à la radiation. Il a fait ses preuves dans le passé étant utilisé pour l’alimentation des Septa électrostatiques ZS situés sans le SPS. Étant donné que le câble PB300b 300 kV n’a pas les mêmes dimensions que le câble EPR, il a été nécessaire d’adapter une fiche compatible avec ce nouveau câble et la traversée utilisée sur les Septa électrostatiques du PS. L’ancien câble PB330b est utilisé avec de l’huile comme liquide diélectrique dans la traversée. Tenant compte, en cas de fuite de la traversée des risques de pollution du vide du septum, et de l’accélérateur PS, il a été décidé de remplacer l’huile comme liquide diélectrique par du Fluorinert non polluant si une fuite apparait dans l’enceinte à vide. L‘adaptation des fiches HT pour le câble EPR en tient compte également

Transverse instability of the antiproton beam in the Recycler Ring

The brightness of the antiproton beam in Fermilab's 8 GeV Recycler ring is limited by a transverse instability. This instability has occurred during the extraction process to the Tevatron for large stacks of antiprotons even with dampers in operation. This paper describes observed features of the instability, introduces the threshold phase density to characterize the beam stability, and finds the results to be in agreement with a resistive wall instability model. Effective exclusion of the longitudinal tails from Landau damping by decreasing the depth of the RF potential well is observed to lower the threshold density by up to a factor of two.Comment: 3 pp. Particle Accelerator, 24th Conference (PAC'11) 2011. 28 Mar - 1 Apr 2011. New York, US