Collimator settings generation, management and verification

Different collimator settings are required throughout the LHC operational cycle following the evolution of key beam parameters like energy, orbit and β-functions. Beam-based alignment is used to determine the beam centers and beam sizes at the collimators at discrete times in the cycle, such as injection, flat-top and collisions. These parameters are then used to generate setting functions for the collimator positions and interlock limits. An overview of the settings generation, management and verification cycle is presented, and potential error scenarios in the settings generation are identified. Improvements foreseen for the post LS1 operation are discussed. The present collimator status monitoring system is reviewed with suggestions for improvement. The role of MAD-X online is discussed. Finally, the results and current status towards maximizing the potential of the embedded-BPM collimators that will be installed in 18 collimator slots during LS1 is presented, including the tested automatic alignment procedure, software interlocks and orbit monitoring.peer-reviewe

Conceptual design of hollow electron lenses for beam halo control in the Large Hadron Collider

Collimation with hollow electron beams is a technique for halo control in high-power hadron beams. It is based on an electron beam (possibly pulsed or modulated in intensity) guided by strong axial magnetic fields which overlaps with the circulating beam in a short section of the ring. The concept was tested experimentally at the Fermilab Tevatron collider using a hollow electron gun installed in one of the Tevatron electron lenses. Within the US LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) and the European FP7 HiLumi LHC Design Study, we are proposing a conceptual design for applying this technique to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. A prototype hollow electron gun for the LHC was built and tested. The expected performance of the hollow electron beam collimator was based on Tevatron experiments and on numerical tracking simulations. Halo removal rates and enhancements of halo diffusivity were estimated as a function of beam and lattice parameters. Proton beam core lifetimes and emittance growth rates were checked to ensure that undesired effects were suppressed. Hardware specifications were based on the Tevatron devices and on preliminary engineering integration studies in the LHC machine. Required resources and a possible timeline were also outlined, together with a brief discussion of alternative halo-removal schemes and of other possible uses of electron lenses to improve the performance of the LHC.Comment: 24 pages, 1 table, 10 figure

Classification of LHC beam loss spikes using support vector machines

The CERN Large Hadron Collider's (LHC) collimation system is the most complex beam cleaning system ever designed. It requires frequent setups to determine the beam centres and beam sizes at the 86 collimator positions. A collimator jaw is aligned to the beam halo when a clear beam loss spike is detected on a Beam Loss Monitor (BLM) downstream of the collimator. This paper presents a technique for identifying such clear loss spikes with the aid of Support Vector Machines. The training data was gathered from setups held during the first three months of the 2011 LHC run, and the model was tested with data from a machine development period.peer-reviewe

Beam diffusion measurements using collimator scans in the LHC

The time evolution of beam losses during a collimator scan provides information on halo diffusion and population. This is an essential input for machine performance characterization and for the design of collimation systems. Beam halo measurements in the CERN Large Hadron Collider were conducted through collimator scrapings in a dedicated beam study for the first time at 4 TeV. Four scans were performed with two collimators, in the vertical plane for beam 1 and horizontally for beam 2, before and after bringing the beams into collisions. Inward and outward steps were performed. A diffusion model was used to interpret the observed loss rate evolution in response to the collimator steps. With this technique, diffusion coefficients were estimated as a function of betatron oscillation amplitude from approximately 3 to 7 standard deviations of the transverse beam distribution. A comparison of halo diffusion and core emittance growth rates is also presented.peer-reviewe

End-of-fill study on collimator tight settings

In 2010 and 2011 the collimation system has been operated with relaxed settings, i.e. with retractions between different collimator families larger than the nominal settings that provide optimum cleaning. This configuration ensured a sufficient cleaning performance at 3.5 TeV while allowing larger tolerances on orbit control. Tighter collimator settings were proposed to push the cleaning performance and to allow larger orbit margins between TCDQ dump protection and tertiary collimators. With the same margins as with the relaxed settings, the β∗ could be reduced. After having verified with beam that the cleaning is improved as expected, the feasibility of tighter collimator settings must be addressed with high stored intensity. For this purpose, an end-of-fill study was proposed after a standard physics fill with 1380 bunches nominal bunches at 3.5 TeV, for a total stored energy of 95 MJ. During this test, primary and secondary collimators were moved to tight settings after about 8 hours of stable physics conditions in all experiments. This note summarises the operational procedure followed and the results of beam measurements during this study.peer-reviewe

Comparison of LHC collimator beam-based alignment to BPM-interpolated centers

The beam centers at the Large Hadron Collider collimators are determined by beam-basedalignment, where both jaws of a collimator are moved in separately until a loss spike isdetected on a Beam Loss Monitor downstream. Orbit drifts of more than a few hundredmicrometers cannot be tolerated, as they would compromise the performance of thecollimation system. Beam Position Monitors (BPMs) are installed at various locations aroundthe LHC ring, and a linear interpolation of the orbit can be obtained at the collimatorpositions. In this paper, the results obtained from beam-based alignment are compared withthe orbit interpolated from the BPM data throughout the 2011 and 2012 LHC proton runs.Louisiana State University (LSU),U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science,COSYLAB,DIMTEL,Muons, Inc.peer-reviewe

Final implementation, commissioning, and performance of embedded collimator beam position monitors in the Large Hadron Collider

During Long Shutdown 1, 18 Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collimators were replaced with a new design, in which beam position monitor (BPM) pick-up buttons are embedded in the collimator jaws. The BPMs provide a direct measurement of the beam orbit at the collimators, and therefore can be used to align the collimators more quickly than using the standard technique which relies on feedback from beam losses. Online orbit measurements also allow for reducing operational margins in the collimation hierarchy placed specifically to cater for unknown orbit drifts, therefore decreasing the β and increasing the luminosity reach of the LHC. In this paper, the results from the commissioning of the embedded BPMs in the LHC are presented. The data acquisition and control software architectures are reviewed. A comparison with the standard alignment technique is provided, together with a fill-to-fill analysis of the measured orbit in different machine modes, which will also be used to determine suitable beam interlocks for a tighter collimation hierarchy.peer-reviewe

Collimation dependent beam lifetime and loss rates in the LHC

The four primary collimators in each LHC beam define the smallest aperture. Particles with high betatron amplitudes or momentum offsets will therefore hit first a primary collimator. The instantaneous particle loss rate at primary collimators measured by precise beam loss monitors (BLM) is an important measure for the global lifetime of the beams and a major ingredient to identify collimation induced performance limitations in the LHC. These loss rates have been measured during a number of LHC fills, featuring both "good" fills with high luminosity and "bad" fills with beam instabilities. The beam lifetime at the collimators was then calculated from these data for different cases. The results are presented and interpreted within this paper.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion - Gobierno de Espana,Ayuntamiento de San Sebastian,Gobierno Vasco,Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa,San Sebastian Turismo - Convention Bureau.peer-reviewe