Beam size blow-up and current loss in the Fermilab main ring during storage

Abstract

Observations at Fermilab during the storage mode of operation show characteristic forms of transverse beam size growth and current loss with time. There are three obvious mechanisms which can produce such blowup. The gas pressure is a source for immediate beam loss by direct nuclear scattering. Protons can also multiple Coulomb scatter off the orbiting electrons of the gas atoms causing the transverse beam size to increase with time, t. This effect is therefore also proportional to the gas pressure. A third mechanism not related to the gas pressure is beam growth due to multiple crossing of betatron resonances arising from the synchrotron oscillations of the stored bunches. This simulates a random walk and causes the transverse beam size to grow with ..sqrt..t. An attempt is made to describe the observations with direct nuclear scattering, multiple coulomb scattering and multiple resonance crossing. In addition to the loss rate from direct nuclear scattering, the presence of betatron resonances also contribute to particle loss. In fact this latter effect becomes dominant after the beam size reaches a critical value. This critical size is referred to as the resonance aperture. It is the size at which ''fast'' resonance crossing is no longer valid.more » The stopband width becomes so large (due both to emittance growth as well as the increase in magnetic field distortions) that particles are locked into the resonance and are extracted to the physical aperture. The model is described in a phenomenological way, and the coefficients involved are estimated. Theoretical curves for transverse beam growth and loss rate are plotted and compared with some measured values. Finally, some general comments are given.« less