Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Bai, M.
We are performing several experiments during the RHIC ramp to better understand the impact of orbit errors on the polarization at our current working point. These will be conducted by exciting specified orbit harmonics during the final two large intrinsic resonance crossing in RHIC during the 250 GeV polarized proton ramp. The resultant polarization response will then be measured.
To reduce transverse emittance growth rates from intrabeam scattering in the RHIC heavy ion runs, a lattice with an increased phase advance in the arc FODO cells was adopted in 2008-2011. During these runs, a large beam loss due to limited off-momentum dynamic aperture was observed during longitudinal RF re-bucketing and with transverse cooling. Based on the beam loss observations in the previous ion runs and the calculated off-momentum apertures, we decided to adopt the lattice used before 2008 for the 2012 U-U and Cu-Au runs. The observed beam decay and the measured momentum aperture in the 2012 U-U run are presented.
In this article, we will review the techniques to measure the off-momentum {beta}-beat and the correction algorithms with the chromatic arc sextupoles in RHIC. We will focus on the measurement and correction of the off-momentum {beta}*-beat at the interaction points. The off-momentum {beta}* is measured with the quadrupole strength change and a high resolution phase lock loop tune meter. The results of off-momentum {beta}* correction performed in a dedicated beam experiment in the 2012 RHIC 250 GeV polarized proton run are presented.
The five AC dipole RHIC spin flipper design in the RHIC Blue ring was first tested during the RHIC 2012 polarized proton operation. The advantage of this design is to eliminate the vertical coherent betatron oscillations outside the spin flipper. The closure of each ac dipole vertical bump was measured with orbital response as well as spin. The effect of the rotating field on the spin motion by the spin flipper was also confirmed by measuring the suppressed resonance at Q{sub s} = 1 - Q{sub osc}.
The further improvement of RHIC luminosity performance requires more precise understanding of the RHIC modeling. Hence, it is necessary to minimize the beta-beat, deviation of measured beta function from the calculated beta functions based on an model. The correction of betabeat also opens up the possibility of exploring operating RHIC polarized protons at a working point near integer, a prefered choice for both luminosity as well as beam polarization. The segment-by-segment technique for reducing beta-beat demonstrated in the LHC operation for reducing the beta-beat was first tested in RHIC during its polarized proton operation in 2011. It was then fully implemented during the RHIC polarized proton operation in 2012. This paper reports the commissioning results. Future plan is also presented.
As the world's first high energy polarized proton collider, RHIC has made significant progresses in measuring the proton spin structure in the past decade. In order to have better understanding of the contribution of up quarks and down quarks to the proton spin structure, collisions of high energy polarized neutron beams are required. Polarized He-3 beams offer an effectiveway to provide polarized neutron beams. In this paper, we present studies of accelerating polarized He-3 in RHIC with the current dual snake configuration. Possibilities of adding two more pairs of snakes for accelerating polarized He-3 were explored. Results of six snake configuration in RHIC are also reported in the paper.
The high energy (T = 250 GeV) polarized proton beam experiments performed in RHIC, require high polarization of the beam. In order to preserve the polarization of the proton beam, during the acceleration in the AGS, which is the pre-injector to RHIC, we have installed in AGS two partial helical magnets which minimize the loss of the beam polarization caused by the various intrinsic spin resonances occurring during the proton acceleration. The minimization of the polarization loss during the acceleration cycle, requires that the vertical tune of the AGS is between the values of 8.97 and 8.985 during the acceleration. With the AGS constrained to run at near integer tune {approx}8.980, the perturbations to the beam caused by the partial helical magnets are large and also result in large beta and dispersion waves. To mitigate the adverse effect of the partial helices on the optics of the AGS, we have installed in specified straight sections of the AGS compensation quads and we have also generated a beam bump at the location of the cold partial helix. In this paper we present the beam optics of the AGS which ameliorates the adverse effect of the two partial helices on the beam optics.
Typical tracking simulations regarding the transmission of the polarization in the proton-proton collider RHIC are discussed. They participate in general studies aimed at understanding and improving polarization performances during polarized proton-proton runs.
During Run-10, RHIC operated at several different Au-Au collision energies, as requested mainly by the STAR collaboration in a quest to search for the critical point in the QGP phase diagram. The center-of-mass energies {radical}s{sub NN} are listed in Table 1, together with the respective start and end dates and the duration of the respective run at each energy. While STAR defines 'low energy' as anything below {radical}s{sub NN} = 39 GeV, we focus in the scope of this paper on energies below the regular RHIC injection energy of {radical}s{sub NN} {approx} 20 GeV, since this energy regime is particularly challenging for stable RHIC operations. Figures 1 and 2 show the evolution of beam intensity and luminosity during the course of the {radical}s{sub NN} = 7.7 GeV and 11.5 GeV run. In the following sections we will recapitulate the modifications during the run that led to significant performance improvements, and summarize what was learned at the various energies for possible application in future runs.
Following the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 (Run-10) Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) Au+Au run, RHIC experiment upgrades sought to improve detector capabilities. In turn, accelerator improvements were made to improve the luminosity available to the experiments for this run (Run-11). These improvements included: a redesign of the stochastic cooling systems for improved reliability; a relocation of 'common' RF cavities to alleviate intensity limits due to beam loading; and an improved usage of feedback systems to control orbit, tune and coupling during energy ramps as well as while colliding at top energy. We present an overview of changes to the Collider and review the performance of the collider with respect to instantaneous and integrated luminosity goals. At the conclusion of the FY 2011 polarized proton run, preparations for heavy ion run proceeded on April 18, with Au+Au collisions continuing through June 28. Our standard operations at 100 GeV/nucleon beam energy was bracketed by two shorter periods of collisions at lower energies (9.8 and 13.5 GeV/nucleon), continuing a previously established program of low and medium energy runs. Table 1 summarizes our history of heavy ion operations at RHIC.
Several E. coli endogenous, cytoplasmic proteins that are known clients of the chaperonin GroEL were overexpressed to examine the fate of accumulated unfolded polypeptides. Substantial fractions of about half of the proteins formed insoluble aggregates, consistent with the hypothesis that these proteins were produced at rates or in amounts that exceeded the protein-folding capacity of GroEL. In addition, large fractions of three overexpressed GroEL client proteins were localized in an extra-cytoplasmic, osmotically-sensitive compartment, suggesting they had initially accumulated in the cytoplasm as soluble unfolded polypeptides and thus were able to access a protein export pathway. Consistent with this model, an intrinsically unfoldable, hydrophilic, non-secretory polypeptide was quantitatively exported from the E. coli cytoplasm into an osmotically-sensitive compartment. Our results support the conclusion that a soluble, unfolded conformation alone may be sufficient to direct non-secretory polypeptides into a protein export pathway for signal peptide-independent translocation across the inner membrane, and that export rather than degradation by cytoplasmic proteases is the preferred fate for newly-synthesized, soluble, unfolded polypeptides that accumulate in the cytoplasm. The stable folded conformation of exported GroEL client proteins further suggests that the requirement for GroEL may be conditional on protein folding in the molecularly-crowded environment of the cytoplasm.
Beam experiments have been performed in RHIC to determine some key parameters of the RHIC electron lenses, and to test the capability of verifying lattice modifications by beam measurements. We report the status and recent results of these experiments. The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) consists of two superconducting storage rings that intersect at six locations around its circumference. Beams collide in interaction points (IPs) 6 and 8, which are equipped with the detectors STAR and PHENIX, respectively (Fig. 1). With the polarized proton working point constrained between 2/3 and 7/10 to achieve good luminosity lifetime and maintain polarization, the proton bunch intensity is limited to 2 {center_dot} 10{sup 11} protons per bunch by the resulting beam-beam tuneshift. To overcome this limitation, installation of an electron lens in IP 10 is foreseen to partially compensate the beam-beam effect and reduce the beam-beam tuneshift parameter. As part of this project, beam experiments are being performed at RHIC to determine key parameters of the electron lens as well as to verify lattice modifications.
As part of the search for a phase transition or critical point on the QCD phase diagram, an energy scan including 5 different energy settings was performed during the 2010 RHIC heavy ion run. While the top beam energy for heavy ions is at 100 GeV/n and the lowest achieved energy setpoint was significantly below RHICs injection energy of approximately 10 GeV/n, we also provided beams for data taking in a medium energy range above injection energy and below top beam energy. This paper reviews RHIC experience and challenges for RHIC medium energy operations that produced full experimental data sets at beam energies of 31.2 GeV/n and 19.5 GeV/n. The medium energy AuAu run covered two beam energies, both above the RHIC injection energy of 9.8 GeV but well below the standard store energy of 100 GeV (see table 1). The low energy and full energy runs with heavy ions in FY10 are summarized in [1] and [2]. Stochastic Cooling ([3]) was only used for 100 GeV beams and not used in the medium energy run. The efficiency of the transition from 100 GeV operation to 31.2 GeV and then to 19.5 GeV was remarkable. Setup took 32 h and 19 h respectively for the two energy settings. The time in store, defined to be the percentage of time RHIC provides beams in physics conditions versus calendar time, was approximately 52% for the entire FY10 heavy ion run. In both medium energy runs it was well above this average, 68% for 31.5 GeV and 82% for 19.5 GeV. For both energies RHIC was filled with 111 bunches with 1.2 10{sup 9} and 1.3 10{sup 9} ions per bunch respectively.
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) operation as the polarized proton collider presents unique challenges since both luminosity(L) and spin polarization(P) are important. With longitudinally polarized beams at the experiments, the figure of merit is LP{sup 4}. A lot of upgrades and modifications have been made since last polarized proton operation. A 9 MHz rf system is installed to improve longitudinal match at injection and to increase luminosity. The beam dump was upgraded to increase bunch intensity. A vertical survey of RHIC was performed before the run to get better magnet alignment. The orbit control is also improved this year. Additional efforts are put in to improve source polarization and AGS polarization transfer efficiency. To preserve polarization on the ramp, a new working point is chosen such that the vertical tune is near a third order resonance. The overview of the changes and the operation results are presented in this paper. Siberian snakes are essential tools to preserve polarization when accelerating polarized beams to higher energy. At the same time, the higher order resonances still can cause polarization loss. As seen in RHIC, the betatron tune has to be carefully set and maintained on the ramp and during the store to avoid polarization loss. In addition, the orbit control is also critical to preserve polarization. The higher polarization during this run comes from several improvements over last run. First we have a much better orbit on the ramp. The orbit feedback brings down the vertical rms orbit error to 0.1mm, much better than the 0.5mm last run. With correct BPM offset and vertical realignment, this rms orbit error is indeed small. Second, the jump quads in the AGS improved input polarization for RHIC. Third, the vertical tune was pushed further away from 7/10 snake resonance. The tune feedback maintained the tune at the desired value through the ramp. To calibrate the analyzing power of RHIC polarimeters at any energy above injection, the polarized hydrogen jet target runs for every fill with both beams. Based on the known analyzing power, there is very little polarization loss between injection and 100 GeV. An alternative way is to measure the asymmetry at 100 GeV followed by ramping up to 250 GeV and back down to 100 GeV and then to measure the asymmetry again at 100 GeV. If the asymmetry after the down ramp is similar to the measurement before the up ramp, polarization was also preserved during the ramp to 250 GeV. The analyzing power at storage energy can then be extracted from the asymmetries measured at 100 GeV and 250 GeV. The tune and orbit feedbacks are essential for the down ramp to be possible. The polarized proton operation is still going on. We will push bunch intensity higher until reaching the beam-beam limit. The even higher intensity will have to wait for the electron lenses to compensate the beam-beam effect. To understand the details of spin dynamics in RHIC with two snakes, spin simulation with the real magnet fields have been developed recently. The study will provide guidance for possible polarization loss schemes. Further polarization gain will requires a polarized source upgrade; more careful setup jump quads in the AGS to get full benefit; and control emittance in the whole accelerator chain.
The RHIC Spin Flipper's five high-Q AC dipoles which are driven by a swept frequency waveform require precise control of phase and amplitude during the sweep. This control is achieved using FPGA based feedback controllers. Multiple feedback loops are used to and dynamically tune the magnets. The current implementation and results will be presented. Work on a new spin flipper for RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) incorporating multiple dynamically tuned high-Q AC-dipoles has been developed for RHIC spin-physics experiments. A spin flipper is needed to cancel systematic errors by reversing the spin direction of the two colliding beams multiple times during a store. The spin flipper system consists of four DC-dipole magnets (spin rotators) and five AC-dipole magnets. Multiple AC-dipoles are needed to localize the driven coherent betatron oscillation inside the spin flipper. Operationally the AC-dipoles form two swept frequency bumps that minimize the effect of the AC-dipole dipoles outside of the spin flipper. Both AC bumps operate at the same frequency, but are phase shifted from each other. The AC-dipoles therefore require precise control over amplitude and phase making the implementation of the AC-dipole controller the central challenge.
We present the design of a future high-energy high-luminosity electron-hadron collider at RHIC called eRHIC. We plan on adding 20 (potentially 30) GeV energy recovery linacs to accelerate and to collide polarized and unpolarized electrons with hadrons in RHIC. The center-of-mass energy of eRHIC will range from 30 to 200 GeV. The luminosity exceeding 10{sup 34} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} can be achieved in eRHIC using the low-beta interaction region with a 10 mrad crab crossing. We report on the progress of important eRHIC R&D such as the high-current polarized electron source, the coherent electron cooling, ERL test facility and the compact magnets for recirculation passes. A natural staging scenario of step-by-step increases of the electron beam energy by building-up of eRHIC's SRF linacs is presented.
The low-energy physics program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), motivated by a search for the QCD phase transition critical point, requires operation at low energies. At these energies, large nonlinear magnetic field errors and large beam sizes produce low beam lifetimes. A variety of beam dynamics effects such as Intrabeam Scattering (IBS), space charge and beam-beam forces also contribute. All these effects are important to understand beam lifetime limitations in RHIC at low energies. During the low-energy RHIC physics run in May-June 2010 at beam {gamma} = 6.1 and {gamma} = 4.1, gold beam lifetimes were measured for various values of space-charge tune shifts, transverse acceptance limitation by collimators, synchrotron tunes and RF voltage. This paper summarizes our observations and initial findings.