GSI, Darmstadt
ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
IAP, Frankfurt am Main
CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette
The GSI Univeral Linear Accelerator UNILAC can accelerate all ion species from protons to uranium. Hence its DTL section is equipped with e.m. quadupoles allowing for a wide range of field strength along the section. During the last years various campaigns on the quality of high current beams at the DTL exit as function of the applied transverse focusing have been performed. Measurements were compared with up to four different high intensity beam dynamics codes. Those comparisons triggered significant improvement of the final beam quality. The codes were used to prepare an ambitious and successful beam experiment on the first observation of a space charge driven octupolar resonance in a linear accelerator.
GSI, Darmstadt
ITEP, Moscow
IAP, Frankfurt am Main
During the last year several numerical investigations have been started at GSI in order to improve the performance of the linear accelerator facility. The main activities regard the upgrade of the high current UNILAC accelerator including the severe upgrade of the HSI injector, the HITRAP decelerator and, in the frame of the future FAIR project, the development of the new dedicated proton linac. End to end beam dynamics simulations are a powerful tool concerning the machine design, commissioning and optimization. Particle distributions, generated from beam emittance measurements, are transferred through the whole chain of the accelerating structures and beam transport lines. Detailed calculations of the space charge effects as well as external and measured mapping of the structures electromagnetic fields are used to provide the most reliable results. The paper presents a general overview of all activities including a comparison with experimental results.