Experimental Simulations of Beam Propagation over Large Distances
in a Compact Linear Paul Trap
Authors: Erik P. Gilson, Moses Chung, Ronald C. Davidson, Mikhail Dorf, Philip C. Efthimion, and Richard Majeski
Abstract:
The Paul Trap Simulator Experiment (PTSX) is a compact laboratory experiment that places the physicist in the frame of reference of a long, charged-particle bunch coasting through a kilometers-long magnetic alternating-gradient (AG) transport system. The transverse dynamics of particles in both systems are described by similar equations, including nonlinear space-charge effects. The time-dependent voltages applied to the PTSX quadrupole electrodes are equivalent to the axially oscillating magnetic fields applied in the AG system. Experiments concerning the quiescent propagation of intense beams over large distances can then be performed in a compact and flexible facility. An understanding and characterization of the conditions required for quiescent beam transport, minimum halo particle generation, and precise beam compression and manipulation techniques, are essential, as accelerators and transport systems demand that ever-increasing amounts of space charge be transported. Application areas include ion-beam-driven high energy density physics, high energy and nuclear physics accelerator systems, etc.