Observations of beam losses due to bound-free pair production in a heavy-ion collider

We report the first observations of beam losses due to bound-free pair production at the interaction point of a heavy-ion collider. This process is expected to be a major luminosity limit for the CERN Large Hadron Collider when it operates with (208)Pb(82+) ions because the localized energy deposition by the lost ions may quench superconducting magnet coils. Measurements were performed at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) during operation with 100 GeV/nucleon (63)Cu(29+) ions. At RHIC, the rate, energy and magnetic field are low enough so that magnet quenching is not an issue. The hadronic showers produced when the single-electron ions struck the RHIC beam pipe were observed using an array of photodiodes. The measurement confirms the order of magnitude of the theoretical cross section previously calculated by others.     

Overcoming depolarizing resonances with dual helical partial Siberian snakes

Acceleration of polarized protons in the energy range of 5 to 25 GeV is challenging. In a medium energy accelerator, the depolarizing spin resonances are strong enough to cause significant polarization loss but full Siberian snakes cause intolerably large orbit excursions and are also not feasible since straight sections usually are too short. Recently, two helical partial Siberian snakes with double pitch design have been installed in the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS). With a careful setup of optics at injection and along the energy ramp, this combination can eliminate the intrinsic and imperfection depolarizing resonances otherwise encountered during acceleration to maintain a high intensity polarized beam in medium energy synchrotrons. The observation of partial snake resonances of higher than second order will also be described.     

Polarized proton collisions at 205 GeV at RHIC

The Brookhaven Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has been providing collisions of polarized protons at a beam energy of 100 GeV since 2001. Equipped with two full Siberian snakes in each ring, polarization is preserved during acceleration from injection to 100 GeV. However, the intrinsic spin resonances beyond 100 GeV are about a factor of 2 stronger than those below 100 GeV making it important to examine the impact of these strong intrinsic spin resonances on polarization survival and the tolerance for vertical orbit distortions. Polarized protons were first accelerated to the record energy of 205 GeV in RHIC with a significant polarization measured at top energy in 2005. This Letter presents the results and discusses the sensitivity of the polarization survival to orbit distortions.     

Observation of higher-order snake resonances in polarized proton acceleration in RHIC

Higher-order and coupled snake resonances were observed during the 2002 polarized proton run in RHIC. Strong depolarization was observed when the fractional part of the vertical betatron tune approached 1/4, and when the fractional part of the horizontal tune approached 3/14. Because of the closed orbit error, each snake resonance splits into two. From the width of the observed snake resonances, we can derive the strength of the imperfection spin resonance. Our results appear consistent with the measured closed orbit error.