arXiv subjects

Jay Benesch

Publications and source records attributed to Jay Benesch.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Conceptual Design of Highly-Constrained Splitters for the FFA@CEBAF Energy Upgrade Study

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab is investigating a significant energy upgrade utilizing Fixed-Field Alternating-gradient (FFA) recirculating arcs. This upgrade requires the design of complex horizontal beam splitters to manage up to six concurrent beam passes. This paper presents the conceptual design of these splitters, which are subject to severe physical constraints imposed by the existing accelerator tunnel and multifaceted beam dynamics requirements for matching into the permanent-magnet FFA arcs. The design methodology, centered on multi-pass simulations in the Bmad toolkit, is detailed from the initial geometric layout through the advanced optics matching. Key results include a robust geometric arrangement that fits within the spatial boundaries and the development of multiple, flexible optics matching solutions. Furthermore, the design integrates a viable scheme for extracting high-energy beams for the experimental halls, a critical operational requirement. This work establishes a comprehensive and viable conceptual design, forming a baseline for future engineering and performance optimization studies.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2025

A Beamdump Facility at Jefferson Lab

This White Paper is exploring the potential of intense secondary muon, neutrino, and (hypothetical) light dark matter beams produced in interactions of high-intensity electron beams with beam dumps. Light dark matter searches with the approved Beam Dump eXperiment (BDX) are driving the realization of a new underground vault at Jefferson Lab that could be extended to a Beamdump Facility with minimal additional installations. The paper summarizes contributions and discussions from the International Workshop on Secondary Beams at Jefferson Lab (BDX & Beyond). Several possible muon physics applications and neutrino detector technologies for Jefferson Lab are highlighted. The potential of a secondary neutron beam will be addressed in a future edition.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2024

Harnessing the Power of Gradient-Based Simulations for Multi-Objective Optimization in Particle Accelerators

Particle accelerator operation requires simultaneous optimization of multiple objectives. Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) is particularly challenging due to trade-offs between the objectives. Evolutionary algorithms, such as genetic algorithm (GA), have been leveraged for many optimization problems, however, they do not apply to complex control problems by design. This paper demonstrates the power of differentiability for solving MOO problems using a Deep Differentiable Reinforcement Learning (DDRL) algorithm in particle accelerators. We compare DDRL algorithm with Model Free Reinforcement Learning (MFRL), GA and Bayesian Optimization (BO) for simultaneous optimization of heat load and trip rates in the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). The underlying problem enforces strict constraints on both individual states and actions as well as cumulative (global) constraint for energy requirements of the beam. A physics-based surrogate model based on real data is developed. This surrogate model is differentiable and allows back-propagation of gradients. The results are evaluated in the form of a Pareto-front for two objectives. We show that the DDRL outperforms MFRL, BO, and GA on high dimensional problems.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2023

A Simple Modification of DC Current Septa to Reduce Current Density by Half

Circular accelerators typically have one injection and one extraction septum magnet. CEBAF is a recircuating electron linac which has a total of 27 DC current septa and one Lambertson. Current densities range from 28-48 A/mm 2 . Current sheet widths are 5-24 mm, turns count 5-24 and lengths 1000-3000 mm. A design exercise to increase the beam energy to 22 GeV is underway. Since doubling the current density in copper is not practical in the CEBAF layout a conductively cooled superconducting septum concept was examined. Putting the current sheet and its cryostat between the poles as in a standard current sheet septum would have required 90 mm pole gap. The poles were brought to 40 mm separation and the steel notched for the 90 mm cryostat. The field in the bore increased while the field outside the current sheet remained close to zero as in a conventional septum. Required current density dropped enough that a copper coil became possible. Two examples will be shown, the one discussed above and the modification of the 3000 mm septum with 0.92 T bore field.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2022

The Solenoidal Large Intensity Device (SoLID) for JLab 12 GeV

The Solenoidal Large Intensity Device (SoLID) is a new experimental apparatus planned for Hall A at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). SoLID will combine large angular and momentum acceptance with the capability to handle very high data rates at high luminosity. With a slate of approved high-impact physics experiments, SoLID will push JLab to a new limit at the QCD intensity frontier that will exploit the full potential of its 12 GeV electron beam. In this paper, we present an overview of the rich physics program that can be realized with SoLID, which encompasses the tomography of the nucleon in 3-D momentum space from Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS), expanding the phase space in the search for new physics and novel hadronic effects in parity-violating DIS (PVDIS), a precision measurement of $J/\psi$ production at threshold that probes the gluon field and its contribution to the proton mass, tomography of the nucleon in combined coordinate and momentum space with deep exclusive reactions, and more. To meet the challenging requirements, the design of SoLID described here takes full advantage of recent progress in detector, data acquisition and computing technologies. In addition, we outline potential experiments beyond the currently approved program and discuss the physics that could be explored should upgrades of CEBAF become a reality in the future.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

Redesigning the Jefferson Lab Hall A Beam Line for High Precision Parity Experiments

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) was built with a thermionic electron source and the three original experimental hall lines reflected this. A few years after beam delivery began a parity violation experiment was approved and two polarimeters were installed in the Hall A beam line without consultation with the accelerator physics group. The beam raster system was placed after the new Compton polarimeter, before one accelerator quadrupole and four quadrupoles in the new Moller polarimeter. It was very difficult to meet experimental requirements on envelope functions and raster shape with this arrangement so a member of the accelerator physics group had a sixth quadrupole installed downstream of the Moller polarimeter. All of the parity experiments in Hall A have been run with this still-unsatisfactory configuration. The MOLLER experiment is predicated on achieving a 2% error on a 32 ppb asymmetry. Beam line changes are required to meet the systematic error budget. This paper documents the existing beam line, an interim change which can be accomplished during a annual maintenance down, and the final configuration for MOLLER and subsequent experiments.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2016

Dark Sectors 2016 Workshop: Community Report

This report, based on the Dark Sectors workshop at SLAC in April 2016, summarizes the scientific importance of searches for dark sector dark matter and forces at masses beneath the weak-scale, the status of this broad international field, the important milestones motivating future exploration, and promising experimental opportunities to reach these milestones over the next 5-10 years.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

A longitudinal study of field emission in CEBAF's SRF cavities 1995-2015

Field emission is one of the key issues in superconducting RF. When present, it limits operating gradient directly or via induced heat load at 2K. In order to minimize particulate contamination of and thus field emission in the CEBAF SRF cavities during assembly, a ceramic RF window was placed very close to the accelerating cavity proper. As an unintended consequence of this, it has been possible to monitor and model field emission in the CEBAF cavities since in-tunnel operation began. The ceramic is charged by field emission to a stable voltage and then discharges. This phenomenon had to be studied statistically to minimize the number of interruptions to accelerator operation for nuclear physics. We report here the results of our twenty year study of this and related phenomena.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2015

Solid core dipoles and switching power supplies: lower cost light sources?

As a result of improvements in power semiconductors, moderate frequency switching supplies can now provide the hundreds of amps typically required by accelerators with zero-to-peak noise in the kHz region ~0.06% in current or voltage mode. Modeling was undertaken using a finite electromagnetic program to determine if eddy currents induced in the solid steel of CEBAF magnets and small supplemental additions would bring the error fields down to the 5ppm level needed for beam quality. The expected maximum field of the magnet under consideration is 0.85T and the DC current required to produce that field is used in the calculations. An additional 0.1% current ripple is added to the DC current at discrete frequencies 360 Hz, 720 Hz or 7200 Hz. Over the region of the pole within 0.5% of the central integrated BdL the resulting AC field changes can be reduced to less than 1% of the 0.1% input ripple for all frequencies, and a sixth of that at 7200 Hz. Doubling the current, providing 1.5T central field, yielded the same fractional reduction in ripple at the beam for the cases checked. For light sources with aluminum vacuum vessels and full energy linac injection, the combination of solid core dipoles and switching power supplies may result in significant cost savings.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2014

Primary Beam Steering Due to Field Leakage from Superconducting SHMS Magnets

Simulations of the magnetic fields from the Super High Momentum Spectrometer in Hall C at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility show significant field leakage into the region of the primary beam line between the target and the beam dump. Without mitigation, these remnant fields will steer the unscattered beam enough to limit beam operations at small scattering angles. Presented here are magnetic field simulations of the spectrometer magnets and a solution using optimal placement of a minimal amount of shielding iron around the beam line.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2007

Field Emission in CEBAF's Superconducting RF Cavities and Implications for Future Accelerators

Field emission is one of the key issues in superconducting RF for particle accelerators. When present, it limits operating gradient directly or via induced heat load at 2K. In order to minimize particulate contamination of and thus field emission in the CEBAF SRF cavities during assembly, a cold ceramic RF window was placed very close to the accelerating cavity proper. As an unintended consequence of this, the window is charged by field-emitted electrons, making it possible to monitor and model field emission in the CEBAF cavities since in-tunnel operation began. From January 30, 1995, through February 10, 2003, there were 64 instances of spontaneous onset or change in cavity field emission with a drop in usable gradient averaging 1.4 (sigma 0.8) MV/m at each event. Fractional loss averaged 0.18 (sigma 0.12) of pre-event gradient. This event count corresponds to 2.4 events per century per cavity, or 8 per year in CEBAF. It is hypothesized that changes in field emission are due to adsorbed gas accumulation. The possible implications of this and other observations for the International Linear Collider (ILC) and other future accelerators will be discussed.

physics.acc-ph↗