Machine studies during beam commissioning of the SPS-to-LHC transfer lines

Through May to September 2008, further beam commissioning of the SPS-to-LHC transfer lines was performed. For the first time, optics and dispersion measurements were also taken in the last part of the lines, and into the LHC. Extensive trajectory and optics studies were conducted, in parallel with hardware checks. In particular dispersion measurements and their comparison with the beam line model were analysed in detail and led to propose the addition of a dispersion-free steering algorithm in the existing trajectory correction program. Its effectiveness was simulated and is briefly discussed.