Interaction of Macro-particles with LHC proton beam

We study the interaction of macro-particles residing inside the LHC vacuum chamber, e.g. soot or thermalinsulation fragments, with the circulating LHC proton beam. The coupled equations governing the motion and charging rate of metallic or dielectric micron-size macroparticles are solved numerically to determine the time spent by such “dust” particles close to the path of the beam as well as the resulting proton-beam losses, which could lead to a quench of superconducting magnets and, thereby, to a premature beam abort.