Particle Shower Simulations and Loss Measurements in the LHC Magnet Interconnection Regions

Particle losses in the LHC arcs are mainly expected in the interconnection region between a dipole and quadrupole magnet. The maximal beam size, the maximal orbit excursion and aperture changes cause the enhancement of losses at this location. Extensive Geant4 simulations have been performed to characterise this particular region to establish beam abort settings for the beam loss monitors in these areas. Data from first LHC beam loss measurements have been used to check and determine the most likely proton impact locations. This input has been used to optimise the simulations used for the definition of thresholds settings. The accuracy of these settings is investigated by comparing the simulations with actual loss measurements.