Causes and solutions for Emittance Blow-up during the LHC cycle

Emittance measurements during the run 2011 indicated a blow-up of 20 % to 30 % from LHC injection to collisions. At the LHC design stage the total allowed emittance increase through the cycle was set to 7 %. One of the goals of the 2012 LHC run is therefore to understand and counteract the blow-up. Emittance growth measurements through the LHC cycle along with correlations with possible sources are presented in this paper. Solutions are proposed where possible. The emittance determination accuracy relies on the knowledge of the beam optics and on the present performance of the transverse profile monitors. Possible improvements of the diagnostics and of the related data analysis are also discussed.