Modeling and simulation of LHC beam-based collimator setup

In the 2011 Large Hadron Collider run, collimators were aligned for proton and heavy ion beams using a semiautomatic setup algorithm. The algorithm provided a reduction in the beam time required for setup, an elimination of beam dumps during setup and better reproducibility with respect to manual alignment. A collimator setup simulator was developed based on a Gaussian model of the beam distribution as well as a parametric model of the beam losses. A time-varying beam loss signal can be simulated for a given collimator movement into the beam. The simulation results and comparison to measurement data obtained during collimator setups and dedicated fills for beam halo scraping are presented. The simulator will then be used to develop a fully automatic collimator alignment algorithm.