Using Dynamic Indicators for Probing Single-Particle Stability in Circular Accelerators

Computing the long-term behaviour of single-particle motion is a numerically intensive process, as it requires a large number of initial conditions to be tracked for a large number of turns to probe their stability. A possibility to reduce the computational resources required is to provide indicators that can efficiently detect chaotic motion, which are considered precursors to unbounded motion. These indicators could allow skilful selection of a set of initial conditions that could then be considered for long-term tracking. The chaotic nature of each orbit can be assessed by using fast-converging dynamic indicators, such as the Fast Lyapunov Indicator (FLI), the Reversibility Error Method (REM), and the Smallest and Global Alignment Index (SALI and GALI). These indicators are widely used in the field of Celestial Mechanics, but not so widespread in Accelerator Physics. They have been applied both to a modulated Hénon map, as a toy model, as well as to realistic lattices of the High-Luminosity LHC. In this paper, we discuss the results of detailed numerical studies, focusing on their performance in detecting chaotic motions.