Chromaticity measurements at HERA-P using the head-tail technique with chirp excitation

Experiments have been performed in the HERA proton ring (HERA-p) to test a quasi non-destructive method of chromaticity measurements for protons. The method is based on the detection of the head-tail phase shift of coherend betatron oscillations using a broadband beam position pickup and a commercial “fast-frame” oscilloscope. Previous experiments have relied on a single kick for transverse excitation, whereas the results presented here were carried out using swept frequency “chirp” excitation. The tests proved to be successful, and the method seems to be a good candidate for chromaticity measurement in new large hadron accelerators, such as LHC.