Transverse Emittance Preservation Studies for the CERN PS Booster Upgrade

As part of the LHC Injectors Upgrade Project, the CERN PS Booster will undergo an ambitious upgrade program which includes the increase of injection energy from 50 MeV to 160 MeV and the implementation of an H^{−} charge-exchange injection from the new Linac4. Compared to rings characterized by similar space-charge tune spreads (about 0.5 at low energy), the peculiarity of the PSB is the small transverse emittance that needs to be preserved in order to provide high brightness beams to the LHC. We here try to identify what is the minimum emittance that can be achieved for a given intensity, via measurements, scaling estimates and simulation studies. The latest are based on our best knowledge of the optics model and take into account known perturbations such as the one induced by the short and fast ramping chicane injection magnets.