First measurement and correction of nonlinear errors in the experimental insertions of the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Nonlinear magnetic errors in low-β insertions can contribute significantly to detuning with amplitude, linear and nonlinear chromaticity, and lead to degradation of dynamic aperture and beam lifetime. As such, the correction of nonlinear errors in the experimental insertions of colliders can be of critical significance for successful operation. This is expected to be of particular relevance to the LHC’s second run and its high luminosity upgrade, as well as to future colliders such as the Future Circular Collider. Current correction strategies envisioned for these colliders assume it will be possible to calculate optimized local corrections through the insertions, using a magnetic model of the errors. This paper shows however, that reliance purely upon magnetic measurements of the nonlinear errors of insertion elements is insufficient to guarantee a good correction quality in the relevant low-β* regime. It is possible to perform beam-based examination of nonlinear magnetic errors via the feed-down to readily observed beam properties upon application of closed orbit bumps, and methods based upon feed-down to tune have been utilized at RHIC, SIS18, and SPS. This paper demonstrates the extension of such methodology to include direct observation of feed-down to linear coupling in the LHC. It is further shown that such beam-based studies can be used to complement magnetic measurements performed during LHC construction, in order to validate and refine the magnetic model of the collider. Results from first attempts of the measurement and correction of nonlinear errors in the LHC experimental insertions are presented. Several discrepancies of beam-based studies with respect to the LHC magnetic model are reported.