Emittance reconstruction techniques in presence of space charge applied during the Linac4 beam commissioning

The classical emittance reconstruction technique, based on analytic calculations using transfer matrices and beam profile measurements, is reliable only if the emittance is conserved and the space charge forces are negligible in the beamline between the reconstruction and measurement points. The effects of space charge forces prevent this method from giving sound results up to a relativistic beta of about 0.5 and make it inapplicable to the Linac4 commissioning at 50 and 100 MeV. To compensate for this drawback we have developed a dedicated technique, the forward method, which extends the classical method by combining it with an iterative process of multiparticle tracking including space charge forces. The forward method, complemented with a tomographic reconstruction routine, has been applied to transverse and longitudinal emittance reconstruction during the Linac4 beam commissioning. In this paper we describe the reconstruction process and its application during Linac4 beam commissioning.