Experimental Characterisation of a Fast Instability Linked to Losses in the 16L2 Cryogenic Half-Cell in the CERN LHC

The operation during the summer months of the 2017 Run of the CERN LHC was plagued with fast beam losses that repeatedly occurred in the 16th arc half-cell at the left of IP2 as well as in the collimation insertion, leading to unwanted beam dumps. Transverse coherent oscillations were observed during this fast process. We detail here the experimental observations of coherent motion that al-lowed shedding light upon parts of the mechanism and identify the potential mitigations that were successfully implemented in the second half of the Run.