Electron Cooling Simulation Benchmarking

Electron coolers are commonly used in storage rings to reduce the phase space volume of heavy particles such as protons, antiprotons and ions. Their effect depends on the Coulomb interactions between the circulating beam and the cold electrons at small relative velocities. The cooling process can be modelled through different approaches and the behaviour of the cooling force, can be described by various formulas, which include different parameters. The aim of the present study is to compare the accuracy of the cooling simulations performed by two distinct beam-tracking codes: Betacool and RF-Track. Being based on different models and formulas, the two simulation tools require different parameters in order to realistically describe electron cooling. In this contribution, the impact of these parameters is discussed, and simulation predictions are compared with experimental data from LEIR (Low Energy Ion Ring) at CERN and ESR (Experimentier-Speicher-Ring) at GSI. Fur-thermore, the friction force is calculated for the new antimatter storage ring ELENA (Extra Low Energy Anti-proton) at CERN.