High-Fidelity Modulator Simulations of Coherent Electron Cooling Systems

The electron cooler for the proposed luminosity upgrade of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) represents a significant design challenge due to the high energy of the ion beam. If the cooling calculations are off by a factor of two, the cooling may not be sufficient to combat emittance growth from intra-beam scattering and other effects. An exciting concept known as ¿coherent¿ electron cooling (CEC) combines the best features of electron cooling and stochastic cooling, via free-electron laser (FEL) technology, to offer the possibility of cooling high-energy hadron beams with order-of-magnitude shorter cooling times. However, the CEC concept is unproven and requires a detailed simulation of its key components. The key physics to be simulated is the coherent aspect of the electron density and velocity wake created by each ion. In this project, the parallel VORPAL framework, which has successfully simulated the underlying physics of conventional electron coolers, will be used to test the CEC concept. Phase I will focus on the testing and comparison of algorithms. The most promising algorithms will be fully implemented and optimized Phase II. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee The new algorithms for VORPAL should lead to software sales to (and associated contract revenue from) electron cooling groups in Europe. Other potential users include U.S. laboratories or funding agencies.