Improvements to Simulation Codes for Electron Cloud Generation in Long-Bunch, High-Intensity Proton Accumulator Rings

Electron cloud effects, especially electron cloud driven beam instabilities, are critical technical risks for the next generation of high intensity proton rings and for upgrades to existing machines. Significant changes and improvements to the simulation codes for electron cloud generation are needed to accurately and reliably model electron cloud buildup in the high intensity proton accumulator rings that drive the DOE supported spallation neutron sources. Comparisons of simulation results with the extensive electron cloud measurements from the Los Alamos proton storage ring (PSR) have pointed to crucial areas for improvement of the widely used POSINST code. Changes to the code will be developed with the goal of obtaining more accurate and reliable modeling that provides better agreement with experimental results, especially with data from PSR. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: Commercial applications for the codes produced for this project are limited but we anticipate that some accelerator laboratories may be interested in having us utilize the simulation tools for electron cloud issues at their facilities. The results of this project will directly benefit the understanding and mitigation of electron cloud effects at high-intensity, long-bunch proton rings such as the proton drivers for Oak Ridge Spallation Neutron Source and the Los Alamos Proton Storage Ring.