Chapter 9
Accelerator Operations
M. Lamont, J. Wenninger, R. Steinhagen, R. Tomás García, R. Garoby,
R. W. Assmann, O. Brüning, M. Hostettler, and H. Damerau
9.1 Introduction
M. Lamont
The cost of building a particle accelerator is a major capital investment. Commissioning should be swift and the subsequent exploitation of a facility must provide
an effective return. This return may be difficult to quantify unambiguously but
generally acceptable measures of performance can be established. These measures
might include: machine availability; integrated luminosity; protons on target; beam
hours to users and so on.
The role of accelerator operations is to maximize the performance of an accelerator or accelerator complex by: minimizing downtime; maximizing the amount of
beam delivered to the users; fully optimizing the quality of beam delivered to the
users; and doing it all safely.
Accelerators and the control of particles beams have advanced considerably over
recent years. There is deep understanding of particle dynamics, innovative measurement techniques, in-depth simulation and modelling, and widespread leverage of
Coordinated by M. Lamont.
M. Lamont () · J. Wenninger · R. Steinhagen · R. Tomás García · R. Garoby · R. W. Assmann ·
O. Brüning · M. Hostettler · H. Damerau
CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), Meyrin, Genève, Switzerland
e-mail: Mike.Lamont@cern.ch
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Myers, H. Schopper (eds.), Particle Physics Reference Library,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34245-6_9
519
Accelerator Operations
M. Lamont, J. Wenninger, R. Steinhagen, R. Tomás García, R. Garoby,
R. W. Assmann, O. Brüning, M. Hostettler, and H. Damerau
9.1 Introduction
M. Lamont
The cost of building a particle accelerator is a major capital investment. Commissioning should be swift and the subsequent exploitation of a facility must provide
an effective return. This return may be difficult to quantify unambiguously but
generally acceptable measures of performance can be established. These measures
might include: machine availability; integrated luminosity; protons on target; beam
hours to users and so on.
The role of accelerator operations is to maximize the performance of an accelerator or accelerator complex by: minimizing downtime; maximizing the amount of
beam delivered to the users; fully optimizing the quality of beam delivered to the
users; and doing it all safely.
Accelerators and the control of particles beams have advanced considerably over
recent years. There is deep understanding of particle dynamics, innovative measurement techniques, in-depth simulation and modelling, and widespread leverage of
Coordinated by M. Lamont.
M. Lamont () · J. Wenninger · R. Steinhagen · R. Tomás García · R. Garoby · R. W. Assmann ·
O. Brüning · M. Hostettler · H. Damerau
CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), Meyrin, Genève, Switzerland
e-mail: Mike.Lamont@cern.ch
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Myers, H. Schopper (eds.), Particle Physics Reference Library,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34245-6_9
519