Compensation strategy for optical distortions arising from the beam-beam interaction at CESR

Following more than two decades of operation at 5 GeV beam energy for studies of bottom quark bound states, the Cornell electron storage ring (CESR) converted to 2 GeV operation in 2001 for the purpose of investigating bound states of charm quarks. This reduction of beam energy increased the relative contributions of the beam-beam force. The beam-beam interaction has been found to have considerable consequences for the optics and for the injection aperture. We describe recent developments in our modeling of the beam-beam interaction, experimental validation techniques, and investigations into compensation strategies.