Longitudinal tracking studies for the AHF booster synchrotron

The greenfield site option for the Advanced Hydrotest Facility (AHF) contains a 157-MeV H^- linac followed by two synchrotrons, a booster and a 50-GeV main ring. Several different lattice designs are under consideration for the main ring while two different booster designs are presently being studied. The first booster is a 4-GeV synchrotron operating at h=1 with a 5-Hz cycle. The second is a 9-GeV machine operating at h=2 with a 1-Hz cycle. Both designs are required to deliver ∼3×10¹² p/bunch. A longitudinal painting scheme was employed during injection to enhance beam quality and capture during the initial portion of the ramp. The longitudinal beam dynamics simulations were performed with the tracking code ESME. The purpose of these studies was to investigate parameter space and obtain estimates for the rf system requirements. This paper presents the results of these studies.