Beam instrumentation systems of the large hadron collider: tutorial 50

The task of a beam instrumentation physicist or engineer is to design, build, maintain and improve the diagnostic equipment used for the observation of the particle beams in today´s particle accelerators. These systems are essential for the efficient operation of any type of accelerator, whether used for high energy physics, production of neutrons for materials science, production of intense X-rays for atomic and molecular studies, or for medical applications. Typical parameters which are important for all of these accelerators are: the beam position ¿ to know where the beam is at any point in the accelerator, allowing manual or automatic correction of the magnetic field used to guide it; beam losses throughout the machine ¿ to know when and where particles are being lost and to trigger fast beam aborts if the losses become unacceptably high; the beam intensity - to know how many particles are being accelerated at any given time; and the transverse and longitudinal size and shape of the beam - which are indicators of the beam quality. Beam instrumentation and diagnostics, therefore, combines the physics of accelerators with mechanical, electronic and software engineering, making it an extremely interesting field of work.