NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION OF ACCELERATORS WITHIN oPAC

Powerful simulation tools are required for every accelerator and light source to study the motion of charged particles through electromagnetic fields during the accelerator design process, to optimize the performance of machine diagnostics and to assess beam stability and non-linear effects. The Optimization of Particle Accelerators (oPAC) Project is funded by the EU within the 7 Framework Program and currently supports 23 Fellows that are based at institutions across Europe. This large network carries out R&D that closely links beam physics studies with the development of diagnostics and beyond state-of-the-art simulation tools. This contribution presents selected research outcomes from oPAC, including the numerical optimization of beam loss monitor locations along the European Spallation Source’s 5 MW proton linac, results from tracking studies for the LHeC lattice that allow beam stability to be assessed, and multi-objective optimization of the linear and non-linear beam dynamics of the synchrotron SOLEIL. In addition, an overview of recent and future oPAC events is given.