Using Geant4-based Tools to Simulate a Proton Extraction and Transfer Line

The simulation toolkit GEANT4 has been used to create high-level tools for specific user groups, such as SPENVIS in space physics and GATE in medical imaging. In Accelerator Physics, comparable efforts are being devoted to develop general-purpose programs for simulating beam lines and accelerators, allowing access to Geant4’s facilities for 3D geometry, tracking, and interactions in matter without the need for specialised programming techniques. In this study we investigate the use of two high-level tools based on Geant4, BDSIM and G4BEAMLINE, to model a 65meter beam line supplying protons from the TRIUMF cyclotron to the ISAC Rare Isotope Beam facility. We outline some features of the codes and comment on their different approaches to defining the beam line geometry. Due to its ability to model some important aspects such as rectangular dipoles and magnetic fringe fields, G4beamline was utilized for the simulations presented here, for validation of the model and the investigation of beam losses.