Erhic - Accelerator and Detector Design Studies

The high energy, high intensity polarized electron/positron beam (5 − 10GeV/10GeV) facility (eRHIC) which is under consideration at BNL will collide with the existing RHIC heavy ion (100GeV per nucleon) and polarized proton beam (50−250GeV). This facility will allow to significantly enhance the exploration of fundamental aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the underlying quantum field theory of strong interactions . A detailed report on the accelerator and interaction region (IR) design of this new collider facility has been completed based on studies performed jointly by BNL and MIT-Bates in collaboration with BINP and DESY . The main design option is based on the construction of a 10GeV electron/positron storage ring intersecting with one of the RHIC hadron beams. The electron beam energy will be variable down to 5GeV with minimal loss in luminosity and polarization. The electron injector system will consist of linacs and recirculators fed by a polarized electron source. A study has shown that an ep luminosity of 4 × 10cms can be achieved for the high-energy mode (10GeV on 250GeV), if the electron beam facility is designed using today’s state-of-the-art accelerator technology without an extensive R&D program. A robust cost model has been worked out. For electron-gold ion collisions (10GeV on 100GeV/u), the same design results in a luminosity of 4 × 10cms. The potential to go to higher luminosities at the