F. Osswald

A very intense neutrino super beam experiment for leptonic CP violation discovery based on the European spallation source linac

Very intense neutrino beams and large neutrino detectors will be needed in order to enable the discovery of CP violation in the leptonic sector. We propose to use the proton linac of the European Spoliation Source currently under construction in Lund, Sweden, to deliver, in parallel with the spoliation neutron production, a very intense, cost effective and high performance neutrino beam. The baseline program for the European Spoliation Source linac is that it will be fully operational at 5 MW average power by 2022, producing 2 GeV 2.86 ms long proton pulses at a rate of 14 Hz. Our proposal is to upgrade the linac to 10 MW average power and 28 Hz, producing 14 pulses/s for neutron production and 14 pulses/s for neutrino production. Furthermore, because of the high current required in the pulsed neutrino horn, the length of the pulses used for neutrino production needs to be compressed to a few mu s with the aid of an accumulator ring. A long baseline experiment using this Super Beam and a megaton underground Water Cherenkov detector located in existing mines 300-600 km from Lund will make it possible to discover leptonic CP violation at 5 sigma significance level in up to 50% of the leptonic Dirac CP-violating phase range. This experiment could also determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a significance level of more than 3 sigma if this issue will not already have been settled by other experiments by then. The mass hierarchy performance could be increased by combining the neutrino beam results with those obtained from atmospheric neutrinos detected by the same large volume detector. This detector will also be used to measure the proton lifetime, detect cosmological neutrinos and neutrinos from supernova explosions. Results on the sensitivity to leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass hierarchy are presented

Study of the pulse power supply unit for the four-horn system of the CERN to Fréjus neutrino super beam

The power supply studies for the four-horn system for the CERN to Frejus neutrino Super Beam oscillation experiment are discussed here. The power supply is being studied to meet the physics potential and the mega-watt (MW) power requirements of the proton driver of the Super Beam. A one-half sinusoid current waveform with a 350 kA maximum current and pulse length of 100 μs at 50 Hz frequency is generated and distributed to four-horns. In order to provide the necessary current needed to focus the charged mesons producing the neutrino beam, a bench of capacitors is charged at 50 Hz frequency to a +12 kV reference voltage and then discharged through a large switch to each horn via a set of strip-lines at the same rate. A current recovery stage allows to invert rapidly the negative voltage of the capacitor after the discharging stage in order to recuperate large part of the injected energy and thus to limit the power consuption. The energy recovery efficiency of that system is very high at 97%. For feasibility reasons, a modular architecture has been adopted with 8 modules connected in parallel to deliver 44 kA peak currents into the four-horn system.

Factors influencing the performances of micro-strip gas chambers

Abstract Damages to MSGCs induced by discharges have been investigated. Optimization of electrode shapes and/or deposition of a protective coating allows the increase of the potential difference between anode and cathode, thus increasing the gain. For prototypes of MSGCs made at the Centre de Recherches Nucleaires, each step of the manufacturing processes was carefully controlled. Results are presented on the influence of cleaning processes on the surface resistance of glass substrates.

Target, magnetic horn and safety studies for the CERN to Fréjus Super Beam

In the framework of the EUROnu design study, a new design for the CERN to Frejus neutrino beam based on the SPL is under development by the WP2 group. The main challenge of this project lies with the design of a multi-MW neutrino beam facility. The horn and the decay tunnel parameters have been optimized to maximize any potential discovery. The target design, thermo-mechanical analysis, and power supply design of the horn system as well as any safety issues are being studied to meet the MW power requirements for the proton-beam.

Electrical stress on insulators of the vivitron

The Vivitron is a large electrostatic accelerator in operation under high voltage since December 1990. Since then, the machine sustained more than 750 sparks and operated more than 17 000 hours at voltages up to 20 MV. The paper presents a review of the electric stresses applied on the insulators of that particular HV generator following the operational experience of the last years. It discusses some of the most recent results related to the electrical stress characterization i.e. calculations and data from bench, factory and field tests.

Vivitron 1995 Transient voltage simulation, high voltage insulator tests, electric field calculation

Abstract Preliminary investigations showed clearly that, because of the discrete electrode structure of the Vivitron, important overvoltage leading to insulator damage can appear in case of a spark. The first high voltage tests showed damage connected with such events. This fact leads to a severe voltage limitation. This work describes, at first, studies made to understand the effects of transients and the associated over-voltage appearing in the Vivitron. Then we present the high voltage tests made with full size Vivitron components using the CN 6 MV machine as a pilot machine. Extensive field calculations were made. These involve simulations of static stresses and transient overvoltages, on insulating boards and electrodes. This work gave us the solutions for arrangements and modifications in the machine. After application, the Vivitron runs now without any sparks and damage at 20 MV. In the same manner, we tested column insulators of a new design and so we will find out how to get to higher voltages. Electric field calculation around the tie bars connecting the discrete electrodes together showed field enhancements when the voltages applied on the discrete electrodes are not equally distributed. This fact is one of the sources of discharges and voltage limitations. A scenario of a spark event is described and indications are given how to proceed towards higher voltages, in the 30 MV range.

THE STRASBOURG MP-10 TANDEM: AN ACCELERATOR USED ACTUALLY FOR NUCLEAR PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS AND AS A TEST BENCH FOR THE VIVITRON

Abstract The operation of the Strasbourg MP tandem during the last four years is briefly described. For the experimental research program in progress, the trends of the beam requests are presented. The MP tandem was also used as a test bench for the Vivitron and the main results of the undertaken studies are reported.