MIRKO - An interactive program for beam lines and synchrotrons

The ion-optical design of beam lines and synchrotrons is usually not done by a single run of one program. It takes many iterations of calculation, examination of results, and modification of input data. In most cases the first order design has to be followed by the investigation of higher order effects, i.e. chromatic and geometrical aberrations or resonance phenomena. The interactive computer program MIRKO is operated from a terminal and has a command structure, which enables the user to edit data, perform calculations, and to obtain alpha or graphics output on the terminal in any desired sequence. With graphics one can recognize the properties of an optical system much faster than with numbers only. Thus modifications of input data depending on the results of calculations can be made easily without stopping and restarting the program. Higher order effects can sometimes influence the first order design. Therefore, particle tracking capability was included in MIRKO as well as the calculation of stop band widths for synchrotrons. Consequently a large variety of phenomena can be studied with one program in one session based upon exactly the same data for the optical system and the possibility of fast switching between the different features