Performance limitations of LHC low beta insertions

One feature of the CERN Large Hadron Collider is the possibility for some experiments to work at luminosities about an order of magnitude higher than the design value of 1033 cm-2 s-1. Special low beta insertions have to be designed for this purpose, which will provide a value of the beta-functions at the interaction point, smaller than the nominal value of 1 m. Limitations arise from geometrical and optical constraints, from chromatic aberations and multipole error tolerances in the superconducting dipoles and quadrupoles and from the dynamic aperture requirements. In this paper, realistic designs are proposed and limiting factors are analyzed by computer simulation