SMALL ANGLE CRAB COMPENSATION FOR LHC IR UPGRADE

A small angle (< 1 mrad) crab scheme is an attractive option for the LHC luminosity upgrade to recover the geometric luminosity loss from the finite crossing angle [I]. The luminosity loss increases steeply to unacceptable levels as the IP beta function is reduced below its nominal value (see Fig. 1 in Ref. [2]). The crab compensation in the LHC can be accomplished using only two sets of deflecting RF cavities, placed in collision-free straight sections of the LHC to nullify the effective crossing angles at IPI and IP5. We also explore a 400 MHz superconducting cavity design and discuss the pertinent RF challenges. We present IR optics configurations with low-angle crab crossing, study the beam-beam performance and proton-beam emittance growth in the presence of crab compensation, lattice errors, and crab RF noise sources.