Spin dynamics in electron synchrotrons

Providing spin polarized particle beams with circular accelerators requires the consideration of depolarizing resonances which may significantly reduce the desired degree of polarization at specific beam energies. The corresponding spin dynamical effects are typically analyzed with numerical methods. In case of electron beams the influence of the emission of synchrotron radiation has to be taken into account. On short timescales, as in synchrotrons with a fast energy ramp or in damping rings, spin dynamics are investigated with spin tracking algorithms. This thesis presents the spin tracking code Polematrix as a versatile tool to study the impact of synchrotron radiation on spin dynamics. Spin tracking simulations have been performed based on the well established particle tracking code Elegant. The numerical studies demonstrate effects which are responsible for beam depolarization: Synchrotron side bands of depolarizing resonances and decoherence of spin precession. Polematrix can be utilized for any electron accelerator with minimal effort as it imports lattice files from the tracking programs MAD-X or Elegant. Polematrix has been published as open source software. Currently, the Electron Stretcher Accelerator ELSA at Bonn University is the only electron synchrotron worldwide providing a polarized beam. Integer and intrinsic depolarizing resonances are compensated with dedicated countermeasures during the fast energy ramp. Polarization measurements from ELSA demonstrate the particular spin dynamics of electrons and confirm the results of the spin tracking code Polematrix.