Cooling simulation and experimental benchmarking for an rf-based electron cooler

Abstract

The Low Energy Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) Electron Cooler (LEReC) is the world’s first electron cooler using rf-accelerated electron bunches. Recently, the cooling of gold ion beams in RHIC by 1.6 and 2.0 MeV electrons was successfully achieved. Along with the velocity spread and alignment of the electron beam, the space-charge force between ions and electrons also plays an important role in the cooling process. In order to investigate the cooling dynamics with bunched electron beams and to provide guidance for the LEReC operation, a simulation code was developed, which includes nonmagnetized cooling, intrabeam scattering, and the space-charge effect. In this paper, we present and discuss the simulation results, showing how various effects influence the cooling process as well as provide experimental benchmarking of the simulations.