CERN, Geneva
The LHC stored beam contains 362 MJ of energy at the top beam energy of 7 TeV, presenting a significant risk to the components of the machine and the detectors. In response to this threat, a sophisticated system of machine protection has been developed to minimize the danger, and detect potentially dangerous situations. In this paper, the protection of the experiments in the LHC from the machine is considered, focusing on pilot beam strikes on the experiments during injection and on the dynamics of hardware failure with a circulating beam, with detailed time-domain calculations performed for LHC ring power converter failures and magnet quenches. The prospects for further integration of the machine protection and experimental protection systems are considered,along with the risk to near-beam detectors from closed local bumps.
CERN, Geneva
Several forwards detectors have been installed in the LHC long straight sections located on each side of the experimental caverns. Most of these detectors have been designed by the LHC experiments to study the forwards physics while some of them are dedicated to the measurement of the LHC luminosity. The integration and installation of the forwards detectors have required an excellent coordination between the experiments and the different CERN groups involved into the design and installation of the LHC accelerator. In some cases the integration of these detectors has required a modification of the standard beam lines in order to maximise the physics potentiality of the detectors. Finally, additional systems have been installed in the LHC tunnel to ensure the operation of the forwards detectors in a high radiation environment.
CERN, Geneva
The TOTEM experiment at the LHC will operate at down to 10 σ from the beam in the forward region of the CMS experiment. The associated beam loss monitors (BLMs) are crucial to monitor the position of the detectors and to provide a rapid identification of abnormal beam conditions for machine protection purposes. In this paper, the response of the TOTEM BLMs is considered and the protection thresholds are defined, with calculations made of the expected signal from protons grazing the TOTEM pot as a function of pot distance from the beam, and of the BLM signal from proton collisions at the CMS beam interaction point.