Beam dynamics framework incorporating acceleration to define the minimum aperture in two focusing schemes for proton radiotherapy linac

In this paper, a self-consistent transverse beam dynamics framework is demonstrated that incorporates acceleration into the transverse beam dynamics studies for a proton linac machine. Two focusing schemes are developed and discussed: the FODO-like scheme and the minimum aperture scheme. The FODO-like scheme is a simple scheme, requiring only one quadrupole per cavity. The scheme is analytically solved to minimize the beam size at the cavity entrance/exit and ensures a constant beam size along the lattice, with respect to adiabatic damping due to longitudinally accelerating rf cavities. The minimum aperture scheme describes the regime that matches the beam ellipse to the acceptance ellipse of a cavity, allowing for the smallest possible aperture, for a given cavity length. A simple approximation of an rf cavity map is determined to allow changes in particle energy along a lattice, and acceleration is assumed only in the longitudinal direction. Published by the American Physical Society 2024