A Wedge Test in MICE

TL;DR

This paper discusses the design, simulation, and experimental testing of a wedge absorber in MICE to demonstrate emittance exchange for muon cooling, crucial for muon collider development.

Contribution

It presents the first experimental demonstration of emittance exchange using a wedge absorber in MICE, validating simulation predictions.

Findings

Successful fabrication and placement of polyethylene wedge in MICE

Data showing both direct and reverse emittance exchange

Alignment of experimental results with simulation predictions

Abstract

Emittance exchange mediated by wedge absorbers can be used for longitudinal ionization cooling and for final transverse emittance minimization for a muon collider. A wedge absorber within the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) could serve as a demonstration of the type of emittance exchange needed for six-dimensional (6D) cooling, including the configurations needed for muon colliders. Parameters for this test have been explored in simulation and applied to experimental configurations using a wedge-shaped absorber. A polyethylene wedge absorber has been fabricated and placed in MICE and data has been collected for both direct emittance exchange, where the longitudinal emittance decreases, and reverse emittance exchange, where the transverse emittance decreases. The simulation studies that led to the magnet and beam configurations are presented.