Design Considerations for Fermilab Multi-MW Proton Facility in the DUNE/LBNF era

TL;DR

This paper compares two 2.4 MW upgrade scenarios for Fermilab's proton facility, focusing on their design considerations, challenges, and future upgrade pathways to support long-term neutrino research.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of two proposed upgrade options, highlighting their similarities, differences, and the R&D needed for implementation.

Findings

Both scenarios involve a 2 GeV extension of the PIP-II linac and a new synchrotron.

The paper outlines staging strategies and beamline capabilities for each scenario.

A proposed R&D program aims to evaluate and select the most suitable upgrade path.

Abstract

Fermilab has submitted two Snowmass whitepapers on a future 2.4~MW upgrade for DUNE/LBNF featuring a 2 GeV extension of the PIP-II linac and the construction of a new rapid-cycling-synchrotron. This paper summarizes the relationship between these two scenarios, emphasizing the commonalities and tracing the differences to their original design questions. In addition to a high-level summary of the two 2.4~MW upgrade scenarios, there is a brief discussion of staging, beamline capabilities, subsequent upgrades, and relevant R\&D. We are proposing a vigorous program to address various challenges associated with each scenario and to down-select the concept, most suitable to provide proton beams for years to come.