New Method for a Continuous Determination of the Spin Tune in Storage Rings and Implications for Precision Experiments

Abstract

A new method to determine the spin tune is described and tested. In an ideal planar magnetic ring, the spin tune - defined as the number of spin precessions per turn - is given by νs=γG (γ is the Lorentz factor, G the gyromagnetic anomaly). At 970 MeV/c, the deuteron spins coherently precess at a frequency of ≈120 kHz in the Cooler Synchrotron COSY. The spin tune is deduced from the up-down asymmetry of deuteron-carbon scattering. In a time interval of 2.6 s, the spin tune was determined with a precision of the order 10-8, and to 1×10-10 for a continuous 100 s accelerator cycle. This renders the presented method a new precision tool for accelerator physics; controlling the spin motion of particles to high precision is mandatory, in particular, for the measurement of electric dipole moments of charged particles in a storage ring.