Injection and acceleration of Au31+ in the BNL AGS.

Injection and acceleration of ions in a lower charge state reduces space charge effects, and, if further elcctron stripping is needed, may allow elimination of a stripping stage and the associated beam losses. The former is of interest to the accelerators in the GSI FAIR complex, the latter for BNL RHIC collider operation at energies lower than the current injection energy. Lower charge state ions, however, have a higher likelihood of electron stripping which can lead to dynamic pressures rises and subsequent beam losses. We report on experiments in the AGS where Au{sup 31+} ions were injected and accelerated instead of the normally used Au{sup 77+} ions. Beam intensities and the average pressure in the AGS ring are recorded, and compared with calculations for dynamic pressures and beam losses. The experimental results will be used to benchmark the StrahlSim dynamic vacuum code and will be incorporated in the GSI FAIR SIS100 design.