Beam position monitor offset determination at LEP

For the performance of an electron positron storage ring it is important that the beam orbit passes well centred through the quadrupole magnets. Beam position monitors (BPM) aligned relative to the magnets can still have a residual mechanical or electronic offset with respect to the magnetic axis. A beam-based method is used at LEP to measure these offsets. During the machine operation for physics the gradient of selected quadrupoles is modulated with low frequencies (few Hz) and very small amplitudes (of the order of 10/sup -4/). The effect on the beam is observed with a high sensitivity pick-up. The observed effect passes through a minimum when the beam is centred in the quadrupole. Offsets for about 70 different BPM's were determined. Systematically different offsets were found for different type of BPM electronics and different types of quadrupoles. Simulations based on the past results show that the level of spin polarisation can be increased by further offset measurements.