The Tevatron wide band longitudinal coupled bunch mode dampers — an account from its commissioning to its decommissioning

The Tevatron longitudinal dampers were built in 2002 to stop the proton beam from spontaneously blowing up during high energy physics. The system has been operational since then and has been very successful in keeping the beam stable. In October 2011, the Tevatron will be shutdown and the dampers decommissioned. The goal of this paper is to document the 9 year experience in the operation of these dampers, account for the design choices made at the time, describe its commissioning, and its performance during its working life. Included will be a discussion on the type of instability which required the damper to be built.