Model-independent particle accelerator tuning

We present a new model-independent dynamic feedback technique, rotation rate tuning, for automatically and simultaneously tuning coupled components of uncertain, complex systems. The main advantages of the method are: (1) it has the ability to handle unknown, time-varying systems, (2) it gives known bounds on parameter update rates, (3) we give an analytic proof of its convergence and its stability, and (4) it has a simple digital implementation through a control system such as the experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS). Because this technique is model independent it may be useful as a realtime, in-hardware, feedback-based optimization scheme for uncertain and time-varying systems. In particular, it is robust enough to handle uncertainty due to coupling, thermal cycling, misalignments, and manufacturing imperfections. As a result, it may be used as a fine-tuning supplement for existing accelerator tuning/control schemes. We present multiparticle simulation results demonstrating the scheme's ability to simultaneously adaptively adjust the set points of 22 quadrupole magnets and two rf buncher cavities in the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) Linear Accelerator's transport region, while the beam properties and rf phase shift are continuously varying. The tuning is based only on beam current readings, without knowledge of particle dynamics. We also present an outline of how to implement this general scheme in software for optimization, and in hardware for feedback-based control/tuning, for a wide range of systems.