Early efforts [1] to implement tune feedback during the acceleration ramp in RHIC were hampered by large betatron coupling, as well as the requirement for large dynamic range. Both problems have been addressed, the first by implementation of continuous measurement of coupling, and the second by the development of an improved analog front end. With these improvements, simultaneous coupling and tune feedback were successfully implemented for acceleration ramp development during RHIC Run 6. During the course of this work it became clear that direct excitation of the betatron resonances by high harmonics of the 60Hz power frequency was an obstacle to making the system fully operational. They report here on these results from RHIC Run 6, and implications for LHC commissioning.

The large scale application of non-evaporable getter coating in RHIC has been effective in reducing the electron cloud. Since beams with higher intensity and smaller bunch spacing became possible in operation, the emittance growth is of concern. Study results are reported together with experiences of machine improvements: saturated NEG coatings, anti-grazing ridges in warm sections, and the pre-pumping in cryogenic regions.

In this study, an array of vibration measurements at the undisturbed NSLS II site has been performed in order to establish the 'green-field' vibration environment and its spectral characteristics. The interaction of the green-field vibration environment with the NSLS II accelerator structure and the quantification of the storage ring vibration, both in terms of amplitude and spectral content have been assessed through a state-of-the-art wave propagation and scattering analysis. This paper focuses on the wave propagation and scattering aspect as well as on the filtering effects of accelerator structural parameters.

Polarized proton beam has been accelerated and stored at 100 GeV in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) to study spin effects in the hadronic reactions. The essential equipment includes four Siberian snakes and eight spin rotators in two RHIC rings, a partial snake in the AGS, fast relative polarimeters, and ac dipoles in the AGS and RHIC. This paper summarizes the performance of RHIC as a polarized proton collider and of AGS as the injector to RHIC.

Acceleration of polarized protons in the energy range of 5 to 25 GeV is particularly difficult: the depolarizing resonances are strong enough to cause significant depolarization but full Siberian snakes cause intolerably large orbit excursions and are not feasible in the AGS since straight sections are too short. Recently, two helical partial snakes with double pitch design have been built and installed in the AGS. With careful setup of optics at injection and along the ramp, this combination can eliminate the intrinsic and imperfection depolarizing resonances encountered during acceleration. This paper presents the accelerator setup and preliminary results.

In the past, an increase of beam intensity in RHIC has caused several decades of pressure rises in the warm sections during operation. This has been a major factor limiting the RHIC luminosity. About 430 meters of NEG coated beam pipes have been installed in the warm sections to ameliorate this problem. Beam ion induced desorption is one possible cause of pressure rises. A series beam studies in RHIC has been dedicated to estimate the desorption rate of various beam pipes (regular and NEG coated) at various warm sections. Correctors were used to generate local beam losses and consequently local pressure rises. The experimental results are presented and analyzed in this paper.