SPS and LEP status report

Driven by the needs of the neutrino experiments, the intensity of the SPS proton beam has considerably increased during the past years, with a maximum of 4.8 x 10 protons per pulse accelerated to 450 GeV/c. This progress was achieved by an improved quality of the injected beam as well as improved operational procedures. The heavy ion programme of the SPS has been continued since 1994 with the acceleration of fully stripped lead ions Pb to 158 GeV/c per nucleon. Fixed frequency acceleration at the beginning of the cycle is followed by acceleration using a normal synchronous frequency programme. This procedure results in a good spill quality of the extracted ion beam while coping efficiently with the relatively low E of the lead ions at injection. A new extraction channel which will be installed in the SPS for the transfer of 450 GeV/c protons to the LHC, opens the option of a neutrino beam to the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy, 732 km away from CERN. The conceptual design of this beam will be described. The energy of CERN’s flagship, the large electron-positron collider LEP has been raised in several steps since 1995, following the installation of an increasing number of superconducting RF cavities. At present, a total of 272 superconducting cavities are in operation with an average gradient of 6 MV/m. This allows relatively comfortable operation of LEP at an energy of 94.5 GeV per beam. After the installation of 16 additional cavities and an increase of the gradient to values close to 7 MV/m it is hoped to reach a beam energy of up to 100 GeV during the years 1999 and 2000, the last years of LEP operation. The performance of LEP and its limitations will be discussed. Presented at HEACC’98 XVII International Conference on High Energy Accelerators Dubna 7-12 September 1998