Cold AGS Snake Optimization by Modeling

1 A snake for the AGS Acceleration of polarized protons in the AGS with minimum loss of polarization can be achieved by means of Siberian Snakes [1]. At the present time only one such snake is installed, consisting of a solenoid, that produces a spin rotation of about 9 degrees, (5 % snake). In order to achieve a higher degree of polarization at extraction (the AGS accelerates protons from 1.2 GeV to 26 GeV), we plan to install a more powerful snake. The space available in the machine for this insertion is about 2.6 m, then the new snake must be very compact. A possible structure for a compact and strong snake is obtained with an arrangement of helical dipoles that produce a transverse eld whose direction rotates continuously around the axis of the magnet, as originally proposed by Ernest Courant. and has been built for RHIC, following a design proposed by Shatunov and Ptitsyn [2]. RHIC snakes are made of four 2.4 m helical dipoles, and are are too long for the AGS. So, we have studied the possibily of building a compact helica