Lifetime and Beam Losses Studies of Partially Strip Ions in the SPS ($^{129}$Xe$^{39+}$)

International audienceThe CERN multipurpose Gamma Factory proposal relies on using Partially Stripped Ion (PSI) beams, instead of electron beams, as the drivers of its light source. If such beams could be successfully stored in the LHC ring, fluxes of the order of $10^{17}$ photons/s, in the $\gamma$-ray energy domain of $1 \leq \rm{E}_{\gamma} \leq 400$ MeV could be achieved. This energy domain is out of reach for the FEL-based light sources as long as the multi TeV electron beams are not available. The CERN Gamma Factory proposal has the potential of increasing by 7 orders of magnitude the intensity limits of the present Inverse Compton Scattering sources. In 2017 the CERN accelerator complex demonstrated its flexibility by producing a new, xenon ion beam. The Gamma Factory study group, based on this achievement, requested special studies. It aimed to inject and to accelerate, in the SPS, partially stripped xenon ions ($^{129}$Xe$^{39+}$) measure their life time, and determine the relative strength of the processes responsible for the PSI beam losses. The study presented in this contribution was an preparatory step in view of the the future studies programmed for 2018 with lead PSI beams