Experiments on transverse compression of a long charge bunch in a linear Paul trap

The transverse compression of a long charge bunch is investigated in the Paul trap simulator experiment (PTSX), which is a linear Paul trap that simulates the nonlinear transverse dynamics of an intense charged particle beam propagating through an equivalent kilometers-long magnetic alternating-gradient (AG) focusing system. Changing the voltage amplitude at fixed focusing frequency in the PTSX device corresponds to changing the field gradient of the quadrupole magnets with fixed axial periodicity in the AG transport system. In this work, we present experimental results on transverse compression of the charge bunch in which the amplitude of the applied oscillatory focusing voltage is changed instantaneously, and adiabatically. The experimental data are also compared with analytical estimates and 2D WARP particle-in-cell simulations.