Linac code benchmarking of HALODYN and PARMILA based on beam experiments

As part of the 'High Intensity Pulsed Proton Injector' (HIPPI) project in the European Framework Programme, a program for the comparison and benchmarking of 3D Particle-In-Cell (PIC) linac codes with experiment has been implemented. HALODYN and PARMILA are two of the codes involved in this program. In this study, the initial Twiss parameters were obtained from the results of beam experiments that were conducted using the GSI UNILAC in low-beam-current. Furthermore, beam dynamics simulations of the Alvarez Drift Tube Linac (DTL) section were performed by HALODYN and PARMILA codes and benchmarked for the same beam experiments. These simulation results exhibit some agreements with the experimental results for the low-beam-current case. The similarities and differences between the experimental and simulated results were analyzed quantitatively. In addition, various physical aspects of the simulation codes and the linac design strategy are also discussed.