GPU accelerated online multi-particle beam dynamics simulator for ion linear particle accelerators

Abstract An online beam dynamics simulator is being developed for use in the operation of an ion linear particle accelerator. By employing Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) technology, the performance of the simulator has been significantly increased over that of a single CPU and is therefore viable in the demanding accelerator operations environment. Once connected to the accelerator control system, it can rapidly respond to any control set point changes and predict beam properties along an ion linear accelerator in pseudo-real time. This simulator will be a virtual beam diagnostic tool which is especially useful when direct beam measurements are not available. Details about the code structure design, physics algorithms, GPU implementations, and performance are presented.