Maximum-entropy-based Tomographic Reconstruction of Beam Density Distribution∗

For ISAC at TRIUMF, radioactive isotopes are generated with a 500 MeV proton beam. The beam power is up to 40 kW and can easily melt the delicate target if too tightly focused. We protect this target by closely monitoring the distribution of the incident proton beam. There is a 3-wire scanner monitor installed near the target; these give the vertical profile and the +45◦ and −45◦ profiles. Our objective is to use these 3 measured projections to find the 2-D density distribution. By implementing the maximum entropy (MENT) algorithm, we have developed a computer program to realize tomographic reconstruction of the beam density distribution. Of particular concern is to make the calculation sufficiently efficient such that an operator can obtain the distribution within a few seconds of the scan. As well, we have developed the technique to perform phase space reconstruction, using many wire scans and the calculated transfer matrices between them. In this paper we present details of the computer code and the techniques used to improve noise tolerance and compute efficiency, after reviewing the MENT algorithm.