Assessment of the basic parameters of the CERN Superconducting Proton Linac

The construction of a 4 GeV superconducting proton linac (the SPL) is now part of the long term plan of CERN, and the construction of Linac4, its low-energy front end, has begun. For mid-2012 the existing conceptual design of the SPL has to be refined and transformed into a project proposal. As a first step, basic parameters like rf frequency, accelerating gradient, and operating temperature of the superconducting cavities have been reassessed, taking into account the experience accumulated in the world during the recent years, especially for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) in Oakridge and the International Linear Collider (ILC) projects. The conclusions confirm the validity of the initial choices, namely, the rf frequency of 704.4 MHz and the cooling temperature of ≈2  K. However, the assumed gradients are estimated as optimistic: additional tests are necessary during the coming years to properly define the values to be used in the SPL design. This analysis is documented and its results are explained in this report.