Optical design of the rapid cycling medical synchrotron

The optical design of the rapid cycling medical synchrotron (RCMS) is based on the strong focusing principle. Several advantages arise from this choice of design, including smaller beam sizes and more optimization possibilities. In this paper, a detailed description of the optical design of all beam lines of the facility is presented with the methods that have been used to optimize such beam lines. In particular, we describe a method to match beam lines optimally in one step using as input parameters the beta functions at the matching point. This method eliminates the need of doing repeated simulations varying several parameters of the matching elements until the match is finally achieved. Comparisons between old designs and the most recent design are presented making special emphasis on cost savings between them. Comparisons with other accelerators and technologies is also presented. Index Terms--FODO, optics, protons, synchrotron.