Studies toward a Candidate IDS Neutrino Factory Front-End Configuration

A front end scenario for the IDS neutrino factory is presented. The scenario is based on the Study 2A example for capture, bunching and phase-energy rotation of muons from a proton source for a neutrino factory, and the goal is the capture of a maximal number of muons in a string of 201.25 MHz rf bunches. We present a candidate release scenario that is somewhat shorter than the Study 2A example and its parameters are optimized for smaller magnetic fields and gradients. We consider the variation of performance with achievable gradient, obtaining acceptable capture with reduced gradients. We also consider variation in production target performance, and develop the specifications toward the practical requirements of the cost study.