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Error studies overview

An error study is a Monte-Carlo ensemble: many simulations of the same lattice with random perturbations sampled from realistic error distributions. The output is statistics: average σ, σ-band envelopes, transmission histogram, worst-case excursion. Used to validate that a lattice is robust — not just optimal for the design beam.

TL;DR

from linac_gen.core.config import BeamConfig
from linac_gen.core.lattice import Lattice
from linac_gen.elements.drift import Drift
from linac_gen.elements.quadrupole import Quadrupole
from linac_gen.errors.error_model import ErrorStudy, ErrorDef

# Small demo lattice — swap in your own parse_tracewin(...) lattice.
lattice = Lattice()
for i in range(1, 5):
    lattice.add(Quadrupole(name=f"QUAD_{i:02d}", length=100.0,
                           gradient=10.0 * (-1) ** i))
    lattice.add(Drift(name=f"D_{i}", length=150.0))
beam_config = BeamConfig(n_particles=500)

study = ErrorStudy(lattice, beam_config, n_seeds=2)   # production: 100+
study.add_error(pattern="QUAD_*", parameter="dx",
                distribution="gaussian", sigma=0.2, cutoff=3.0)
study.add_error(pattern="QUAD_*", parameter="dy",
                distribution="gaussian", sigma=0.2, cutoff=3.0)
results = study.run()

print(results.transmission_stats())        # {"mean", "min", "max", "std"}
sigma_x_mean = results.mean("sigma_x")     # 1-D array vs element index
sigma_x_band = results.std("sigma_x")

Or, if your .dat already has ERROR_* directives (e.g. ERROR_QUAD_NCPL_STAT), they're auto-absorbed by parse_tracewin and a bare study.run() works:

from linac_gen.io.tracewin_parser import parse_tracewin

lattice, _ = parse_tracewin(
    "examples/error_studies/combined_realistic/combined_realistic.dat")
study = ErrorStudy(lattice, beam_config, n_seeds=2)   # production: 100+
results = study.run()

What's parameterised

Every element supports two error-injection mixin families:

Element alignment errors

Parameter Units Element types
dx, dy mm every element
tilt_deg deg every element (rotation about z)
dz mm stored on the element but ignored by the tracker
pitch_deg, yaw_deg deg reserved (not yet honoured)

The tracker honours only dx, dy and tilt_deg. dz draws are applied to the element attribute and carried through the study, but no longitudinal shift is performed during tracking.

Element field errors

Parameter Units Element types
gradient_rel fractional Quadrupole (also g3_rel..g6_rel)
field_rel fractional Solenoid
voltage_rel fractional RFGap
phase_offset deg RFGap, FieldMap
frequency_offset MHz RFGap, FieldMap

FieldMap amplitude and Dipole field errors (fixed 2026-07)

*_rel draws are applied by scaling the matching design attribute (gradient_rel → gradient, etc.); for elements that carry the relative-perturbation slot itself — FieldMap/FieldMap3D (voltage_rel, consumed via effective_ke/kb) and Dipole (field_rel, via effective_angle) — the draw now lands on that slot directly. Earlier releases silently dropped these two (cavity-amplitude errors on field maps and ERROR_BEND dg) — re-run any pre-fix tolerance study that relied on them. An error that can land nowhere now emits a warning instead of vanishing.

Beam input errors

The full input beam state can be perturbed per-seed via BeamErrorDef:

Parameter Units Effect
centroid_x, centroid_y mm input beam centroid
centroid_xp, centroid_yp mrad input beam divergence
centroid_dphi, centroid_dw deg, MeV input phase + energy
emit_nx_rel, emit_ny_rel, emit_z_rel fractional ε growth
mismatch_x, mismatch_y, mismatch_z fractional Twiss mismatch
current_rel fractional beam current jitter

Workflow

.dat with ERROR_*       (or)    Python ErrorDef list
        │                                │
        └──────────┬─────────────────────┘
                   ▼
              ErrorStudy
                   │
        ┌──────────┼──────────┐
        ▼          ▼          ▼
      seed 1     seed 2     seed N
        │          │          │
        ▼          ▼          ▼
    apply random draw
        ▼          ▼          ▼
   Simulation.run()  ...
        ▼          ▼          ▼
        └──────────┬──────────┘
                   ▼
        ErrorStudyResults
        (mean / std / percentile across seeds)

What you get back

ErrorStudyResults aggregates the per-seed recorders:

  • mean(q), std(q), percentile(q, p) — statistics of any recorder quantity ("sigma_x", "emit_nx", "transmission", ...) across seeds, returned as a 1-D array vs element index.
  • transmission_stats() — {"mean", "min", "max", "std"} of the final transmission over all seeds.
  • corrected_kicks(i) / correction_history(i) — per-seed orbit correction record (None unless enable_correction() was used).
  • n_seeds — seeds actually completed; n_requested — seeds asked for (they differ when the run was stopped early).
  • _recorders — the raw per-seed DiagnosticRecorder list, for forensics on an individual seed.

Cross-references

← Multi-objective matching · Continue to ERROR_* directives →