The nuclear physics program envisaged at the Medium-energy Electron-Ion Collider (MEIC) currently being developed at the Jefferson Lab calls for collisions of 3-11 GeV/c longitudinally polarized electrons and 20-100 GeV/c, in equivalent proton momentum, longitudinally/ transversely polarized protons/ deuterons/ light ions. We present a scheme that provides the required ion polarization arrangement in the MEIC's ion collider ring.

We present a complete scheme for managing the polarization of ion beams in Jefferson Lab's proposed Medium-energy Electron-Ion Collider (MEIC). It provides preservation of the ion polarization during all stages of beam acceleration and polarization control in the collider's experimental straights. We discuss characteristic features of the spin motion in accelerators with Siberian snakes and in accelerators of figure-8 shape. We propose 3D spin rotators for polarization control in the MEIC ion collider ring. We provide polarization calculations in the collider with the 3D rotator for deuteron and proton beams. The main polarization control features of the figure-8 design are summarized.

The Medium-energy Electron-Ion Collider (MEIC) proposed by Jefferson Lab is designed to provide high polarization of both colliding beams. One of the unique features of JLab's MEIC is figure-8 shape of its rings. It allows preservation and control of polarization of all ion species including small-anomalous-magnetic-moment deuterons during their acceleration and storage. The figure-8 design conceptually expands the capability of obtaining polarized high-energy beams in comparison to conventional designs because of its property of having no preferred periodic spin direction. This allows one to control effectively the beam polarization by means of magnetic insertions with small field integrals. We present a complete scheme for preserving the ion polarization during all stages of acceleration and its control in the collider's experimental straights.

The idea of colliding two particle beams to fully exploit the energy of accelerated particles was first proposed by Rolf Wideröe, who in 1943 applied for a patent on the collider concept and was awarded the patent in 1953. The first three colliders — AdA in Italy, CBX in the US, and VEP-1 in the then Soviet Union — came to operation about 50 years ago in the mid-1960s. A number of other colliders followed.Over the past decades, colliders defined the energy frontier in particle physics. Different types of colliers — proton-proton, proton-antiproton, electron-positron, electron-proton, electron-ion and ion-ion colliders — have played complementary roles in fully mapping out the constituents and forces in the Standard Model (SM). We are now at a point where all predicted SM constituents of matter and forces have been found, and all the latest ones were found at colliders. Colliders also play a critical role in advancing beam physics, accelerator research and technology development. It is timely that RAST Volume 7 is dedicated to Colliders.

A key feature of the Medium-energy Electron-Ion Collider (MEIC) at Jefferson Lab is high polarization (over 80%) of the electron beam at all collision points for the particle physics program. The equilibrium electron polarization is arranged to be vertical in the arcs of the figure-8 collider ring of the MEIC and anti-parallel to the arc dipole magnetic fields, in order to take advantage of the preservation of polarization by the Sokolov-Ternov (S-T) effect. Longitudinal polarization is achieved at collision points by utilizing energy-independent universal spin rotators each of which consists of a set of solenoids and dipoles placed at the end of an arc. The equilibrium beam polarization and its lifetime depend on competition between the S-T effect and radiative depolarization. The latter must be suppressed by spin matching. This paper reports on investigations of polarization in the MEIC electron collider ring and a preliminary estimate of beam polarization from calculations using the code SLICK.

Spin tracking studies in the MEIC figure-8 collider ion ring are presented, based on a very preliminary design of the lattice. They provide numerical illustrations of some of the aspects of the figure-8 concept, including spin-rotator based spin control, and lay out the path towards a complete spin tracking simulation of a figure-8 ring.

The Medium-energy Electron Ion Collider (MEIC) at JLab is designed to provide high luminosity and high polarization needed to reach new frontiers in the exploration of nuclear structure. The luminosity, exceeding 1033 cm-2s-1 in a broad range of the center-of-mass (CM) energy and maximum luminosity above 1034 cm-2s-1, is achieved by high-rate collisions of short small-emittance low-charge bunches made possible by high-energy electron cooling of the ion beam and synchrotron radiation damping of the electron beam. The polarization of light ion species (p, d, 3He) can be easily preserved and manipulated due to the unique figure-8 shape of the collider rings. A fully consistent set of parameters have been developed considering the balance of machine performance, required technical development and cost. This paper reports recent progress on the MEIC accelerator design including electron and ion complexes, integrated interaction region design, figure-8-ring-based electron and ion polarization schemes, RF/SRF systems and ERL-based high-energy electron cooling. Luminosity performance is also presented for the MEIC baseline design.

The scheme for preservation and control of the ion polarization in the Medium-energy Electron-Ion Collider (MEIC) has been under active development in recent years. The figure-8 configuration of the ion rings provides a unique capability to control the polarization of any ion species including deuterons by means of "weak" solenoids rotating the particle spins by small angles. Insertion of "weak" solenoids into the magnetic lattices of the booster and collider rings solves the problem of polarization preservation during acceleration of the ion beam. Universal 3D spin rotators designed on the basis of "weak" solenoids allow one to obtain any polarization orientation at an interaction point of MEIC. This paper presents the baseline scheme for polarization preservation and control in the MEIC ion complex.

Ion polarization in the Medium-energy Electron-Ion Collider (MEIC) is controlled by means of universal 3D spin rotators designed on the basis of "weak" solenoids. We use numerical calculations to demonstrate that the 3D rotators have negligible effect on the orbital properties of the ring. We present calculations of the polarization dynamics along the collider's orbit for both longitudinal and transverse polarization directions at a beam interaction point. We calculate the degree of depolarization due to the longitudinal and transverse beam emittances in case when the zero-integer spin resonance is compensated.

This paper will report the recent progress in the conceptual design of MEIC, a high luminosity medium energy polarized ring-ring electron-ion collider at Jefferson lab. The topics and achievements that will be covered are design of the ion large booster and the ERL-circulator-ring-based electron cooling facility, optimization of chromatic corrections and dynamic aperture studies, schemes and tracking simulations of lepton and ion polarization in the figure-8 collider ring, and the beam-beam and electron cooling simulations. A proposal of a test facility for the MEIC electron cooler will also be discussed.