Below are listed a few sound, signal and spectra examples based on data acquired with operational LHC BBQ systems, in fact the reason the BBQ project was started for.
So far LHC BBQ sounds have not been available in public and the 20th anniversary of the BBQ project is a very good occasion to do it.
The LHC consists of two beams, beam 1 (B1) and beam 2 (B2) whose parameters must be measured and controlled separately.
Each beam is measured with four independent BBQ systems, optimised for different LHC beam conditions and operation modes.
Presented data was produced by two systems, "Continuous High Sensitivity" system and "Continuous Gated" system.
Both systems are "continuous", meaning that they produce data all the time and with (practically) fixed settings. There are another two corresponding systems, called "On Demand", whose operation can be optimised for particular beam conditions or special measurements.
Data from "On Demand" systems is not shown here, as it should be similar to data from the corresponding "Continuous" systems.
The "High Sensitivity" systems are optimised for monitoring the smallest possible transverse beam oscillations of all circulating bunches.
The "Gated" systems are capable of measuring a group of bunches, from one to a thousand. The systems use series RF switches, which cannot operate with full amplitude signals from tune beam sensors (dual-plane 120 mm striplines).
The beam signals must be attenuated, resulting in sensitivity significantly lower than that of the "High Sensitivity" systems operating with full beam signals.
Data produced by the "Continuous" systems is logged all the time, separately for beam 1 and beam 2, and separately for the horizontal (H) and vertical (V) planes of the beam transverse motion.
Presented examples are based on data logged during physics fill #10312 of 4/11/24, one of the last high-intensity proton physics fills of the 2024 run, when the LHC operation was already very well optimised.
This fill was chosen due to particularly long and interesting to hear beam oscillations after pilot injections.

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The plot to the left presents the evolution of beam intensities of the example LHC physics fill.
The left part of the plot shows the beginning of the fill, with the bottom time axis, while the right part shows the fill end and the beam dump, with the upper time axis.
As the whole fill lasts about 7 hours, most of the physics beam time is omitted, when beam conditions do not change much.
Below the intensity curves there are strips with the same color coding as the beam intensities, marking time periods selected for the presented examples.
The examples are given in the chronological order and their numbers are shown next to their corresponding strips.
Example #1 concerns the pilot injection of beam 1.
This first example is explained in more detail than the following ones, so it is recommended to see it first.
The pilot beam is the smallest beam which can be seen by LHC beam instrumentation and is injected into an empty LHC ring to check machine settings and optimise them before physics beam is injected.
The pilot intensity is in the order of 0.001 % of the full LHC intensity and is so small that it can be safely lost if the LHC settings are not optimal.
The very small pilot intensity is not at all visible in the plot.
The pilot beam is used to optimise LHC parameters and make sure that the following high intensity beam can be safely injected.
Example #2 concerns the pilot injection of beam 2.
Both LHC beams circulate in the same machine, but as presented here, they do not behave exactly the same way.
Example #3 concerns the first high intensity batch injection of beam 1.
Such an injection consists of a group of many high-intensity bunches, which are called a "batch".
Example #4 concerns the first high intensity batch injection of beam 2.
Example #5a and Example #5b concern the last high intensity batch injection of beam 1.
The examples are based on data produced by the Continuous High-Sensitivity and the Continuous Gated systems, respectively.
Example #6a and Example #6b concern the energy ramp beginning and beam 1 signals.
The examples are based on data produced by the Continuous High-Sensitivity and the Continuous Gated systems, respectively.
Example #7a and Example #7b concern stable beams operation mode and beam 1 signals, when both beams collide and physics data is collected in the LHC experiments.
The examples are based on data produced by the Continuous High-Sensitivity and the Continuous Gated systems, respectively.
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Do not overlook the possibility to listen to the LHC beam !
Headphones help a lot to resolve different components.
As the LHC is the largest accelerator on this planet, its revolution frequency of 11 245 Hz is the lowest.
Because of that, the bandwidth of the LHC beam transverse oscillations observed with BBQ systems only extends to about 6 kHz (half of the revolution), so all sound records presented here are completely audible without any manipulations.
A typical operation cycle of the LHC with beams intended for producing physics results lasts several hours. Here are selected characteristic parts of such a cycle, each lasting not more than a minute.

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Example #1: beam 1 pilot injection,
Continuous High Sensitivity LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
- H and then V : in both stereo channels, first 1 s of H, then 1 s of V
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Example #2: beam 2 pilot injection,
Continuous High Sensitivity LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
- H and then V : in both stereo channels, first 1 s of H, then 1 s of V
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Example #3: first high intensity injection of beam 1,
Continuous High Sensitivity LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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Example #4: first high intensity injection of beam 2,
Continuous High Sensitivity LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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Example #5a: last two physics beam injections,
B1, Continuous High Sensitivity LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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Example #5b: last two physics beam injections,
B1, Continuous Gated LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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Example #6a: energy ramp beginning,
B1, Continuous High Sensitivity LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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Example #6b: energy ramp beginning,
B1, Continuous Gated LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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Example #7a: stable beams (physics),
B1, Continuous High Sensitivity LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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Example #7b: stable beam (Physics,
B1, Continuous Gated LHC BBQ system, 4/11/24
Details
Sound records:
- H+V : both planes, H in L channel, V in R channel
- H : only H plane in both stereo channels
- V : only V plane In both stereo channels
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(c) M.Gasior, CERN-SY-BI. All rights reserved.
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