Suppression of Transverse Instabilities by Fast Feedback in the Fermilab Booster

Systems to damp radial and vertical instabilities of individual rf bunches in the Fermilab Booster are being implemented. The positions of individual bunches are derived from stripline pickups. The position information is transmitted over a variable delay, amplified, and applied to deflectors after one almost complete revolution, 6.25 horizontal and 6.75 vertical betatron wavelengths downstream of the pickup. Motivation, system concepts, design considerations, and initial operating experience are described here. Accompanying papers describe the electronics for signal processing and transmission.