Gianluca Valentino's homepage

About me | Publication list | Selected talks | B.Sc. Thesis | Ph.D. Thesis | Links

About me

Gianluca Valentino

I am a CERN-COFUND Marie Curie fellow working within the BE/ABP group at CERN. I carried out my Ph.D. research at CERN and the University of Malta, which consisted of developing algorithms to automate and speed up the beam-based alignment of the LHC collimators.

I obtained a B.Sc. in Information and Communication Technology (First Class Honours), with specialization in Communications and Computer Engineering (CCE) at the University of Malta. I was presented with the best computer engineering thesis award by the Malta Chamber of Engineers in 2010.

My research interests span artificial intelligence and beam physics, and include pattern recognition, automation science, collimation and beam losses. I currently serve as the scientific secretary of the LHC collimation working group. You are welcome to contact me via email.


Publication List

  1. D. Wollmann, A. A. Nosych, G. Valentino, O. Aberle, R. W. Assmann, A. Bertarelli, C. Boccard, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, E. Calvo, M. Cauchi, A. Dallocchio, D. Deboy, M. Gasior, R. Jones, V. Kain, L. Lari, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi
    Beam feasibility study of a collimator with in-jaw beam position monitors
    NIM A (2014)
    published version

  2. R. Bruce, R. W. Assmann, V. Boccone, C. Bracco, M. Brugger, M. Cauchi, F. Cerutti, D. Deboy, A. Ferrari, L. Lari, A. Marsili, A. Mereghetti, D. Mirarchi, E. Quaranta, S. Redaelli, G. Robert-Demolaize, A. Rossi, B. Salvachua, E. Skordis, C. Tambasco, G. Valentino, T. Weiler, V. Vlachoudis, D. Wollmann
    Simulations and measurements of beam loss patterns at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
    Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 17, 081004 (2014)
    published version

  3. B. Salvachua, R. Bruce, F. Carra, M. Cauchi, E. B. Holzer, W. Hofle, D. Jacquet, L. Lari, D. Mirarchi, E. Nebot del Busto, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, M. Sapinski, R. Schmidt, G. Valentino, D. Valuch, J. Wenninger, D. Wollmann, M. Zerlauth
    Handling 1 MW losses with the LHC collimation system
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'14, Dresden, Germany

  4. T. W. Markiewicz, O. Aberle, A. Bertarelli, E. L. Bong, P. Gradassi, L. Keller, A. Marsili, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino
    Construction and bench testing of a prototype rotatable collimator for the LHC
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'14, Dresden, Germany

  5. N. Bosanac, A. Diaz, V. Dang, F. Ebersohn, S. Gonzalez, J. Qi, N. Sweet, N. Tie, G. Valentino, A. Fraeman, A. Gibbings, T. Maddox, C. Nie, J. Rankin, T. Rebelo, G. Taylor
    Manned sample return mission to Phobos: a technology demonstration for human exploration of Mars
    published version, Proceedings of the IEEE Aerospace Conference 2014, Big Sky, Montana, USA

  6. G. Valentino, A. Nosych, R. Bruce, M. Gasior, D. Mirarchi, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, D. Wollmann
    Successive approximation algorithm for beam-position-monitor-based LHC collimator alignment
    Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 17, 021005 (2014)
    published version

  7. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, S. Redaelli, N. Sammut
    Simulator for beam-based LHC collimator alignment
    Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 17, 021003 (2014)
    published version

  8. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, S. Jackson, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, N. Sammut, D. Wollmann, C. Zamantzas
    Fast automatic beam-based alignment of the LHC collimation system
    published version, Proceedings of ICALEPCS'13, San Francisco, California, USA

  9. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, S. Redaelli, N. Sammut
    LHC collimator alignment operational tool
    published version, Proceedings of ICALEPCS'13, San Francisco, California, USA

  10. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, D. Jacquet, S. Redaelli, E. Veyrunes
    Online status and settings monitoring for the LHC collimators
    published version, Proceedings of ICALEPCS'13, San Francisco, California, USA

  11. B. Salvachua, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, L. Lari, A. Marsili, D. Mirarchi, E. Quaranta, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    Beam-based validation of LHC collimator settings
    published version, Proceedings of the 2nd LHC Machine Protection Workshop, Annecy, France, 2013

  12. S. Redaelli, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, D. Mirarchi, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    Experience with high-intensity beam scraping and tail populations at the Large Hadron Collider
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  13. B. Salvachua, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, L. Lari, A. Marsili, D. Mirarchi, E. Quaranta, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, G. Valentino
    Cleaning performance of the LHC collimation system up to 4 TeV
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  14. B. Salvachua, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, S. Redaelli, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    Lifetime analysis at high intensity colliders applied to the LHC
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  15. R. Bruce, R. W. Assmann, V. Boccone, C. Bracco, M. Cauchi, F. Cerutti, D. Deboy, A. Ferrari, L. Lari, A. Marsili, A. Mereghetti, E. Quaranta, S. Redaelli, G. Robert-Demolaize, A. Rossi, B. Salvachua, E. Skordis, G. Valentino, T. Weiler, V. Vlachoudis, D. Wollmann
    Simulations and measurements of cleaning with 100 MJ beams in the LHC
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  16. H. Burkhardt, S. Jakobsen, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino
    Collimation down to 2 sigma in special physics runs in the LHC
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  17. N. Mounet, R. Bruce, E. Metral, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, B. Salvant, G. Valentino
    Collimator impedance measurements in the LHC
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  18. L. Drosdal, K. Cornelis, B. Goddard, V. Kain, M. Meddahi, O. Mete, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino, E. Veyrunes
    SPS scraping and LHC transverse tails
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  19. E. Quaranta, R. Bruce, L. Lari, D. Mirarchi, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino
    Cleaning inefficiency of the LHC collimation system during the energy ramp: simulations and measurements
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  20. V. Moens, R. Bruce, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino
    Comparison of LHC beam loss maps using the transverse damper blow up and tune resonance crossing methods
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  21. L. Lari, C. Bracco, R. Bruce, A. Faus-Golfe, B. Goddard, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino
    Simulations and measurements of beam losses on LHC collimators during beam abort failures
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  22. R. Versteegen, R. Bruce, J. M. Jowett, M. J. McAteer, E. H. McLean, A. S. Langner, Y. I. Levinsen, T. Persson, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, P. K. Skowronski, M. Solfaroli Camillocci, R. Tomas, G. Valentino, J. Wenninger
    Operating the LHC off-momentum for p-Pb collisions
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  23. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, M. Gasior, D. Mirarchi, A. Nosych, S. Redaelli, N. Sammut
    Development and beam tests of an automatic algorithm for alignment of LHC collimators with embedded BPMs
    published version, Proceedings of IPAC'13, Shanghai, China

  24. G. Stancari, G. Annala, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, T. R. Johnson, V. Previtali, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, D. Still, G. Valentino, A. Valishev
    Measurements of the effect of collisions on transverse beam halo diffusion in the Tevatron and in the LHC.
    published version, Proceedings of the ICFA Mini-Workshop on Beam-Beam Effects in Hadron Colliders, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland (2013).

  25. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, V. Previtali, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, G. Stancari, A. Valishev
    Beam diffusion measurements using collimator scans in the LHC
    Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 16, 021003 (2013)
    published version

  26. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, S. Redaelli, N. Sammut
    Automatic threshold selection for BLM signals during LHC collimator beam-based alignment.
    published version, Proceedings of UKSim-AMSS 6th European Modeling Symposium, Valletta, Malta (2012).

  27. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, G. J. Mueller, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, N. Sammut
    A tool based on the BPM-interpolated orbit for speeding up LHC collimator alignment.
    MOP246, Proceedings of ICFA-HB 2012, Beijing, China.

  28. G. Stancari, G. Annala, R. Assmann, R. Bruce, A. Didenko, T. R. Johnson, I. Morozov, V. Previtali, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, G. W. Saewert, B. Salvachua, D. Shatilov, V. Shiltsev, D. A. Still, G. Valentino, A. Valishev, L. G. Vorobiev
    Beam Halo Dynamics and Control with Hollow Electron Beams
    WEO3C03, Proceedings of ICFA-HB 2012, Beijing, China.

  29. D. Wollmann, O. Aberle, R. Assmann, A. Bertarelli, C. Boccard, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, A. Dallocchio, D. Deboy, M. Gasior, O. R. Jones, V. Kain, L. Lari, A. Nosych, S. Redaelli, G. Valentino
    Experimental verification for a collimator with in-jaw Beam Position Monitors
    MOP242, Proceedings of ICFA-HB 2012, Beijing, China.

  30. S. Redaelli, R. W. Assmann, G. Bellodi, K. Brodzinski, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, B. Dehning, E.B. Holzer, J.M. Jowett, L. Lari E. Nebot Del Busto, M. Pojer, A. Priebe, A. Rossi, M. Sapinski, M. Schaumann, R. Schmidt, M. Solfaroli Camillocci, G. Valentino, R. Versteegen, J. Wenninger, D. Wollmann, M. Zerlauth
    Quench tests at the Large Hadron Collider with Collimation Losses at 3.5 Z TeV
    MOP245, Proceedings of ICFA-HB 2012, Beijing, China.

  31. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, N. Sammut, D. Wollmann
    Automatic Computer Algorithms for Beam-Based Setup of the LHC Collimators.
    MOSBI1, Proceedings of ICAP 2012, Warnemunde, Germany.

  32. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, L. Lari, G. J. Mueller, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, N. Sammut
    Comparison of LHC Collimator Beam-Based Alignment Centers to the BPM-Interpolated Orbit
    TUPPR098, Proceedings of IPAC 2012, New Orleans, USA.

  33. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, F. Burkart, L. Lari, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, N. Sammut, D. Wollmann
    Modeling and Simulation of LHC Beam-Based Collimator Setup
    TUPPR097, Proceedings of IPAC 2012, New Orleans, USA.

  34. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, N. Sammut, D. Wollmann
    Semiautomatic beam-based LHC collimator alignment
    Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 15, 051002 (2012)
    published version

  35. D. Deboy, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, C. Derrez, A. Masi, S. Redaelli, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    Listening to the Large Hadron Collider
    Proceedings of the 132nd Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, April 2012, Budapest Hungary

  36. R. Bruce, R. W. Assmann, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, L. Lari, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, B. Salvachua, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    Collimator settings and performance in 2011 and 2012
    Proceedings of the Chamonix 2012 LHC performance Workshop (2012)
    published version

  37. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, N. Sammut
    Classification of LHC Beam Loss Spikes using Support Vector Machines
    Proceedings of the 10th IEEE Symposium on Applied Machine Intelligence and Informatics, Herl'any, Slovakia, 2012.
    published version

  38. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, G. Bellodi, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, J. M. Jowett, L. Lari, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, B. Salvachua, D. Wollmann
    Multi-turn Losses and Cleaning in 2011 and 2012
    Proceedings of the 3rd LHC Beam Workshop, Evian 2011
    published version

  39. G. Bellodi, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, M. Cauchi, J. M. Jowett, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    First ion collimation commissioning results at the LHC
    TUPZ007, Proceedings of IPAC 2011, San Sebastian, Spain (2011).

  40. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, S. Redaelli, N. Sammut, D. Wollmann
    Semi-automatic beam-based alignment algorithm for the LHC collimation system
    THPZ034, Proceedings of IPAC 2011, San Sebastian, Spain (2011).

  41. G. Valentino, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, N. Sammut, D. Wollmann
    Comparison of LHC collimation setups with manual and semi-automatic alignment
    THPZ035, Proceedings of IPAC 2011, San Sebastian, Spain (2011).

  42. F. Burkart, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, L. Lari, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    Halo scrapings with collimators in the LHC
    THPZ030, Proceedings of IPAC 2011, San Sebastian, Spain (2011)

  43. D. Wollmann, O. Aberle, R. W. Assmann, A. Bertarelli, C. Boccard, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, A. Dallocchio, D. Deboy, M. Gasior, R. Jones, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, G. Valentino
    First beam results for a collimator with in-jaw beam position monitors
    THPZ027, Proceedings of IPAC 2011, San Sebastian, Spain (2011)

  44. D. Wollmann, R. W. Assmann, R. Bruce, F. Burkart, M. Cauchi, D. Deboy, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, G. Valentino
    Collimation dependent beam lifetime and loss rates in the LHC
    THPZ026, Proceedings of IPAC 2011, San Sebastian, Spain (2011)

  45. M. Deile, G. Antchev, R.B. Appleby, R. Assmann, I. Atanassov, V. Avati, J. Baechler, R. Bruce, M. Dupont, M. Dutour, K. Eggert, B. Farnham,, J. Kaspar, F. Lucas Rodriguez, J. Morant, H. Niewiadomski, X. Pons, E. Radermacher, S. Ravat, F. Ravotti, S. Redaelli, G. Ruggiero, H. Sabba, M. Sapinski, W. Snoeys, G. Valentino, D. Wollmann
    The first 1 1/2 Years of TOTEM Roman Pot Operation at LHC
    MOPO011, Proceedings of IPAC 2011, San Sebastian, Spain (2011).

  46. G. Valentino, S. Zammit A technique for automatically reprogramming an embedded Linux system
    Proceedings of IEEE Eurocon 2011, Lisbon, Portugal (2011).
    published version

  47. D. Wollmann, R.W. Assmann, G. Bellodi, R. Bruce, M. Cauchi, J.M. Jowett, S. Redaelli, A. Rossi, G. Valentino
    Multi-turn losses and cleaning
    Proceedings of the 2nd LHC Beam Workshop, Evian, France 7-9 December 2010
    published version

Selected Talks

  1. Collimator Settings Generation, Management and Verification
    Invited talk given at the LHC Machine Protection Workshop, Annecy, France, 12th March 2013

  2. Automatic Computer Algorithms for Beam-Based Setup of the LHC Collimators
    Invited talk given at ICAP 2012, Warnemunde, Germany, 20th August 2012

  3. A fast automatic algorithm for the positioning of the LHC collimator jaws
    Talk given at a meeting of the Malta Chamber of Scientists, Valletta, 11th April 2012

  4. Multi-turn losses and cleaning in 2011 and 2012
    Invited talk given in the 3rd LHC Beam Workshop, Evian, 13th December 2011

Ph.D. Thesis

G. Valentino
Fast Automatic Beam-Based Alignment of the LHC Collimator Jaws
defended at the University of Malta, Msida, Malta in September 2013.

B.Sc. Thesis

G. Valentino
Design and Implementation of an Intelligent Peripheral Controller
presented at the University of Malta, Msida, Malta in June 2010 (thesis supervisor: Dr. Ing. S. Zammit).
Thesis synopsis presented at the National Workshop in Information and Communications Technology, Malta, 2010
Awarded best computer engineering thesis for 2010 by the Malta Chamber of Engineers

Links


updated 08.10.2014