We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the solar system, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a large, wide-field ground-based system designed to obtain repeated images covering the sky visible from Cerro Pachón in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg 2 field of view, a 3.2-gigapixel camera, and six filters (ugrizy) covering the wavelength range 320-1050 nm. The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. About 90% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode that will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg 2 region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 yr of operations and will yield a co-added map to r∼27.5. These data will result in databases including about 32 trillion observations of 20 billion galaxies and a similar number of stars, and they will serve the majority of the primary science programs. The remaining 10% of the observing time will be allocated to special projects such as Very Deep and Very Fast time domain surveys, whose details are currently under discussion. We illustrate how the LSST science drivers led to these choices of system parameters, and we describe the expected data products and their characteristics.

We present a new technique to continuously measure and compensate the global difference coupling coefficient through the continuous measurements of eigenmode projection parameters, using a high resolution phase-locked-loop tune meter. First, four eigenmode projection parameters are defined as the observables for weak difference coupling. Then, their analytical expressions are obtained using the strict matrix treatment and the Hamiltonian perturbation theory of linear coupling. From these parameters, the complex global coupling coefficient can be fully determined and compensated. This method was successfully demonstrated in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) 2006 run.

The two eigentunes Q I and Q II , two eigenmode amplitude ratios R I and R II , and two eignmode phase differences ∆φ I and ∆φ II , are defined as the coupling observables for the linear weak difference betatron coupling. Simulations were carried out to investigate their behaviors in global decoupling scans. It was found that the amplitude ratios R I,II are more sensitive than the tune split when the decoupling scan is approaching the global uncoupled point, and that the phase differences ∆φ I,II tell the right global decoupling direction, the right strength combination of the skew quadrupoles or families. The analytical solution to these six coupling observables is calculated through both the strict matrix approach and the perturbation Hamiltonian approach. The constant phase differences in the right decoupling direction hint a possible global decoupling phase loop. Dedicated beam experiments were carried out at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The preliminary results from the beam experiments are presented. These six parameters can be used for the global decoupling in feedback mode, especially on the non-stop energy ramp.

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