Beam merging assisted by a bent crystal

Bunch merging is a well-established technique to increase the intensity of synchrotrons and the luminosity of circular colliders. We suggest to exploit a combination of channeling, volume reflection and amorphous interactions in a bent crystal for beam merging in a transfer line. Two beams converging into the bent crystal along special directions should emerge in almost parallel directions. A merging scenario is discussed, and data collected by the UA9 Collaboration are reprocessed to prove its feasibility. Comparison with magnetic stacking, which is a similar process, is presented.