Potential-well bunch lengthening in electron storage rings

The cubic equation derived by B. Zotter has been popularly used for electron storage rings to describe the scaling law of potential-well bunch lengthening. This equation has also often been used to calculate the effective impedance when the bunch lengthening is measured or simulated. This paper discusses the validity of Zotter's equation and presents an alternative but self-consistent equation for potential-well bunch lengthening. Its applications to predicting bunch lengthening and extracting effective impedance from bunch length measurements are also addressed.