Abstract
In the blowout regime of plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA), which is the most relevant configuration for current and future applications and experiments, the plasma flow that is excited by the ultra-relativistic drive beam is highly nonlinear. Thus, fast and accurate simulations codes are indispensable tools in the study of this extremely important problem. We have developed a novel algorithm that deals with the propagation of axisymmetric bunches of otherwise arbitrary profile through a cold plasma of uniform density. In contrast to the existing PWFA simulation tools, our code PLEBS (PLasma-Electron Beam Simulations) uses a new computational scheme which ensures that the transverse and longitudinal directions are completely decoupled---a feature which significantly enhances the speed and robustness of the new method. Our numerical results are benchmarked against the QuickPic code and excellent agreement is established between the two approaches. Moreover, our new technique provides a very convenient framework for studying issues such as beam loading and short-range wakefields within the plasma cavity.
Highlights
The technique of plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA), in which an intense, ultrarelativistic drive beam excites strong accelerating fields as it moves through a dense plasma column, is one of the most promising schemes for achieving the unprecedented acceleration gradients necessary for linear collider or compact freeelectron laser (FEL) applications [1,2]
We present the outline of a novel PWFA simulation code that, apart from treating the basic problem of electron acceleration, offers a natural and convenient framework for dealing with more advanced subjects like the ones mentioned above
In addition to the equations for the electromagnetic field derived in the previous section, we need the equations of motion for the plasma electrons
Summary
The technique of plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA), in which an intense, ultrarelativistic drive beam excites strong accelerating fields as it moves through a dense plasma column, is one of the most promising schemes for achieving the unprecedented acceleration gradients necessary for linear collider or compact freeelectron laser (FEL) applications [1,2]. Unlike the early research efforts in this area [3,4,5], most contemporary iterations of this concept are based on the so-called blowout regime [6,7], in which the density of the driver is comparable to (or considerably higher than) that of the plasma background In this case, the drive beam expels plasma electrons from its path in such a way that a comoving cavity (or bubble) is created in its wake. Starting entirely from first principles, our semianalytical formalism is based on the assumption that we are only interested in the steady-state regime of the interaction This quasistatic approximation implies that we neglect the longitudinal plasma nonuniformity and other fast effects associated with the injection process.
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