Related papers: AWAKE: On the path to particle physics application…
Plasma-based particle accelerators promise to extend the revolutionary work performed with conventional particle accelerators to studies with smaller footprints, lower costs, and higher energies. Here, we propose a new approach to access an…
The goal of the first phase of the AWAKE \cite{AWAKE1,AWAKE2} experiment at CERN is to measure the self-modulation \cite{SMI} of the $\sigma_z = 12\,\rm{cm}$ long SPS proton bunch into microbunches after traversing $10\,\rm{m}$ of plasma…
A new scheme for injection and acceleration of electrons in wakefield accelerators is suggested based on the co-action of a laser pulse and an electron beam. This synergy leads to stronger wakefield generation and higher energy gain in the…
Despite numerous achievements and recent progress, nuclear physics is often (wrongly) considered an old field of research nowadays. However, developments in theoretical frameworks and reliable experimental techniques have made the field…
A new scheme of proton acceleration from a laser-driven near-critical-density plasma is proposed. Plasma with a tailored density profile allows a two-stage acceleration of protons. The protons are pre-accelerated in the laser-driven…
Magnetowave induced plasma wakefield acceleration (MPWA) in a relativistic astrophysical outflow has been proposed as a viable mechanism for the acceleration of cosmic particles to ultra high energies. Here we present simulation results…
The AWAKE experiment will use a \SI{400}{GeV/c} proton beam with a longitudinal bunch length of $\sigma_z = 12\,\rm{cm}$ to create and sustain GV/m plasma wakefields over 10 meters . A 12 cm long bunch can only drive strong wakefields in a…
In a laser plasma accelerator (LPA), a short and intense laser pulse propagating in a plasma drives a wakefield (a plasma wave with a relativistic phase velocity) that can sustain extremely large electric fields, enabling compact…
The self-modulation instability is a key effect that makes possible the usage of nowadays proton beams as drivers for plasma wakefield acceleration. Development of the instability in uniform plasmas and in plasmas with a small density…
Plasma-based accelerators (PBAs) driven by either intense lasers (laser wakefield accelerators, LWFAs) or particle beams (plasma wakefield accelerators, PWFAs), can accelerate charged particles at extremely high gradients compared to…
All-optical controlled injection and acceleration of electrons in a laser wakefield has recently been achieved (Faure et al, Nature v. 444 p. 737, 2006). Injection was made using a second counterpropagating laser pulse with the same…
Intense electromagnetic pulses interacting with a plasma can create a wake of plasma oscillations. Electrons trapped in such oscillations can be accelerated under certain conditions to very high energies. We study the conditions for the…
Ionization injection in a plasma wakefield accelerator was investigated experimentally using two lithium plasma sources of different lengths. The ionization of the helium gas, used to confine the lithium, injects electrons in the wake.…
Propagation distances of intense laser pulses and high-charge electron beams through the plasma are, respectively, limited by diffraction and self-deceleration. This imposes severe constraints on the performance of the two major advanced…
We access the possibility of using the conventional RF accelerator as an injector for the plasma driven wakefield accelerator. Conventional accelerators deliver high quality beams with low emittance and low energy spread. Once injected into…
The dynamic process of a laser or particle beam propagating from vacuum into underdense plasma has been investigated theoretically. Our theoretical model combines a Lagrangian fluid model with the classic quasistatic wakefield theory. It is…
In 2017, AWAKE demonstrated the seeded self-modulation (SSM) of a 400 GeV proton beam from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN. The angular distribution of the protons deflected due to SSM is a quantitative measure of the process,…
During the past decade, the interaction of high-intensity lasers with solid targets has attracted much interest, regarding its potential in accelerating charged particles. In spite of tremendous progress in laser-plasma based acceleration,…
In this article, we concentrate on the basic physics of relativistic plasma wave accelerators. The generation of relativistic plasma waves by intense lasers or electron beams in low-density plasmas is important in the quest for producing…
Seeded Self-modulation (SSM) has been demonstrated to transform a long proton bunch into many equidistant micro-bunches (e.g., the AWAKE case), which then resonantly excite strong wakefields. However, the wakefields in a uniform plasma…