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The resolution of the system given by Maxwell's equations and Vlasov equation in three dimensions can describe all the phenomena of interest for laser wakefield acceleration, with few exceptions (e.g. ionization). Such arduous task can be…
Three dimensional Particle in Cell simulations of Laser Wakefield Acceleration require a considerable amount of resources but are necessary to have realistic predictions and to design future experiments. The planned experiments for the…
Simulating laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) in a Lorentz boosted frame in which the plasma drifts towards the laser with $v_b$ can speedup the simulation by factors of $\gamma^2_b=(1-v^2_b/c^2)^{-1}$. In these simulations the…
In this dissertation, a fully object-oriented, fully relativistic, multi-dimensional Particle-In-Cell code was developed and applied to answer key questions in plasma-based accelerator research. The simulations increase the understanding of…
The quality of electron bunches accelerated by laser wakefields is highly dependant on the temporal and spatial features of the laser driver. Analysis of experiments performed at APOLLON PW-class laser facility shows that spatial…
Plasma wakefield accelerators (PWA), such as AWAKE, require homogenous high-density plasmas. The Madison AWAKE Prototype (MAP) has been built to create a uniform argon plasma in the $10^{20}\,\mathrm{m^{-3}}$ density range using helicon…
In a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA), an intense laser pulse excites a plasma wave that traps and accelerates electrons to relativistic energies. When the pulse overlaps the accelerated electrons, it can enhance the energy gain through…
A new spectral particle-in-cell (PIC) method for plasma modeling is presented and discussed. In the proposed scheme, the Fourier-Bessel transform is used to translate the Maxwell equations to the quasi-cylindrical spectral domain. In this…
High-fidelity modeling of plasma-based acceleration (PBA) requires the use of 3D fully nonlinear and kinetic descriptions based on the particle-in-cell (PIC) method. Three-dimensional PIC algorithms based on the quasi-static approximation…
Recent developments in high peak-power table-top laser systems reaching highly relativistic light intensities have led to significant advances in laser-driven particle acceleration schemes (mainly the laser wakefield acceleration, LWFA)…
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…
A new generation of laser wakefield accelerators, supported by the extreme accelerating fields generated in the interaction of PW-Class lasers and underdense targets, promises the production of high quality electron beams in short distances…
We use the quasi-static particle-in-cell code QuickPIC to perform full-scale, one-to-one LWFA numerical experiments, with parameters that closely follow current experimental conditions. The propagation of state-of-the-art laser pulses in…
The study of laser wakefield electron acceleration (LWFA) using mid-IR laser drivers is a promising path for future laser driven electronaccelerators, when compared to traditional near-IR laser drivers uperating at 0.8-1 {\mu}m central…
When modeling laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) using the particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm in a Lorentz boosted frame, the plasma is drifting relativistically at $\beta_b c$ towards the laser, which can lead to a computational speedup of…
The 3D quasi-static particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm is a very efficient method for modeling short-pulse laser or relativistic charged particle beam-plasma interactions. In this algorithm, the plasma response to a non-evolving laser or…
Electron self-injection and acceleration until dephasing in the blowout regime is studied for a set of initial conditions typical of recent experiments with 100 terawatt-class lasers. Two different approaches to computationally efficient,…
We study the energetics of wake excitation during the laser-plasma interaction in application to laser wakefield accelerators. We find that both the wake amplitude and the accelerating efficiency (transformer ratio) can be maximized by…
The characterization of plasma wakefield acceleration experiments using emitted photons from betatron radiation requires numerical models in support of instrumentation of single-shot, double-differential angular-energy spectra. Precision…
In the wake of the intense effort made for the experimental CILEX project, numerical simulation cam- paigns have been carried out in order to finalize the design of the facility and to identify optimal laser and plasma parameters. These…