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Laser wakefield accelerators rely on the extremely high electric fields of nonlinear plasma waves to trap and accelerate electrons to relativistic energies over short distances. When driven strongly enough, plasma waves break, trapping a…

The radiation pressure of next generation ultra-high intensity ($>10^{23}$ W/cm$^{2}$) lasers could efficiently accelerate ions to GeV energies. However, nonlinear quantum-electrodynamic effects play an important role in the interaction of…

We investigate shock structure and particle acceleration in relativistic magnetized collisionless electron-ion shocks by means of 2.5D particle-in-cell simulations with ion-to-electron mass ratios (m_i/m_e) ranging from 16 to 1000. We…

We briefly report on the recently proposed [G. Fiore, R. Fedele, U. de Angelis, Phys. Plasmas 21 (2014), 113105], [G. Fiore, S. De Nicola, arXiv:1509.04656] electron acceleration mechanism named "slingshot effect": under suitable conditions…

Particle acceleration at magnetized purely perpendicular relativistic shocks in electron-ion plasmas are studied by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Magnetized shocks with the upstream bulk Lorentz factor $\gamma_1 \gg…

Plasma wakefield acceleration is the most promising acceleration technique for compact and cheap accelerators, thanks to the high accelerating gradients achievable. Nevertheless, this approach still suffers of shot-to-shot instabilities,…

The use of ultrathin solid foils offers optimal conditions for accelerating protons from laser-matter interactions. When the target is thin enough that relativistic self-induced transparency (RSIT) sets in, all of the target electrons get…

Plasma acceleration is considered a prospective technology for building a compact multi-TeV electron-positron collider in the future. The challenge of this endeavor is greater for positrons than for the electrons because usually the…

Plasma acceleration has emerged as a promising technology for future particle accelerators, particularly linear colliders. Significant progress has been made in recent decades toward high-efficiency and high-quality acceleration of…

We explore the physics of electron acceleration in a plasma medium in an effective field theory framework. Employing a multiple Compton scattering mechanism, it is found that the acceleration can be sustained in such a medium so as to…

We present experimental studies on ion acceleration from ultra-thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils irradiated by ultra-high contrast laser pulses of energy 0.7 J focussed to peak intensities of 5*10^{19} W/cm^2. A reduction in electron…

Extreme laser pulses driving non-equilibrium processes in high density plasmas permit an increase of the fusion of hydrogen with the boron isotope 11 by nine orders of magnitude of the energy gains above the classical values. This is the…

Relativistic positron beams are required for fundamental research in nonlinear strong field QED, plasma physics, and laboratory astrophysics. Positrons are difficult to create and manipulate due to their short lifetime, and their energy…

We present a new experimental method to generate quasi-perpendicular supercritical magnetized collisionless shocks. In our experiment, ambient nitrogen (N) plasma is at rest and well-magnetized, and it has uniform mass density. The plasma…

A cascaded ion acceleration scheme is proposed by use of ultrashort laser-irradiated microtubes. When the electrons of a microtube are blown away by intense laser pulses, strong charge-separation electric fields are formed in the microtube…

Usage of double-layer targets consisting of heavy and light material with modulated interface between them provides a way for laser-driven generation of collimated ion beams. With extensive 2D3V PIC simulations we show that this…

Plasma processes close to SNR shocks result in the amplification of magnetic fields and in the acceleration of electrons, injecting them into the diffusive acceleration mechanism. The acceleration of electrons and the B field amplification…

High-quality proton beams generated by laser-plasma interactions are of significant interest for applications ranging from tumor therapy to fast ignition in inertial confinement fusion. However, simultaneously achieving high energy coupling…

Laser-ablated high-energy-density (HED) plasmas offer a promising route to study astrophysically relevant processes underlying collisionless shock formation, magnetic field amplification, and particle acceleration in the laboratory. Using…

In laser-wakefield acceleration, an ultra-intense laser pulse is focused into an underdense plasma in order to accelerate electrons to relativistic velocities. In most cases, the pulses consist of multiple optical cycles and the interaction…