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Simulations of a meter-long plasma wakefield accelerator
S Lee1, T Katsouleas, R Hemker
1Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
Summary
Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate plasma wakefield accelerators (PWFA) can achieve high-energy particle acceleration over a meter. These findings aid in designing future multi-GeV accelerator experiments.
Area of Science:
- Plasma Physics
- Accelerator Physics
- Computational Physics
Background:
- Plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) offers a promising path to high-gradient particle acceleration.
- Analytic solutions are limited in the nonlinear blowout regime, necessitating advanced simulation techniques.
Purpose of the Study:
- To perform full-scale 2D particle-in-cell simulations of a meter-long PWFA.
- To support the design of current PWFA experiments operating in the nonlinear blowout regime.
- To develop scaling laws for future multi-GeV accelerator designs.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the parallel object-oriented code OSIRIS for 2D particle-in-cell simulations.
- Modeled a full meter of plasma wakefield acceleration.
- Compared simulation results with analytic expressions for beam dynamics.
Main Results:
- Simulations successfully modeled a meter-long PWFA in the nonlinear blowout regime.
- Achieved particle acceleration gradients of several hundred MeV/m.
- Demonstrated excellent agreement between simulations and analytic expressions for transverse betatron oscillations.
Conclusions:
- The simulations validate the feasibility of meter-scale PWFA.
- The developed scaling laws provide a foundation for designing next-generation multi-GeV accelerators.
- OSIRIS simulations are effective for studying complex PWFA regimes.