arXiv subjects

A. P. Sosedkin

Publications and source records attributed to A. P. Sosedkin.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

LCODE: Quasistatic code for simulating long-term evolution of three-dimensional plasma wakefields

A recently developed three-dimensional version of the quasistatic code LCODE has a novel feature that enables high-accuracy simulations of the long-term evolution of waves in plasma wakefield accelerators. Equations of plasma particle motion are modified to suppress clustering and numerical heating of macroparticles, which otherwise occur because the Debye length is not resolved by the numerical grid. The previously observed effects of premature wake chaotization and wavebreaking disappear with the modified equations.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2019

Accelerating field enhancement due to ion motion in plasma wakefield accelerators

Ion motion in plasma wakefield accelerators can cause temporal increase of the longitudinal electric field shortly before the wave breaks. The increase is caused by re-distribution of the wave energy in transverse direction and may be important for correct interpretation of experimental results and acceleration of high-quality beams.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Experimental observation of proton bunch modulation in a plasma, at varying plasma densities

We give direct experimental evidence for the observation of the full transverse self-modulation of a relativistic proton bunch propagating through a dense plasma. The bunch exits the plasma with a density modulation resulting from radial wakefield effects with a period reciprocal to the plasma frequency. We show that the modulation is seeded by using an intense laser pulse co-propagating with the proton bunch which creates a relativistic ionization front within the bunch. We show by varying the plasma density over one order of magnitude that the modulation period scales with the expected dependence on the plasma density.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2018

Acceleration of electrons in the plasma wakefield of a proton bunch

High energy particle accelerators have been crucial in providing a deeper understanding of fundamental particles and the forces that govern their interactions. In order to increase the energy or reduce the size of the accelerator, new acceleration schemes need to be developed. Plasma wakefield acceleration, in which the electrons in a plasma are excited, leading to strong electric fields, is one such promising novel acceleration technique. Pioneering experiments have shown that an intense laser pulse or electron bunch traversing a plasma, drives electric fields of 10s GV/m and above. These values are well beyond those achieved in conventional RF accelerators which are limited to ~0.1 GV/m. A limitation of laser pulses and electron bunches is their low stored energy, which motivates the use of multiple stages to reach very high energies. The use of proton bunches is compelling, as they have the potential to drive wakefields and accelerate electrons to high energy in a single accelerating stage. The long proton bunches currently available can be used, as they undergo self-modulation, a particle-plasma interaction which longitudinally splits the bunch into a series of high density microbunches, which then act resonantly to create large wakefields. The AWAKE experiment at CERN uses intense bunches of protons, each of energy 400 GeV, with a total bunch energy of 19 kJ, to drive a wakefield in a 10 m long plasma. Bunches of electrons are injected into the wakefield formed by the proton microbunches. This paper presents measurements of electrons accelerated up to 2 GeV at AWAKE. This constitutes the first demonstration of proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. The potential for this scheme to produce very high energy electron bunches in a single accelerating stage means that the results shown here are a significant step towards the development of future high energy particle accelerators.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2018

High-quality positrons from a multi-proton bunch driven hollow plasma wakefield accelerator

By means of hollow plasma, multiple proton bunches work well in driving nonlinear plasma wakefields and accelerate electrons to energy frontier with preserved beam quality. However, the acceleration of positrons is different because the accelerating structure is strongly charge dependent. There is a discrepancy between keeping a small normalized emittance and a small energy spread. This results from the conflict that the plasma electrons used to provide focusing to the multiple proton bunches dilute the positron bunch. By loading an extra electron bunch to repel the plasma electrons and meanwhile reducing the plasma density slightly to shift the accelerating phase with a conducive slope to the positron bunch, the positron bunch can be accelerate to 400 GeV (40% of the driver energy) with an energy spread as low as 1% and well preserved normalized emittance. The successful generation of high quality and high energy positrons paves the way to the future energy frontier lepton colliders.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2018

Dissipation of weakly nonlinear wakefields due to ion motion

In an initially uniform plasma, the lifetime of a weakly nonlinear plasma wave excited by a short driver is limited by the ion dynamics. The wakefield contains a slowly varying radial component, which results in a perturbation of the ion density profile and consequent destruction of the plasma wave. We suggest a novel method of characterizing the wave lifetime in numerical simulations quantitatively and study how the lifetime scales with the ion mass. We also discuss the implications of the limited lifetime on a recently proposed method of generating high-power terahertz radiation with counterpropagating wakefields driven by colliding laser pulses.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Witness emittance growth caused by driver density fluctuations in plasma wakefield accelerators

We discovered a novel effect that can cause witness emittance growth in plasma wakefield accelerators. The effect appears in linear or moderately nonlinear plasma waves. The witness experiences a time-varying focusing force and loses quality during the time required for the drive beam to reach transverse equilibrium with the plasma wave. The higher the witness charge, the lower the emittance growth rate because of additional focusing of the witness by its own wakefield. However, the witness head always degrades, and the boundary between degraded and intact parts gradually propagates backward along the witness bunch.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Amplitude enhancement of the self-modulated plasma wakefields

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 suffer from a quick amplitude drop after reaching the peak. This is caused by a significant decrease of the wake phase velocity during self-modulation. A large number of protons slip out of focusing and decelerating regions and get lost, and thus cannot contribute to the wakefield growth. Previously suggested solutions incorporate a sharp or a linear plasma longitudinal density increase which can compensate the backward phase shift and therefore enhance the wakefields. In this paper, we propose a new plasma density profile, which can further boost the wakefield amplitude by 30%. More importantly, almost 24% of protons initially located along one plasma period survive in a micro-bunch after modulation. The underlying physics is discussed.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2018

Response of narrow cylindrical plasmas to dense charged particle beams

By combining the linear theory and numerical simulations, we study the response of a radially bounded axisymmetric plasma to relativistic charged particle beams in a wide range of plasma densities. We present analytical expressions for the magnetic field generated in the dense plasma, prove vanishing of the wakefield potential beyond the trajectory of the outermost plasma electron, and follow the wakefield potential change as the plasma density decreases. At high plasma densities, wavefronts of electron density and radial electric field are distorted because of beam charge and current neutralization, while wavefronts of wakefield potential and longitudinal electric field are not. At plasma densities lower than or of the order of beam density, multiple electron flows develop in and outside the plasma, resulting in nonzero wakefield potential around the plasma column.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2017

Plasma electron trapping in quasistatic simulations of plasma wakefield acceleration

Plasma wakefield acceleration studies currently rely considerably on simulating this effect numerically using highly specialized software. Exorbitant computational difficulty of the problem requires simplifying models and methods,limiting such software applicability. Quasistatic approximation, for example, utilizes a plasma model that does not include trapping plasma electrons by the wakefield. This article presents a method that reuses a quasistatic plasma-beam solver to calculate parameters of wakefield-trapped plasma electrons.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2017

AWAKE readiness for the study of the seeded self-modulation of a 400\,GeV proton bunch

AWAKE is a proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment. % We show that the experimental setup briefly described here is ready for systematic study of the seeded self-modulation of the 400\,GeV proton bunch in the 10\,m-long rubidium plasma with density adjustable from 1 to 10$\times10^{14}$\,cm$^{-3}$. % We show that the short laser pulse used for ionization of the rubidium vapor propagates all the way along the column, suggesting full ionization of the vapor. % We show that ionization occurs along the proton bunch, at the laser time and that the plasma that follows affects the proton bunch. %

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

AWAKE, The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment at CERN

The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment (AWAKE) aims at studying plasma wakefield generation and electron acceleration driven by proton bunches. It is a proof-of-principle R&D experiment at CERN and the world's first proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment. The AWAKE experiment will be installed in the former CNGS facility and uses the 400 GeV/c proton beam bunches from the SPS. The first experiments will focus on the self-modulation instability of the long (rms ~12 cm) proton bunch in the plasma. These experiments are planned for the end of 2016. Later, in 2017/2018, low energy (~15 MeV) electrons will be externally injected to sample the wakefields and be accelerated beyond 1 GeV. The main goals of the experiment will be summarized. A summary of the AWAKE design and construction status will be presented.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2014

Electron trapping and acceleration by the plasma wakefield of a self-modulating proton beam

It is shown that co-linear injection of electrons or positrons into the wakefield of the self-modulating particle beam is possible and ensures high energy gain. The witness beam must co-propagate with the tail part of the driver, since the plasma wave phase velocity there can exceed the light velocity, which is necessary for efficient acceleration. If the witness beam is many wakefield periods long, then the trapped charge is limited by beam loading effects. The initial trapping is better for positrons, but at the acceleration stage a considerable fraction of positrons is lost from the wave. For efficient trapping of electrons, the plasma boundary must be sharp, with the density transition region shorter than several centimeters. Positrons are not susceptible to the initial plasma density gradient.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2014

Parameter sensitivity of plasma wakefields driven by self-modulating proton beams

The dependence of wakefield amplitude and phase on beam and plasma parameters is studied in the parameter area of interest for self-modulating proton beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. The wakefield sensitivity to small parameter variations reveals the expected level of shot-to-shot jitter of experimental results. Of all the parameters, the plasma density stands out, as the wakefield phase is extremely sensitive to this parameter. The study of large variations determines the effects that limit the achievable accelerating field in different parts of the parameter space: nonlinear elongation of the wakefield period, insufficient charge of the drive beam, emittance-driven beam divergence, and motion of plasma ions.

physics.plasm-ph↗