[Ultra-Intense Seminar] Plasma waves in a different frame: a Tutorial for Plasma-based Electron Accelerators

durch Prof. Andrea Macchi (CNR/INO & Physics Dept. University of Pisa, Italy)

Freitag 18.06.2021, 15:00 → 17:00 Europe/Berlin

A tutorial description of plasma waves in a cold plasma, with emphasis on their application in plasma-based electron accelerators, is presented at a level accessible to newcomers of the field. It is shown that estimating key parameters for plasma acceleration such as the maximum or “wave breaking” amplitude and the corresponding energy gained by electrons “surfing” the wave requires a relativistic and nonlinear analysis. This can be done with greatly reduced mathematical complexity by using a Lorentz transformation to a frame co-moving at the phase velocity of the wave. The transformation reduces the problem to a second-order ordinary differential equation so that the analysis can exploit the analogy with the mechanical motion of a particle in a potential well. The results are compared with those obtained for "wake" plasma waves by a numerical model which can serve as a very first approach to plasma simulation. We also briefly show how these ideas are applied to electron acceleration from surface plasma waves.

Refs:
- A. Macchi, "Plasma waves in a different frame", Am. J. Phys. 88 (2020) 723
- A. Macchi, "A Superintense Laser-Plasma Interaction Theory Primer" (Springer, 2013), sec. 2.3, 3.6 & 4.1
- L. Fedeli et al, "Electron acceleration by relativistic surface plasmons in laser-grating interaction", Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 015001 (2016)
 

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