No Arabic abstract
We use a relativistic ionization front to provide various initial transverse wakefield amplitudes for the self-modulation of a long proton bunch in plasma. We show experimentally that, with sufficient initial amplitude ($ge(4.1pm0.4)$ MV/m), the phase of the modulation along the bunch is reproducible from event to event, with 3 to 7% (of 2$pi$) rms variations all along the bunch. The phase is not reproducible for lower initial amplitudes. We observe the transition between these two regimes. Phase reproducibility is essential for deterministic external injection of particles to be accelerated.
Seeded self-modulation in a plasma can transform a long proton beam into a train of micro-bunches that can excite a strong wakefield over long distances, but this needs the plasma to have a certain density profile with a short-scale ramp up. For the parameters of the AWAKE experiment at CERN, we numerically study which density profiles are optimal if the self-modulation is seeded by a short electron bunch. With the optimal profiles, it is possible to freeze the wakefield at approximately half the wavebreaking level. High-energy electron bunches (160 MeV) are less efficient seeds than low-energy ones (18 MeV), because the wakefield of the former lasts longer than necessary for efficient seeding.
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. %
We present numerical simulations and experimental results of the self-modulation of a long proton bunch in a plasma with linear density gradients along the beam path. Simulation results agree with the experimental results reported in arXiv:2007.14894v2: with negative gradients, the charge of the modulated bunch is lower than with positive gradients. In addition, the bunch modulation frequency varies with gradient. Simulation results show that dephasing of the wakefields with respect to the relativistic protons along the plasma is the main cause for the loss of charge. The study of the modulation frequency reveals details about the evolution of the self-modulation process along the plasma. In particular for negative gradients, the modulation frequency across time-resolved images of the bunch indicates the position along the plasma where protons leave the wakefields. Simulations and experimental results are in excellent agreement.
We analyze the electromagnetic field of a small bunch that uniformly moves in a circular waveguide and transverses a boundary between an area filled up with cold magnetized electron plasma and a vacuum area. The magnetic field is supposed to be strong but finite so the perturbation technique can be applied. Two cases are studied in detail: the bunch is flying out of the plasma into a vacuum, and, inversely, the bunch is flying into the plasma out of the vacuum area of waveguide. The investigation of the waveguide mode components is performed analytically with methods of the complex variable function theory. The main peculiarities of the bunch radiation in such situations are revealed.
If a charged particle bunch propagates near a plasma-vacuum boundary, it excites a surface wave and experiences a force caused by the boundary. For the linearly responding plasma and ultra-relativistic bunch, the spatial distribution of excited fields is calculated, and the force exerted on a short and narrow bunch is approximated by elementary functions. The force attracts the bunch to the boundary, if the bunch is in the vacuum, and repels otherwise. There are also additional focusing and defocusing components of the force.