Self-Modulation Instability of a Long Proton Bunch in Plasmas

Journal Article · Fri Jun 25 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.104.255003· OSTI ID:21410444

Kumar, Naveen; Pukhov, Alexander; Lotov, Konstantin ^[1]

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1. Institut fuer Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet, Duesseldorf D-40225 Germany (Germany)

An analytical model for the self-modulation instability of a long relativistic proton bunch propagating in uniform plasmas is developed. The self-modulated proton bunch resonantly excites a large amplitude plasma wave (wakefield), which can be used for acceleration of plasma electrons. Analytical expressions for the linear growth rates and the number of exponentiations are given. We use full three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to study the beam self-modulation and transition to the nonlinear stage. It is shown that the self-modulation of the proton bunch competes with the hosing instability which tends to destroy the plasma wave. A method is proposed and studied through PIC simulations to circumvent this problem, which relies on the seeding of the self-modulation instability in the bunch.

• OSTI ID: 21410444
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 25; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.255003; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AMPLITUDES
BEAM BUNCHING
ELECTRONS
HOSE INSTABILITY
MODULATION
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PLASMA
PLASMA ACCELERATION
PLASMA WAVES
PROTONS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SIMULATION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
ACCELERATION
BARYONS
BEAM DYNAMICS
DYNAMICS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
HADRONS
INSTABILITY
LEPTONS
MECHANICS
NUCLEONS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES