53520094
Acceleration in perpendicular relativistic shocks for plasmas consisting of leptons and hadrons
We investigate the acceleration of light particles in perpendicular shocks for plasmas consisting of a mixture of leptonic and hadronic particles. Starting from the full set of conservation equations for the mixed plasma constituents, we generalize the magnetohydrodynamical jump conditions for a multi-component plasma, including information about the specific adiabatic constants for the different species. The impact of deviations from the standard model of an ideal gas is compared in theory and particle-in-cell simulations, showing that the standard MHD model is a good approximation. The simulations of shocks in electron-positron-ion plasmas are for the first time multi-dimensional, transverse effects are small in this configuration, and one-dimensional (1D) simulations are a good representation if the initial magnetization is chosen high. 1D runs with a mass ratio of 1836 are performed, which identify the Larmor frequency {omega}{sub ci} as the dominant frequency that determines the shock physics in mixed component plasmas. The maximum energy in the non-thermal tail of the particle spectra evolves in time according to a power law {proportional_to}t{sup {alpha}} with {alpha} in the range 1/3 < {alpha} < 1, depending on the initial parameters. A connection is made with transport theoretical models by Drury and Gargate and Spitkovsky, whichmore » predict an acceleration time {proportional_to}{gamma} and the theory for small wavelength scattering by Kirk and Reville, which predicts a behavior rather as {proportional_to}{gamma}{sup 2}. Furthermore, we compare different magnetic field orientations with B{sub 0} inside and out of the plane, observing qualitatively different particle spectra than in pure electron-ion shocks.« less
121799036
Modeling of laser wakefield acceleration in the Lorentz boosted frame using OSIRIS and UPIC framework
We examine numerical issues related to modeling laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) in a Lorentz boosted frame. We present some theoretical results on a numerical instability that results from a relativistic plasma drift on a grid. We compare these predictions with results obtained from a finite difference time domain (FDTD) code OSIRIS and a spectral (FFT) time domain code UPIC. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, it is found that the spectral solver has advantages for mitigating the numerical instability when compared against some prevailing (FDTD) solvers. We also compared using finite difference or spectral field solvers in simplified 2D LWFA simulations using a plane wave for the laser. We find that the use of the spectral solver has advantages for mitigating the numerical instability induced by the relativistically drifting plasma.
2877366
Very high Mach-number electrostatic shocks in collisionless plasmas.
The kinetic theory of collisionless electrostatic shocks resulting from the collision of plasma slabs with different temperatures and densities is presented. The theoretical results are confirmed by self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations, revealing the formation and stable propagation of electrostatic shocks with very high Mach numbers (M>>10), well above the predictions of the classical theories for electrostatic shocks.
12875278
Near-GeV-energy laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a centimeter-scale plasma channel.
The first three-dimensional, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a 0.84 cm long plasma channel are reported. The frequency evolution of the initially 50 fs (FWHM) long laser pulse by photon interaction with the wake followed by plasma dispersion enhances the wake which eventually leads to self-injection of electrons from the channel wall. This first bunch of electrons remains spatially highly localized. Its phase space rotation due to slippage with respect to the wake leads to a monoenergetic bunch of electrons with a central energy of 0.26 GeV after 0.55 cm propagation. At later times, spatial bunching of the laser enhances the acceleration of a second bunch of electrons to energies up to 0.84 GeV before the laser pulse intensity is significantly reduced.
118459210
A Bright Spatially-Coherent Compact X-ray Synchrotron Source
Author(s): Kneip, S; McGuffey, C; Martins, JL; Martins, SF; Bellei, C; Chvykov, V; Dollar, F; Fonseca, R; Huntington, C; Kalintchenko, G; Maksimchuk, A; Mangles, SPD; Matsuoka, T; Nagel, SR; Palmer, C; Schreiber, J; Phuoc, K Ta; Thomas, AGR; Yanovsky, V; Silva, LO; Krushelnick, K; Najmudin, Z | Abstract: Each successive generation of x-ray machines has opened up new frontiers in science, such as the first radiographs and the determination of the structure of DNA. State-of-the-art x-ray sources can now produce coherent high brightness keV x-rays and promise a new revolution in imaging complex systems on nanometre and femtosecond scales. Despite the demand, only a few dedicated synchrotron facilities exist worldwide, partially due the size and cost of conventional (accelerator) technology. Here we demonstrate the use of a recently developed compact laser-plasma accelerator to produce a well-collimated, spatially-coherent, intrinsically ultrafast source of hard x-rays. This method reduces the size of the synchrotron source from the tens of metres to centimetre scale, accelerating and wiggling a high electron charge simultaneously. This leads to a narrow-energy spread electron beam and x-ray source that is g1000 times brighter than previously reported plasma wiggler and thus has the potential to facilitate a myriad of uses across the whole spectrum of light-source applications.
1541538
Weibel-instability-mediated collisionless shocks in the laboratory with ultraintense lasers.
The formation of nonrelativistic collisionless shocks in the laboratory with ultrahigh intensity lasers is studied via ab initio multidimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The microphysics behind shock formation and dissipation and the detailed shock structure are analyzed, illustrating that the Weibel instability plays a crucial role in the generation of strong subequipartition magnetic fields that isotropize the incoming flow and lead to the formation of a collisionless shock, similar to what occurs in astrophysical scenarios. The possibility of generating such collisionless shocks in the laboratory opens the way to the direct study of the physics associated with astrophysical shocks.
119235558
Renormalization group equations and matching in a general quantum field theory with kinetic mixing
Abstract We work out a set of simple rules for adopting the two-loop renormalization group equations of a generic gauge field theory given in the seminal works of Machacek and Vaughn to the most general case with an arbitrary number of Abelian gauge factors and comment on the extra subtleties possibly encountered upon matching a set of effective gauge theories in such a framework.
199681250
Running soft parameters in SUSY models with multiple U(1) gauge factors
The two-loop renormalization group equations for the parameters of softly broken supersymmetric gauge theories given in the literature are generalized to the case when the gauge group contains more than a single abelian factor. This contribution to the proceedings of the DISCRETE 2012 symposium is based on reference [1].
118530599
Running soft parameters in SUSY models with multiple U(1) gauge factors
Abstract We generalize the two-loop renormalization group equations for the parameters of the softly broken SUSY gauge theories given in the literature to the most general case when the gauge group contains more than a single Abelian gauge factor. The complete method is illustrated at two-loop within a specific example and compared to some of the previously proposed partial treatments.
118698479
Supersymmetric SO(10)-inspired GUTs with sliding scales
This work has been supported in part by EU Network Grant No. UNILHC PITN-GA-2009-237920. M. H. also acknowledges support from the Spanish MICINN Grants No. FPA2011-22975, No. MULTIDARK CSD2009-00064 and by the Generalitat Valenciana Grant No. Prometeo/2009/091. The work of R. M. F has been supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia through the fellowship SFRH/BD/47795/2008. R. M. F. and J. C. R. also acknowledge the financial support from Grants No. CFTP-FCT UNIT 777, No. CERN/FP/123580/2011 and No. PTDC/FIS/102120/2008.