AWAKE studies and develops a plasma wakefield accelerator driven by a long proton bunch to produce high-energy electrons for application to particle physics at CERN. It relies on the self-modulation of a cm-long, 400GeV proton bunch to reach ~1GV/m accelerating fields. It is also a platform to study beam-plasma interactions. I will introduce the project and experiment. I will show experimental results on: Seeding of self-modulation; Observation of the growth of self-modulation; Observation of the effect of motion of plasma ions; Acceleration of externally-injected test electrons; Observation and seeding of the hose instability; And observation of the transverse filamentation instability. I will outline plans for upcoming experiments aimed at transitioning from acceleration experiments to an accelerator for applications. These open new opportunities, for example in terms of development of long plasma sources (50-100m), diagnostics and other key components of the accelerator.
Latest publications:
Filamentation of a Relativistic Proton Bunch in Plasma, L. Verra, C.
Amoedo, N. Torrado, A. Clairembaud, J. Mezger, F. Pannell, J. Pucek, N.
van Gils, M. Bergamaschi, G. Zevi Della Porta, N. Lopes, A. Sublet, M.
Turner, E. Gschwendtner, P. Muggli (AWAKE Collaboration), accepted
in Phys. Rev. E (2024):
https://journals.aps.org/pre/accepted/2d071Rf7Z4d1fa26d28909335c088dd09af665447
Hosing of a long relativistic particle bunch in plasma, T. Nechaeva, L.
Verra, J. Pucek, L. Ranc, M. Bergamaschi, G. Zevi Della Porta, and P.
Muggli (AWAKE Collaboration),Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 075001 (2024):
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.075001
Development of the self-modulation instability of a proton bunch in
plasma L. Verra, S. Wyler, T. Nechaeva, J. Pucek, V. Bencini, M.
Bergamaschi, L. Ranc, G. Zevi Della Porta, E. Gschwendtner, P. Muggli
(AWAKE Collaboration), Physics of Plasmas 30, 083104 (2023):
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0157391
Mitigation of the onset of hosing in the linear regime through plasma
frequency detuning, Mariana Moreira, Patric Muggli, Jorge Vieira, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 130, 115001 (2023):
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.115001
Controlled Growth of the Self-Modulation of a Relativistic Proton Bunch
in Plasma, L. Verra, G. Zevi Della Porta, J. Pucek, T. Nechaeva, S.
Wyler, M. Bergamaschi, E. Senes, E. Guran, J.T. Moody, M.A. Kedves, E.
Gschwendtner, and P. Muggli (AWAKE Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 129,
024802 (2022): https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.024802
This talk will be hosted at Daresbury Laboratory.