Ponderomotive and resonant effects in the acceleration of particles by electromagnetic modes

Abstract

In the present analysis, we study the dynamics of charged particles under the action of slowly modulated electromagnetic carrier waves. With the use of a high-frequency laser mode along with a modulated static magnetic wiggler, we show that the ensuing total field effectively acts as a slowly modulated high-frequency beat-wave field typical of inverse free-electron laser schemes. This effective resulting field is capable of accelerating particles in much the same way as space-charge wake fields do in plasma accelerators, with the advantage of being more stable than plasma related methods. Acceleration occurs as particles transition from ponderomotive to resonant regimes, so we develop the ponderomotive formalism needed to examine this problem. The ponderomotive formalism includes terms that, although not discussed in the usual applications of the approximation, are nevertheless of crucial importance in the vicinity of resonant capture. The role of these terms is also briefly discussed in the context of generic laser-plasma interactions.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2019
Source ID
10.1063/1.5058748

Entities

People

  • E. Peter
  • F. B. Rizzato
  • F. B. Russman
  • G. I. de Oliveira
  • I. Almansa
  • R. A. Cairns
  • S. Marini

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
  • National Center for Scientific Research
  • National Council for Scientific and Technological Development
  • Sorbonne University
  • Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul
  • University of St Andrews

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster