Compton Scattering in Plasma: Multiple Scattering Effects and Application to Laser-Plasma Acceleration

TL;DR

This paper investigates how multiple Compton scattering in plasma can be harnessed to accelerate electrons to high energies within a centimeter, offering insights into laser-plasma accelerator physics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel effective field theory approach to model multiple Compton scattering effects in plasma for electron acceleration.

Findings

Electrons can reach energies of about 100 MeV within 1 cm.

Proper tuning of plasma parameters yields collimated, mono-energetic electron beams.

The approach enhances understanding of laser-plasma acceleration mechanisms.

Abstract

We explore the physics of electron acceleration in a plasma medium in an effective field theory framework. Employing a multiple Compton scattering mechanism, it is found that the acceleration can be sustained in such a medium so as to attain the energies up to the order of $O(100 \rm{MeV})$ within a centimeter. Also, the collimation and mono-energetic electron spectrum can be obtained by proper tuning of the plasma parameters with the photon frequency. The present work is potentially useful in understanding the physics of laser-plasma accelerators.