Convergent trajectories of relativistic electrons interacting with lasers in plasma waves

TL;DR

This paper explores how relativistic electrons interacting with lasers in plasma waves can follow convergent trajectories, enabling potential cooling of electron beams by balancing energy gain and radiation loss, based on theoretical and numerical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of convergent electron trajectories in laser-plasma interactions and demonstrates their potential for electron beam cooling.

Findings

Electrons can follow convergent trajectories balancing energy gain and radiation loss.

Electron beams evolve into these trajectories, reducing phase space volume exponentially.

The mechanism offers a new approach for cooling relativistic electron beams in plasma acceleration.

Abstract

The dynamics of relativistic electrons interacting with a laser pulse in a plasma wave has been investigated theoretically and numerically based on the classical Landau-Lifshitz equation. There exists a convergent trajectory of electrons when the energy gain of electrons via direct laser acceleration can compensate the energy loss via radiation. An electron beam initially around the convergent trajectory evolves into the trajectory, making its occupied phase space volume decrease exponentially while mean energy remain the same. This mechanism can be used for cooling relativistic electron beams especially those produced in plasma-based acceleration.