Adiabatic sheath model for beam-driven blowout plasma channels

TL;DR

This paper introduces an adiabatic sheath model for plasma wakefield accelerators that self-consistently predicts the blowout radius and electromagnetic fields, improving upon previous theories with artificial assumptions.

Contribution

It develops a self-consistent adiabatic sheath model based on force balancing, replacing artificial distribution assumptions in plasma channel analysis.

Findings

More accurate estimate of blowout radius.

Self-consistent sheath distribution derived.

Improved understanding of electromagnetic field distribution.

Abstract

In plasma wakefield accelerators, the structure of the blowout sheath is vital for the blowout radius and the electromagnetic field distribution inside the blowout. Previous theories assume artificial distribution functions for the sheath, which are either inaccurate or require prior knowledge of parameters. In this study, we develop an adiabatic sheath model based on force balancing, which leads to a self-consistent form of the sheath distribution. This model gives a better estimate of the blowout channel balancing radius than previous models.