About this Research Topic

Background

The high-energy particle acceleration schemes have received immense attention in recent times because of their pivotal roles in deeper understanding of the conspicuous features of fundamental particles and the forces that influence their interactions. Conventional particle accelerators are known to be large and expensive. Therefore, in order to reduce the cost/size of the accelerator and/or increase the energy of charged particles, the development of new acceleration schemes becomes indispensable. In this context, the plasma based wakefield acceleration (laser-driven or beam-driven) scheme has become one of the most promising acceleration mechanisms, in which electrons get excited in providing strong longitudinal coherent electric fields (i.e., wakes) with relativistic phase velocity that are strongly supported by the plasma. The generation of such wakefields is not only of fundamental interest but also has potential applications in physical and biological sciences as well as in military, defense and industries. On the other hand, when the laser pulses are long compared to the typical skin depth, the wakefield generation may be suppressed, instead other nonlinear phenomena like the formation of solitons becomes more noticeable. Furthermore, by adopting the X-ray free electron lasers and employing some novel laser technologies such as thin film and relativistic compressions, a new direction of laser wakefield acceleration with nanomaterials has also emerged. Given a rapidly developing landscape of ultra-intense lasers, the radiation-reaction inevitably plays a very important role in the laser-plasma interaction. The accurate implementation of the same in particle-in-cell simulations and in various theoretical models is also crucial for the understanding of various laser-plasma phenomena.

Much effort has been paid since the pioneering work of Tajima and Dawson in 1979 to investigate the generation of wakefields and the formation of electromagnetic solitons in plasmas. However, only a few have been focused on magnetized systems and with nanomaterials. Furthermore, the nonlinear theories in dense relativistic degenerate plasmas such as those in compact astrophysical objects (e.g. the interiors of white dwarfs, magnetars and Jupiters) as well as in the next generation intense laser-solid density plasma interaction experiments are not yet fully explored. Recent experiments have shown that electrons can be accelerated up to two gigaelectronvolts using self-modulated proton bunches. However, a more efficient scheme for producing very high-energy electrons beyond two gigaelectronvolts is still necessary for the development of future high-energy particle accelerators.

We seek contributions from authors that provide theoretical, numerical, and experimental guidelines for the advancements and realization towards the lasers or particle-beams driven wakefield acceleration, leading to the prospects of high-energy particle accelerators and their respective broad applications. Specifically, we welcome articles that model the generation of wakefields and their transitions to the formation of electromagnetic solitons in relativistic degenerate dense magnetoplasmas as well as that account for the amplification of chirped pulses together with the effects of ambient magnetic field and the plasma density gradients on the profiles of wakefields. We also welcome different new approaches that probe electron/ion accelerations as well as advancements of the existing ones such as beat wave acceleration and self-modulated laser wakefield acceleration. The investigations in the generation of laser-driven shocks, electron-ion thermalization in warm dense matters, Thomson/Compton scattering, optical transition/terahertz radiation, and X-ray free-electron lasers are also areas of current interest.

We welcome a range of article types, including Original Research and Review.

Keywords: Wakefield, Soliton, Laser-plasma interaction, Beam-plasma interaction, Particle acceleration, Radiation-Reaction

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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