Speaker
Description
A novel method for simulating wakefield acceleration in plasmas is introduced. The newly developed GEM-PIC code is a fully electromagnetic, three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation tool that leverages a Galilean transformation of variables. This transformation effectively eliminates the vast scale disparity between the laser wavelength and the typical acceleration length in wakefield setups.
Similar to established quasi-static simulation codes, GEM-PIC employs a transformation to fast and slow variables: (\zeta = z - ct) for the fast coordinate and (\tau = t) for the slow time. However, unlike quasi-static approaches, GEM-PIC retains the complete set of Maxwell’s equations without approximation. This allows it to fully resolve electromagnetic wave propagation, including the laser pulse itself. Furthermore, GEM-PIC treats all particles equally and does not distinguish between beam and plasma particles, enabling a self-consistent modeling of particle trapping.
The GEM-PIC framework paves the way for ab initio simulations of laser pulse propagation and wakefield formation in extended plasma channels. It is also capable of modeling beam-driven wakefields and simulating the propagation of particle bunches through external magnetic fields—for instance, in transitions between plasma sections.
