Generating ultra-dense pair beams using 400 GeV/c protons

Abstract

A previously unexplored experimental scheme is presented for generating low-divergence, ultra-dense, relativistic, electron-positron beams using 400 GeV/c protons available at facilities such as HiRadMat and AWAKE at CERN. Preliminary Monte-Carlo and Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate the possibility of generating beams containing $10^{13}-10^{14}$ electron-positron pairs at sufficiently high densities to drive collisionless beam-plasma instabilities, which are expected to play an important role in magnetic field generation and the related radiation signatures of relativistic astrophysical phenomena. The pair beams are quasi-neutral, with size exceeding several skin-depths in all dimensions, allowing for the first time the examination of the effect of competition between transverse and longitudinal instability modes on the growth of magnetic fields. Furthermore, the presented scheme allows for the possibility of controlling the relative density of hadrons to electron-positron pairs in the beam, making it possible to explore the parameter spaces for different astrophysical environments.

References in corpus (13)

• The Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Generation of Magnetic Fields in the Relativistic Shock of Gamma-Ray-Burst Sources
• Interpenetrating plasma shells: near-equipartition magnetic field generation and non-thermal particle acceleration
• One-to-one direct modeling of experiments and astrophysical scenarios: pushing the envelope on kinetic plasma simulations
• Long Term Evolution of Magnetic Turbulence in Relativistic Collisionless Shocks: Electron-Positron Plasmas
• Weibel, Two-Stream, Filamentation, Oblique, Bell, Buneman... which one grows faster ?
• GRB Phenomenology, Shock Dynamo, and the First Magnetic Fields
• Hadronic Models for the Extra Spectral Component in the short GRB 090510
• AWAKE, The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment at CERN
• Prompt High-Energy Emission from Proton-Dominated Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Experimental observation of a current-driven instability in a neutral electron-positron beam
• Conditions for the onset of the current filamentation instability in the laboratory
• Radiative cooling in relativistic collisionless shocks. Can simulations and experiments probe relevant GRB physics?

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Laboratory realization of relativistic pair-plasma beams
• Magnetic field amplification by a plasma cavitation instability in relativistic shock precursors
• Machine Learning-based models in particle-in-cell codes for advanced physics extensions
• Electron Weibel instability induced magnetic fields in optical-field ionized plasmas
• Compton driven beam formation and magnetisation via plasma microinstabilities
• Positron acceleration in plasma waves driven by non-neutral fireball beams
• Slowdown of interpenetration of two counterpropagating plasma slab due to collective effects
• Suppression of pair beam instabilities in a laboratory analogue of blazar pair cascades
• Simulations of Astrophysically Relevant Pair Beam Instabilities in a Laboratory Context