Particle dynamics in multistage wakefield collider

Abstract

The dynamics of particles in laser pulse-driven wakefields over multistages in a collider is studied. A map of phase space dynamics over a stage of wakefield acceleration induced by a laser pulse (or electron beam) is derived. The entire system of a collider is generated with a product of multiple maps of wakefields, drifts, magnets, etc. This systems map may include offsets of various elements of the accelerator, representing noise and errors arising from the operation of such a complex device. We find that an unmitigated strong focusing of the wakefield coupled with the alignment errors of the position (or laser beam aiming) of each wakefield stage and the unavoidable dispersion in individual particle betatron frequencies leads to a phase space mixing and causes a transverse emittance degradation. The rate of the emittance increase is proportional to the number of stages, the energy of the particles, the betatron frequency, the square of the misalignment amplitude, and the square of the betatron phase shift over a single stage. The accelerator with a weakened focus in a channel can, therefore, largely suppress the emittance degradation due to errors. © 2000 The American Physical Society.