Longitudinal-field particle acceleration in channels generated by strong electromagnetic waves in pair plasma
Abstract
Relativistically strong electromagnetic waves interacting with pair plasmas appear in astrophysical settings and may become accessible in future laboratory experiments using high-power lasers. Transverse modulations and filamentation can turn extended wavefronts into structures of a finite transverse width. We examine the interaction of such a finite-width wave incident on a cold, uniform pair plasma using a three-dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell simulation. The wave does not penetrate the plasma and instead advances by creating a fully evacuated channel. The wave loses energy at a rate that cannot be explained by plasma clearing alone. We find that the excess losses are caused by strong particle acceleration near the walls of the channel. The acceleration is driven by a longitudinal electric field associated with the transverse wave structure and the geometry of the self-generated channel.
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BibTeX
@misc{tangtartharakul2026longitudinalfield,
title = {{Longitudinal-field particle acceleration in channels generated by strong electromagnetic waves in pair plasma}},
author = {Kavin Tangtartharakul and Andrei M. Beloborodov and Carolina Herrera Hernandez and Mihail O. Cernaianu and Alexey Arefiev},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.05948},
eprint = {2611.05948},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05948},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Longitudinal-field particle acceleration in channels generated by strong electromagnetic waves in pair plasma
AU - Kavin Tangtartharakul
AU - Andrei M. Beloborodov
AU - Carolina Herrera Hernandez
AU - Mihail O. Cernaianu
AU - Alexey Arefiev
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.05948
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05948
AB - Relativistically strong electromagnetic waves interacting with pair plasmas appear in astrophysical settings and may become accessible in future laboratory experiments using high-power lasers. Transverse modulations and filamentation can turn extended wavefronts into structures of a finite transverse width. We examine the interaction of such a finite-width wave incident on a cold, uniform pair plasma using a three-dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell simulation. The wave does not penetrate the plasma and instead advances by creating a fully evacuated channel. The wave loses energy at a rate that cannot be explained by plasma clearing alone. We find that the excess losses are caused by strong particle acceleration near the walls of the channel. The acceleration is driven by a longitudinal electric field associated with the transverse wave structure and the geometry of the self-generated channel.
ER -