21–26 Jul 2024
NIU Naperville Conference Center
US/Central timezone

Working Groups

WG1 : Laser-driven plasma wakefield acceleration

Working Group Leaders: Remi Lehe, LBNL; Bo Miao, UMD; Bernhard Hidding, U Duesseldorf

Working Group 1 will discuss progress and advanced concepts in laser-driven wakefield acceleration (LWFA). LWFA technology has potential applications for example to future TeV-scale colliders, as well as compact high-energy light sources (e.g. plasma-based FEL). Participants are encouraged to present research results that show a path towards improving the performance of LWFA for these and other applications. This working group welcomes presentation of experimental, simulation, and theoretical results. The following topics are of particular interest:

  • High beam quality (including energy spread, current and emittance). How to achieve robust, high-quality beams at injection? How to preserve beam quality through one or several plasma acceleration stages? How can advances in compact beam manipulation and transportation techniques further improve beam quality?
  • High beam energy. How to avoid limitations on beam energy, such as dephasing, depletion and laser diffraction? How can advances in plasma shaping and laser pulse shaping overcome some of these limitations? How to simultaneously achieve high beam energy and high driver-to-beam energy transfer efficiency?
  • Stable, high-repetition-rate operation. How can new laser-plasma concepts, as well as progress in plasma, laser technology and advanced algorithms enable higher repetition rate and higher shot-to-shot stability?
  • Wakefield acceleration of positrons and other exotic particles. Are there schemes and techniques that potentially allow to obtain the above properties (high beam quality and energy, high repetition rate) for positron beams? Are there new ideas on how to overcome the experimental challenges of positron trapping/acceleration in laser-driven wakefield?
  • Diagnostics and Applications. How can one measure key beam quality parameters such as (slice) emittance, (slice) energy spread, (slice) current? Which applications may be enabled by certain combinations of characteristics, such as high 6D brightness for light sources, or high current for using electron beams from LWFA as drivers for PWFA?
  • Computational techniques. Are there new algorithms and simulation techniques (including AI/ML-aided techniques) that can help answer the above questions more efficiently and/more with more accuracy?

 

WG2 : Laser-driven plasma acceleration of ions

Working Group Leaders: Charlotte Palmer, Queen’s University Belfast; Andreas Kemp, LLNL

Advanced ion beam sources, driven by high intensity laser interactions with matter, offer a compact and versatile alternative to radiofrequency accelerators.  Additionally, these MeV energy sources can provide uniquely high particle flux in ultra-short duration leading to uniquely high dose rates. Advancements in lasers and target technology, diagnostic techniques, and computational modelling fuel progress in advanced ion acceleration, which is a diverse research field with study into a wide variety of acceleration mechanisms, post-acceleration beam capturing and transport and applications ranging from cancer therapy to fast-ignition fusion.

We invite contributions to Working Group 2 that present new results and initiatives of experimental, theoretical and computational studies in laser-driven ion acceleration, including proton and heavier-ion generation, plasma accelerator staging, progress towards higher ion beam energy and luminosity, beam transport and manipulation, novel particle diagnostics, generation of secondary radiation and particle sources, as well as present and future applications.

Original, status and review papers are welcome.

 

WG3 : Beam-driven plasma acceleration

Working Group Leaders: Patric Muggli, MPP; Brendan O’Shea, SLAC

Plasma Wakefield Acceleration (PWFA) offers the potential for ultra-high gradients and the benefits associated with those gradients, such as reduced size and cost of frontier scientific instruments. A great deal of progress has been made in harnessing those ultra-high gradients, but further research is still required to address key challenges. Commensurate with that research, in WG3 we anticipate a broad program of theoretical, numerical and experimental studies. We welcome presentations on topics such as (including those of interest to multiple working groups):

  • Beam-plasma dynamics, efficient wake excitation and energy depletion, transformer ratio, other beam-plasma effects
  • Beam-plasma instabilities, beam stability in plasma-based accelerators, including, but not limited to, phase space shaping and control, ion motion, and tolerances
  • Plasma sources, shaping and their characterization
  • Advances in PWFA simulations
  • Beam-plasma radiation generation for sources and diagnostics

In the spirit of a workshop, and with the goal of identifying and discussing much-needed research, we would like the discussion to include:

  • Discussion of results that are not fully characterized or otherwise peculiar in nature
  • Challenges faced during experiments
  • An account of known and potential difficulties with the implementation of new concepts

 

WG4 : Novel structure acceleration

Working Group Leaders: Gerard Andonian, RadiaBeam/UCLA; Emma Snively, SLAC

Working Group 4 will address current challenges in developing advanced structure-based accelerators, driven by external sources (laser, RF, THz) or beam-driven wakefields. The capability to accelerate particles at higher accelerating gradients and efficiencies is essential for reduction of size and cost of future accelerators for science and industry. This includes the future multi-TeV e+e- collider for High Energy Physics, free-electron lasers (FELs) for Basic Energy Sciences and National Security, industrial accelerators for Energy and Environmental Applications, and accelerators for other applications (direct material investigation, medical field, nanotechnology, etc.).

The working group welcomes presentations on the following topics:

  • Recent developments in novel accelerating structures with new geometries, new materials (dielectric, metamaterial, hybrid, etc.), new fabrication technologies (additive manufacturing, micromachining, etc.), frequencies from microwave to THz and optical spectrum, and operating conditions from normal conducting to cryogenic and superconducting.
  • Recent advances in understanding RF breakdown and quench phenomena at different frequencies and materials, and other physics limitations to the accelerating gradient.
  • Recent advances in improving the accelerating efficiency, such as understanding of sources of microwave dissipation and pathways, development of ultra-low RF loss material, heavy beam-loading compensation.
  • Demonstration of high accelerating gradients and efficiencies in structures.
  • Other structure-beam dynamics topics including IFEL, undulator-mediated, etc.
  • High-efficiency electromagnetic power source development and optimizing novel accelerating structure power architecture using advanced algorithms.
  • Challenges in simulation of structure-beam interactions and predictive breakdown algorithms.

 

WG5 : Beam sources, monitoring and control

Working Group Leaders: Alexandr Romanov, FNAL; Oksana Chubenko, NIU; Gwanghui Ha, NIU

Working Group 5 will address the three subjects in its title:

  • Beam sources:  Advanced accelerators and beam sources require and/or generate beams with unique characteristics, including short bunch lengths, high peak currents, high bunch charges, small uncorrelated energy spreads, low transverse emittance, complex beam shapes, high purity for proton/ion sources, and small pointing and timing jitters. This working group will examine the feasibility of meeting these requirements and beam properties.
  • Monitoring and diagnostics:  Advanced accelerators carry a much larger burden in terms of diagnostics than conventional accelerators. The properties of accelerated beams, the behavior of the accelerating medium, and the wakefield driver (e.g. wakefield, RF, etc.) must be characterized. This working group will seek solutions for non-destructive, single-shot, high-resolution, multi-dimensional characterization of phase space, accelerating medium, and wakefields.
  • Beam control and manipulation: Advanced accelerators face challenges in stable, efficient and sustainable acceleration. To address these challenges, methods and technologies must be developed to provide stable beams with reliably controlled, predefined parameters, such as energy, charge, pointing stability, bunch shape etc. Also, advanced beam manipulation methods are critical to provide efficient acceleration, sustainable staging, matching with conventional accelerators etc. This working group will seek to advanced methods and technologies for beam control and manipulation to address the challenges.

We invite presentations, both theoretical and experimental, in the above areas as well as other related subjects. We will discuss the state-of-the-art in these topics and we will also try to identify the challenges that need to be addressed to further advance the field. Results of this assessment will be written and distributed as working group summary. Joint sessions with other working groups on the topics of beam generation, diagnostics and control/manipulation will be scheduled.

 

WG6 : Radiation generation, medical and industrial applications

Working Group Leaders: Claudio Emma, SLAC; Haoran Xu, LANL

An abundance of applications of advanced particle accelerators and their associated radiation sources (electron, protons, X-rays, gammas, etc.) have emerged in recent years. These applications leverage the unique properties of advanced accelerators which grant  access to new frequencies and time-scales and can enable the control and diagnosis of matter on ultra-small and ultra-short scales, driving innovation and discovery in industrial, medical and fundamental science. Working Group 6 will address recent progress and highlight results related to these applications and the broad societal impact they may find beyond the advanced accelerator community.

We encourage participants to contribute experimental and theoretical work on beam and laser driven radiation (particle or photon) sources. Particular areas of focus include AAC driven free electron lasers, Compton/Thomson scattering, bremsstrahlung, betatron radiation, THz generation and the acceleration of ions and muons. We invite authors to contribute talks which emphasize the unique properties of AAC driven radiation sources such as advanced control of the spatio-temporal radiation properties, source polarization, ultra-short pulse generation, source flexibility and tunability. We also invite contributions considering opportunities enabled by novel compact source designs and improvements in source stability and reproducibility to serve different applications.

 

WG7 : Linear Colliders

Working Group Leaders: Chunguang Jing, ANL/Euclid; Emilio Nanni, SLAC; Carl Schroeder, LBNL

The purpose of Working Group 7 is to discuss the recent progress and future path towards a compact, TeV or multi-TeV-class, linear lepton collider based on WFA technologies. We will assess the state of the art, and analyze some of the key challenges of the field.

In particular, our group will:

  • Discuss recent theoretical, numerical, and experimental advancements involving all aspects of the physics of a collider (including source/injector, beam polarization, linac design, energy efficiency, stability, beam quality preservation, staging, tolerances, beam-delivery system, final focus, etc.);

  • Present “straw-person” designs for a WFA collider, and discuss plans towards a future integrated design study as recommended in the newly published P5 report;

  • Discuss the necessary near-term test facilities (to do testing of components) and demonstrator facilities (to do integration testing) on the way to a linear collider.

Participants are encouraged to address their recent contributions to these topics in their presentations and, in the spirit of this workshop, to actively participate in the questions and answers that will follow them.

Joint sessions with other working groups will be arranged based on contributions.