Ion-motion simulations of a plasma-wakefield experiment at FLASHForward

In plasma-based acceleration, an ultra-relativistic particle bunchx2014or an intense laser beamx2014is used to expel electrons from its propagation path, forming a wake that is devoid of electrons. The ions, being significantly more massive, are often assumed to be stationary. However, both theory and simulations suggest that any sufficiently dense electron bunch can trigger ion motion, and its effect must be taken into account. We simulate beam-driven plasma wakefields to identify key featuresx2014such as longitudinally dependent emittance growthx2014that could be observed in an experiment using plasma and beam parameters from the FLASHForward facility at DESY.