Transverse operator method for wakefields in a rectangular dielectric loaded accelerating structure

Cherenkov radiation generated by a relativistic electron bunch in a rectangular dielectric-loaded waveguide is analyzed under the assumption that the dielectric layers are inhomogeneous normal to the beam path. We propose a method that uses eigenfunctions of the transverse operator applied to develop a rigorous full solution for the wakefields that are generated. The dispersion equation for the structure is derived and the wakefield analysis is carried out. The formalism developed here allows the direct solution of the inhomogeneous system of Maxwell equations, an alternative analytic approach to the analysis of wakefields in contrast to the previously used impedance method for rectangular structure analysis. The formalism described here was successfully applied to the analysis of rectangular dielectric-lined structures that have been recently beam tested at the Argonne (ANL/AWA) and Brookhaven (BNL/ATF) accelerator facilities.