Axion Emission Controlled by Ion Motion in Relativistic Beam-Plasma Filamentation

The interaction between relativistic electron beams and plasma can generate magnetic fields with strengths of ~ 10⁴ T far exceeding conventional magnets, which offers a promising environment for producing weakly coupled particles. Using particle-in-cell simulations incorporating an axion-emission model, we show that a 10-GeV electron beam traversing dense plasma emits a forward-collimated axion beam during the ion-mediated nonlinear stage of current filamentation instability. Although the electron-driven linear instability seeds the filaments, ion motion governs their subsequent expansion and coalescence. This evolution reinjects cold-core electrons into large-amplitude orbits in phase space, where they repeatedly cross the strong-field flanks of neighboring magnetic vortices, thereby enhancing axion emission. At a background-plasma density of ~ 10²¹cm⁻³, suppressing ion motion reduces the axion yield by a factor of 14.5. Our results demonstrate that ion dynamics play a crucial role in characterizing the emission of weakly coupled particles induced by relativistic filamentation instabilities, suggesting a new beam-driven method for probing the axion-electron interaction at accelerators.