A lot of experimental work has been devoted recently to the acceleration of particles in the gigantic electric fields generated in plasma wakes. The theoretical possibility has been known for decades, the realization en masse, however was made possible by the recent developments in the technology of hight-intensity, femtosecond pulsed laser sources. One of the largest projects in plasma wakefield acceleration is the AWAKE Collaboration at CERN, which aims to build an electron accelerator with a high energy proton beam to drive the plasma wake. The central element of the accelerator device is the 10 m long vapor cell where plasma has to be generated with precisely controlled density distribution. There will be two such cells in future versions of the accelerator device. The plasma is generated by ionizing atoms in rubidium vapor with a high-intensity, ultrashort laser pulse. However, due to the large distance and the strong nonlinear interaction between the vapor and the light, distortions of the pulse propagating along the cell become a very significant factor.

The Laser Particle Accelerator Technology group at the High-Energy Physics Department of the Wigner RCP conducts research in several areas of innovative particle acceleration methods. In particular, the group is a member of the AWAKE Collaboration, we take part in investigating the laser-matter interaction that generates plasma in rubidium vapor. Experimental work at the Wigner RCP is conducted in a well equiped laboratory with a modern femtosecond pulsed laser system.

The PhD. student will take part primarily in the work associated with AWAKE, investigating the interaction between high intensity laser pulses and rubidium vapor. Our aim is to understand how the strong nonlinear interaction between the pulse and the vapor influences plasma generation in the vapor cell along which the pulse propagates. We conduct experiments in this spatially extended setting under conditions similar to those at the AWAKE experiment at CERN and develop diagnostic measurements to monitor the efficiency of plasma generation. We also develop measurements to determine the properties of the plasma channel and seek to devise methods to increase the efficiency of plasma generation. The prospective student will participate in this experimental and theoretical work which is conducted as a member of a wide international collaboration.

The work is primarily experimental, but depending on interest, some theoretical work may also be in line (mostly numerical simulations). A succesful student will have the possibility to participate in the work at the CERN AWAKE location as well. Work at the Wigner RCP is a „table-top” experiment done by a few people, the experimental work at CERN is also somewhat similar as the AWAKE project counts as „small” by CERN standards.