Coherent Smith–Purcell radiation: Theories and simulations

Smith–Purcell (SP) radiation has been observed many times over the past fifty years, and several theories have been proposed to explain it. However, it is only quite recently that Andrews, Brau and collaborators made a considerable advance in understanding how coherent SP radiation may be produced from an initially continuous beam. Their work received support from 2-D simulations which were performed using the Particle-in-Cell (PIC) code “MAGIC”. Here we present a review of our 2-D simulations of coherent SP and discuss how they relate to the model of Andrews and Brau. We also describe briefly a SP experiment in the microwave domain using a sheet beam that is planned for 2008.