Self-modulation of a long externally injected relativistic charged-particle beam in a laser wake field acceleration scheme. A preliminary quantum-like investigation

Recent investigations indicate that sufficiently long beams of charged particles, travelling in a plasma, experience the phenomenon of self-modulation. The self-modulation is driven by the plasma wake field excitation due to the beam itself, and it may become unstable under certain conditions. A preliminary theoretical investigation of the self-modulation of a relativistic charged-particle beam in overdense plasma in the presence of a preformed plasma wave is carried out, within the quantum-like description of charged particle beams provided by the Thermal Wave Model. A simple physical model for the self-modulation is put forward, described by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation coupled with the Poisson-like equation for the plasma wake potential (so-called Fedele-Shukla equations). The physical mechanism is based on the interplay of three concomitant effects, the radial thermal dispersion (associated with the emittance ε), the radial ponderomotive effects of a preexisting plasma wave (which provides the guidance for the beam), and the self-interaction of the plasma wake field generated by the beam itself.