Laser and electron deflection from transverse asymmetries in laser-plasma accelerators.

We report on the deflection of laser pulses and accelerated electrons in a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) by the effects of laser pulse front tilt and transverse density gradients. Asymmetry in the plasma index of refraction leads to laser steering, which can be due to a density gradient or spatiotemporal coupling of the laser pulse. The transverse forces from the skewed plasma wave can also lead to electron deflection relative to the laser. Quantitative models are proposed for both the laser and electron steering, which are confirmed by particle-in-cell simulations. Experiments with the BELLA Petawatt Laser are presented which show controllable 0.1-1 mrad laser and electron beam deflection from laser pulse front tilt. This has potential applications for electron beam pointing control, which is of paramount importance for LPA applications

The Heating of Test Particles in Numerical Simulations of Alfvenic Turbulence

We study the heating of charged test particles in three-dimensional numerical simulations of weakly compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence (``Alfvenic turbulence''); these results are relevant to particle heating and acceleration in the solar wind, solar flares, accretion disks onto black holes, and other astrophysics and heliospheric environments. The physics of particle heating depends on whether the gyrofrequency of a particle is comparable to the frequency of a turbulent fluctuation that is resolved on the computational domain. Particles with these frequencies nearly equal undergo strong perpendicular heating (relative to the local magnetic field) and pitch angle scattering. By contrast, particles with large gyrofrequency undergo strong parallel heating. Simulations with a finite resistivity produce additional parallel heating due to parallel electric fields in small-scale current sheets. Many of our results are consistent with linear theory predictions for the particle heating produced by the Alfven and slow magnetosonic waves that make up Alfvenic turbulence. However, in contrast to linear theory predictions, energy exchange is not dominated by discrete resonances between particles and waves; instead, the resonances are substantially ``broadened.'' We discuss the implications of our results for solar and astrophysics problems, in particular the thermodynamics of the near-Earth solar wind. We conclude that Alfvenic turbulence produces significant parallel heating via the interaction between particles and magnetic field compressions (``slow waves''). However, on scales above the proton Larmor radius, Alfvenic turbulence does not produce significant perpendicular heating of protons or minor ions.Comment: Submitted to Ap

The rate of beneficial mutations surfing on the wave of a range expansion

Many theoretical and experimental studies suggest that range expansions can have severe consequences for the gene pool of the expanding population. Due to strongly enhanced genetic drift at the advancing frontier, neutral and weakly deleterious mutations can reach large frequencies in the newly colonized regions, as if they were surfing the front of the range expansion. These findings raise the question of how frequently beneficial mutations successfully surf at shifting range margins, thereby promoting adaptation towards a range-expansion phenotype. Here, we use individual-based simulations to study the surfing statistics of recurrent beneficial mutations on wave-like range expansions in linear habitats. We show that the rate of surfing depends on two strongly antagonistic factors, the probability of surfing given the spatial location of a novel mutation and the rate of occurrence of mutations at that location. The surfing probability strongly increases towards the tip of the wave. Novel mutations are unlikely to surf unless they enjoy a spatial head start compared to the bulk of the population. The needed head start is shown to be proportional to the inverse fitness of the mutant type, and only weakly dependent on the carrying capacity. The second factor is the mutation occurrence which strongly decreases towards the tip of the wave. Thus, most successful mutations arise at an intermediate position in the front of the wave. We present an analytic theory for the tradeoff between these factors that allows to predict how frequently substitutions by beneficial mutations occur at invasion fronts. We find that small amounts of genetic drift increase the fixation rate of beneficial mutations at the advancing front, and thus could be important for adaptation during species invasions.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures; to appear in PLoS Computational Biolog

The LUNEX5 project

http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/AccelConf/FEL2012/papers/froa03.pdfInternational audienceLUNEX5 (free electron Laser Using a New accelerator for the Exploitation of X-ray radiation of 5th generation) aims at investigating the production of short, intense, and coherent pulses in the soft X-ray region. The project consists of a Free Electron Laser (FEL) line enabling the most advanced seeding configurations: High order Harmonic in Gas (HHG) seeding and Echo Enable Harmonic Generation (EEHG) with in-vacuum (potentially cryogenic) undulators of 15 and 30 mm period. Two accelerator types feed this FEL line : a 400 MeV Conventional Linear Accelerator (CLA) using superconducting cavities compatible with a future upgrade towards high repetition rate, for the investigations of the advanced FEL schemes; and a 0.4 - 1 GeV Laser Wake Field Accelerator (LWFA), to be qualified in view of FEL application, in the single spike or seeded regime. Two pilot user experiments for timeresolved studies of isolated species and solid state matter dynamics will take benefit of LUNEX5 FEL radiation and provide feedback of the performance of the different schemes under real user conditions

Amélioration des accélérateurs laser-plasma : vers un laser à électrons libres compact

When an intense and short laser pulse propagates through an underdensegas, it can accelerate a fraction of the electrons of the gas, andthereby generate an electron bunch with an energy of a few hundreds ofMeV. This phenomenon, which is referred to as laser-wakefield acceleration, has many potential applications, including the design of ultra-bright X-ray sources known as freeelectron lasers (FEL). However, these applications require the electronbunch to have an excellent quality (low divergence, emittance andenergy spread). In this thesis, different solutions to improve thequality of the electron bunch are developed, both analytically and through the use of Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations. It is first shown however that PIC simulations tend to erroneously overestimate the emittance of the bunch, due to the numerical Cherenkov effect. Thus, in order to correctly estimate the emittance, a modified PICalgorithm is proposed, which is not subject to this unphysical Cherenkov effect. Using this algorithm, we observed and studied a new mechanism togenerate the electron bunch: optical transverse injection. This mechanism can produce bunches with ahigh charge, a low emittance and a low energy spread. In addition, wealso proposed an experimental setup - the laser-plasma lens- which can strongly reduce the final divergence of the bunch.Finally, these results are put into context by discussing the propertiesrequired for the design of a compact FEL. It is shown in particularthat laser-wakefield accelerator could be advantageously combinedwith innovative laser-plasma undulators, in order to produce brightX-rays sources.Lorsque l'on focalise une impulsion laser courte et intense dans un gazsous-dense, celle-ci peut accélérer une fraction des électrons du gaz,et ainsi générer un faisceau d'électrons ayant une énergie de quelquescentaines de MeV. Ce phénomène, connu sous le nom d'accélérationlaser-plasma, pourrait avoir de nombreuses applications,notamment pour la réalisation de sources de rayons Xultra-intenses appelées lasers à électrons libres (LEL). Cependant,ces applications nécessitent que le faisceau d'électrons ait uneexcellente qualité (faible divergence, faible émittance et faible dispersion en énergie).Au cours de cette thèse, différentes solutions ont été développéesafin d'améliorer la qualité des faisceaux d'électrons issus del'accélération laser-plasma. Ce travail est effectué à travers desmodèles analytiques ainsi que dessimulations Particle-In-Cell (PIC). Nous commençons cependant par montrer que les simulations PIC onttendance à surestimer l'émittance du faisceau, en raison de l'effetCherenkov numérique. Afin d'estimer correctement l'émittance ici, nousproposons un algorithme PIC modifié qui n'est pas sujet à l'effetCherenkov numérique.A l'aide de cet algorithme, un nouveau mécanisme permettant de générerle faisceau est observé puis étudié : il s'agit de l'injection optique transverse. Les faisceaux produits par ce mécanisme sontcaractérisés par une forte charge, une faible divergence et une faibleémittance. Par ailleurs, nous proposons un dispositif - la lentille laser-plasma - qui permet defortement réduire la divergence finale des faisceaux. Cesrésultats sont placés dans leur contexte, à travers une discussion despropriétés nécessaires pour un laser à électrons libres compact. Nousmontrons en particulier que les accélérateurs laser-plasma pourraientêtre avantageusement combinés avec des onduleurs laser-plasmainnovants, afin de produire des sources de rayons X intenses

Transition probabilities.

<p>Transition probabilities for the different events appearing in the master equation (5).</p

The substitution rate at the front of an advancing population compared to the neutral substitution rate is described by the function , which is displayed here as a function of the selective advantage of the mutants.

<p>Notice that the axis is logarithmic. Blue, red and yellow symbols correspond to the carrying capacity , and . All curves approach in the neutral case, , in which the substitution and mutation rates are equal. Notice the rather slow increase of substitution rates with increasing selection coefficient, for small values of : even for and the highest carrying capacity, the substitution rates are merely 4 times higher than the neutral baseline, illustrating the ineffectiveness of selection at expanding fronts. For larger selection coefficients, however, the substitution rate grows roughly exponentially with .</p

Fixation probability profile for , , and different values of .

<p>The dots represent simulation data and the continuous lines correspond to the result of the numerical integration. The dashed line represents the (arbitrarily rescaled) average profile of an all wildtype wave.</p

Fixation probability profile for , and different values of .

<p>The dots represent simulation data and the continuous lines correspond to the result of the numerical integration. As before, the dashed line represents , arbitrarily rescaled.</p