The rapid progress that plasma wakefield accelerators are experiencing is now posing the question as to whether they could be included in the design of the next generation of high-energy electron-positron colliders. However, the typical structure of the accelerating wakefields presents challenging complications for positron acceleration. Despite seminal proof-of-principle experiments and theoretical proposals, experimental research in plasma-based acceleration of positrons is currently limited by the scarcity of positron beams suitable to seed a plasma accelerator. Here, we report on the first experimental demonstration of a laser-driven source of ultra-relativistic positrons with sufficient spectral and spatial quality to be injected in a plasma accelerator. Our results indicate, in agreement with numerical simulations, selection and transport of positron beamlets containing
The electric field surrounding a single positron in a metal is screened by an increase in the local electron density which, in the case of nearly free-electron metals (like Al, Na, etc.), has a radial distribution similar to that of the electron in positronium (Ps). In such metals, a singlet pair of positrons would experience an attractive interaction and at low enough electron densities could possibly form a bound state that is held together by exchange and correlation energies, thus forming structures analogous to that of the positronium molecule (Ps
- Award ID(s):
- 2011836
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10369241
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Science + Business Media
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The European Physical Journal D
- Volume:
- 76
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 1434-6060
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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