Thesis

Muon acceleration in plasma-based acceleration

• Call:

  PT-CERN Call 2021/1

• Academic Year:

  2021

• Domain:

  Astrophysics

• Supervisor:

  Jorge Vieira

• Co-Supervisor:

• Institution:

  Instituto Superior Técnico (Universidade de Lisboa)

• Host Institution:

  Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear -IPFN

• Abstract:

  Plasma-based accelerators may revolutionize science and technology, by bringing more compact, ecological yet powerful accelerators directly into universities and hospitals [tajima&dawson]. A TeV class electron-positron plasma based linear collider is the ultimate goal in the context of high energy physics (HEP). Recent experiments took important steps in this direction, by routinely producing high-quality GeV class electron and positron bunches [berkeley]. As a result of the European strategy for particle physics, Europe is actively considering an alternative approach based on a muon collider. The finite life time of the muon is a challenge for those machines, which need to compensate for muon decay. Plasma accelerators could bring substantial advantages by accelerating muons to relativistic energies before they decay. In this project we plan to investigate, for the first time, muon acceleration in a plasma accelerator. If successful, this work may become a major step towards a plasma-based injector for a future muon collider.