Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma

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Chu, J. T. Y. and Halliday, J. W. D. and Heaton, C. and Moczulski, K. and Blazevic, A. and Schumacher, D. and Metternich, M. and Nazary, H. and Arrowsmith, C. D. and Bell, A. R. and Beyer, K. A. and Bott, A. F. A. and Campbell, T. and Hansen, E. and Lamb, D. Q. and Miniati, F. and Neumayer, P. and Palmer, C. A. J. and Reville, B. and Reyes, A. and Sarkar, S. and Scopatz, A. and Spindloe, C. and Stuart, C. B. and Wen, H. and Tzeferacos, P. and Bingham, R. and Gregori, G. (2026) Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma. Nature Communications, 17 (1). 3354. ISSN 2041-1723 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70113-y)

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Abstract

Here we present results from an experiment performed at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research. A mono-energetic beam of chromium ions with initial energies of ~ 450 MeV was fired through a magnetized interaction region formed by the collision of two counter-propagating laser-ablated plasma jets. While laser interferometry revealed the absence of strong fluid-scale turbulence, acceleration and diffusion of the beam ions was driven by wave-particle interactions. A possible mechanism is particle acceleration by electrostatic, short scale length kinetic turbulence, such as the lower-hybrid drift instability.

ORCID iDs

Chu, J. T. Y., Halliday, J. W. D., Heaton, C., Moczulski, K., Blazevic, A., Schumacher, D., Metternich, M., Nazary, H., Arrowsmith, C. D., Bell, A. R., Beyer, K. A., Bott, A. F. A., Campbell, T., Hansen, E., Lamb, D. Q., Miniati, F., Neumayer, P., Palmer, C. A. J., Reville, B., Reyes, A., Sarkar, S., Scopatz, A., Spindloe, C., Stuart, C. B., Wen, H., Tzeferacos, P., Bingham, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9843-7635 and Gregori, G.;
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