Open AccessSimulations of vacuum laser acceleration: Hidden errors from particle’s initial positions
Author(s) -
P. X. Wang,
Shigeo Kawata,
Y. K. Ho
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.014144
Subject(s) - acceleration , laser , optics , particle acceleration , field (mathematics) , physics , particle (ecology) , simplicity , energy (signal processing) , computer science , classical mechanics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , geology , oceanography , pure mathematics
Simulation of vacuum laser acceleration, because of its scheme's simplicity, attracts many people involved in. However, how to put the particle in the initial positions in the field has not been considered seriously in some such schemes. An inattentive choice of electron's initial conditions may lead to misleading results. Here we show that arbitrarily placing the particle within the laser field leads to an overestimation of its energy gain, and offer suggestions for selecting appropriate initial conditions.