Plasma Acceleration Efficiency in a Pulsed Electrodynamic Accelerator

Results are presented from two-dimensional gas-dynamic simulations of plasma acceleration in the channel of a pulsed electrodynamic accelerator. The electrical conductivity of the plasma is assumed to be infinite and its thermal conductivity is neglected. The effect of the initial plasma density distribution on the acceleration efficiency is investigated. It is shown that the acceleration efficiency can be as high as ?40%, the acceleration length being one order of magnitude larger than the width of the initial gas density distribution.