Proton collective accelerator studies

Collective accelerator research at Cornell University is centered on the use of slow space charge waves for proton acceleration. In this paper we present the results of an experimental investigation of nonlinear space charge wave propagation on a weakly relativistic electron beam. It is shown that nonlinear effects are extremely important, leading to dramatic reductions in the wave phase velocity. Wave phase velocities of 0.06 c have been achieved in the nonlinear regime. We also describe briefly some observations made of collective acceleration using localized plasma sources.