Bubble regime of plasma wakefield in 2D and 3D geometries

Considering the popularity of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, a planar 2D model of plasma wakefield in the strongly nonlinear (bubble) regime in transversely non-uniform plasma is developed. A differential equation for the boundary of the bubble in the 2D geometry is obtained, and its analytic solution is derived. 2D particle-in-cell simulations are used to confirm the validity of our model. The results are compared to the conventional axisymmetric bubble in the realistic 3D geometry. For uniform plasma, it is shown that the 2D bubble is elongated and has stronger focusing forces, while the structure of the accelerating field remains completely unchanged. A method of generating a quasi-2D bubble in the 3D space is proposed.