Petascale Particle-in-Cell Simulations of Plasma Based Accelerators

The long-term future of experimental high-energy physics research using accelerators depends on the successful development of novel ultra highgradient acceleration methods. New acceleration techniques using lasers and plasmas have already been shown to exhibit gradients and focusing forces more than 1000 times greater than conventional technology, raising the possibility of ultra-compact accelerators for applications in science, industry, and medicine. In the past few years, parallel simulation tools for plasma based acceleration have been verified against each other, against experiment, and against theory. The goal of this project is to use these tools for studying parameters that are in regimes that will not be accessible for experiments for years to come. This study will provide an environment to test key concepts under ideal conditions before tens to hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on the required facilities.