Highly-accurate, fully-coupled heat transfer-hydrodynamic-electromagnetic simulation for modeling and optimizing laser-driven particle acceleration for laboratory astrophysics

Highly-accurate, fully-coupled heat transfer-hydrodynamic-electromagnetic simulation for modeling and optimizing laser-driven particle acceleration for laboratory astrophysics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Highly-accurate, fully-coupled heat transfer-hydrodynamic-electromagnetic simulation for modeling and optimizing laser-driven particle acceleration for laboratory astrophysics Vasiliki Alexopoulou, Angelos Markopoulos This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7562653/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Extreme astrophysical environments – such as those near black holes and neutron stars – are governed by intense electromagnetic fields and relativistic plasmas. Reproducing these conditions in laboratory is now possible by using high-energy-density lasers. However, the lack of accurate, comprehensive models limits our ability to understand, control and optimize these complex processes. To address this, here we present a unified simulation framework that self-consistently couples heat transfer, hydrodynamic and electromagnetic field dynamics, capturing all key physical mechanisms involved in laser-driven particle acceleration via Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) and nonlinear Breit–Wheeler (NBW) processes. The model is experimentally validated, achieving predictive accuracy exceeding 95% across multiple benchmark laser facilities. A model-based sensitivity analysis identifies preplasma as the dominant factor influencing particle acceleration, guiding the development of a dual-laser controlled preplasma optimization strategy. To support the experimental implementation of this strategy, the model yields scaling laws that correlate laser parameters to preplasma characteristics. Controlled preplasma conditions are shown to enhance number of positrons by up to four orders of magnitude in TNSA regimes and reduce NBW thresholds to levels accessible with current petawatt lasers, thereby enabling the exploration of relativistic plasma physics relevant to astrophysical environments in the laboratory. Physical sciences/Physics/Plasma physics/Laser-produced plasmas Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Computational science Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Lasers, LEDs and light sources/High-field lasers Physical sciences/Physics/Plasma physics/Plasma-based accelerators Physical sciences/Physics/Plasma physics/Astrophysical plasmas Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7562653","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":517575958,"identity":"51982fed-289e-4fdc-b247-cfc76e13a2b5","order_by":0,"name":"Vasiliki Alexopoulou","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABAElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAC5gYIzQ7EHxgYePgIa2GEamEGMmcAtbAhhIjQwswDpAlqMTh+sPExT8UdOYPDzMekbXPsZNgYeI8/5qlhsNuOQ6PBmcRmwxlnnhkbHGZLk87dlgx0GF9iM88xhuQ5B7BrkWxIbJP42HY4ccNhHjOgFmagFh7DZiCZLIHDYZL9D9t/JMK0WG6rh2r5h1sLv0RiGwPcFsZthyFaeNsY7HBredgsCfKL5GG2ZMvebcd52Jh5DGfO7ZNIwKWFjT/54GdQiPEdbz544+e2ant+9h6DD2++2djj0gIFB5DYzGBSIrGBeC1QYI9fxygYBaNgFIwgAADllVDT4PWi1AAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-9810","institution":"National Technical University of Athens","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vasiliki","middleName":"","lastName":"Alexopoulou","suffix":""},{"id":517575959,"identity":"12470fc6-4f41-497d-b121-1d662b720617","order_by":1,"name":"Angelos Markopoulos","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Technical University of Athens","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Angelos","middleName":"","lastName":"Markopoulos","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-08 09:47:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7562653/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7562653/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92626026,"identity":"e41144d9-3561-4b28-aade-4101809afe95","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-01 23:28:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":1037284,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AlexopoulouLaserdrivenparticleacceleration.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7562653/v1/1c3228d815c31f91a0c0605b.pdf"},{"id":92626025,"identity":"d0892f3e-9bbd-4975-ae3f-f56dc8eaaffc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-01 23:28:21","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4756,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"COMMSPHYS251480.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7562653/v1/10c74e768192578dff016da1.json"},{"id":99788824,"identity":"c76abb3d-eb4d-405d-9944-34d46fa2857f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 12:47:58","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":837860,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"AlexopoulouLaserdrivenparticleacceleration.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7562653/v1_covered_f1a13ad7-deb0-4d7e-a6a2-68198941c1d8.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Highly-accurate, fully-coupled heat transfer-hydrodynamic-electromagnetic simulation for modeling and optimizing laser-driven particle acceleration for laboratory astrophysics","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7562653/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7562653/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Extreme astrophysical environments – such as those near black holes and neutron stars – are governed by intense electromagnetic fields and relativistic plasmas. 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