Proton the particles in the solar wind are electrons and protons, in approximately equal numbers. Protons also have extrasolar origin from galactic cosmic rays, where they make up about 90% of the total particle flux. These protons often have higher energy than solar wind protons, and their intensity is far more uniform and less variable than protons coming from the Sun, the production of which is heavily affected by solar proton events such as coronal mass ejections. Research has been performed on the dose-rate effects of protons, as typically found in space travel, on human health. To be more specific, there
AWAKE bunch in the wakefield is thus crucial, since only a fraction (1/4th) of the wakefield is both focused and accelerated, which is needed for the trapping and the acceleration of the electrons. AWAKE is the first plasma wakefield experiment using a bunch of protons as a driver. Protons, as e.g. the protons form the CERN SPS, can carry a large amount of energy (~ 400 GeV). Therefore, they can produce wakefields in a plasma for much longer distances than a laser pulse or electron bunch as a driver due to energy depletion. A plasma can be seen as an ensemble