Beam Loading in Plasma Waves

Certain key accelerator issues relevant to plasma-based accelerators are studied in this article. Analytic results for important quantities of interest, such as maximum beam current, efficiency, and energy spread will be given. These results will then be compared with one-and two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) computer simulations. Special emphasis will be placed on those schemes that offer not only high accelerating gradients, but also high efficiency and small energy spread.