wakefield-acceleration
Original: wakefield-acceleration on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title: PLASMA WAKEFIELD ACCELERATION
A GUIDE
Panel 1:
Caption: CREATE A THIN PLUME OF LITHIUM GAS.
A scientist (man in a lab coat): LITHIUM PRRRRRTY!!
Two other people cheer with raised arms.
Panel 2:
Caption: FIRE AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL LASER INTO IT.
A silhouetted figure: I HAVE MORE POWER THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED.
Another figure: YOU'RE THE FIRST GRAD STUDENT WHO EVER SAID THAT.
Panel 3:
Caption: THE RESULT IS A "TUBE" OF PLASMA IN THE GAS.
(A glowing orange conical/tube shape on a red background.)
Panel 4:
Caption: PROTONS ARE MUCH HEAVIER THAN ELECTRONS, SO CONSIDER THEM STATIONARY FOR WHAT FOLLOWS.
A proton: HA HA HA! / STUPID TINY ELECTRONS!
(Large yellow circles — protons — on an orange background.)
Panel 5:
Caption: FIRE TWO ELECTRON BUNDLES INTO THE "TUBE." THE LEADING BUNDLE KNOCKS AWAY PLASMA.
Labels: bundle 2, bundle 1
(Two blue blobs moving rightward through a field of small blue dots inside a red tube.)
Panel 6:
Caption: IN THE WAKE OF THE BUNDLES THERE ARE ONLY PROTONS.
Label: super positive region
Label: super positive region
(A blue oval bundle leaving a clear yellow wake region behind it.)
Panel 7:
Caption: THE KNOCKED-AWAY ELECTRONS ZOOM TOWARD THE WAKE, BOOSTING THE BUNDLES.
Sound effect: AAAAAH!
(Blue electron blobs rushing back into the wake region.)
Panel 8:
Caption: THUS, ENERGIES THAT TODAY REQUIRE BIG COLLIDERS COULD BE ACHIEVED IN A ONE-METER DEVICE.
A child to a scientist (a man with glasses): HEY BABY WANNA COME TO MY LAB AND SEE SOMETHING TINY GO REALLY FAST?
Panel 9:
Caption: WE DON'T YET KNOW IF THIS METHOD WILL YIELD LHC-LEVEL ENERGIES.
A woman: SO FAST.
The scientist grins.
Panel 10:
Caption: BUT, I GUESS WHAT I'M SAYING IS, IF IT DOES, CAN WE PLEASE DO THIS?
A man (off to the side): OH, YOU WORK AT THE LHC? NERD! / I HAVE TWO OF THOSE ON MY LAWN.
A woman looks on.
Signature: smbc-comics.com
Votey:
A man lies in bed, eyes closed. Thought/speech bubble above him:
"Dear Lord Feynman, Please let nothing be completely wrong in this comic."
A GUIDE
Panel 1:
Caption: CREATE A THIN PLUME OF LITHIUM GAS.
A scientist (man in a lab coat): LITHIUM PRRRRRTY!!
Two other people cheer with raised arms.
Panel 2:
Caption: FIRE AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL LASER INTO IT.
A silhouetted figure: I HAVE MORE POWER THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED.
Another figure: YOU'RE THE FIRST GRAD STUDENT WHO EVER SAID THAT.
Panel 3:
Caption: THE RESULT IS A "TUBE" OF PLASMA IN THE GAS.
(A glowing orange conical/tube shape on a red background.)
Panel 4:
Caption: PROTONS ARE MUCH HEAVIER THAN ELECTRONS, SO CONSIDER THEM STATIONARY FOR WHAT FOLLOWS.
A proton: HA HA HA! / STUPID TINY ELECTRONS!
(Large yellow circles — protons — on an orange background.)
Panel 5:
Caption: FIRE TWO ELECTRON BUNDLES INTO THE "TUBE." THE LEADING BUNDLE KNOCKS AWAY PLASMA.
Labels: bundle 2, bundle 1
(Two blue blobs moving rightward through a field of small blue dots inside a red tube.)
Panel 6:
Caption: IN THE WAKE OF THE BUNDLES THERE ARE ONLY PROTONS.
Label: super positive region
Label: super positive region
(A blue oval bundle leaving a clear yellow wake region behind it.)
Panel 7:
Caption: THE KNOCKED-AWAY ELECTRONS ZOOM TOWARD THE WAKE, BOOSTING THE BUNDLES.
Sound effect: AAAAAH!
(Blue electron blobs rushing back into the wake region.)
Panel 8:
Caption: THUS, ENERGIES THAT TODAY REQUIRE BIG COLLIDERS COULD BE ACHIEVED IN A ONE-METER DEVICE.
A child to a scientist (a man with glasses): HEY BABY WANNA COME TO MY LAB AND SEE SOMETHING TINY GO REALLY FAST?
Panel 9:
Caption: WE DON'T YET KNOW IF THIS METHOD WILL YIELD LHC-LEVEL ENERGIES.
A woman: SO FAST.
The scientist grins.
Panel 10:
Caption: BUT, I GUESS WHAT I'M SAYING IS, IF IT DOES, CAN WE PLEASE DO THIS?
A man (off to the side): OH, YOU WORK AT THE LHC? NERD! / I HAVE TWO OF THOSE ON MY LAWN.
A woman looks on.
Signature: smbc-comics.com
Votey:
A man lies in bed, eyes closed. Thought/speech bubble above him:
"Dear Lord Feynman, Please let nothing be completely wrong in this comic."
Alt text
A tall SMBC comic titled "PLASMA WAKEFIELD ACCELERATION: A GUIDE," laid out as a numbered sequence of captioned panels explaining the technology, alternating with sciency cartoons and jokes. Panel 1: "Create a thin plume of lithium gas" — a scientist cheers "LITHIUM PRRRRRTY!!" with two others. Panel 2: "Fire an extremely powerful laser into it" — a silhouetted figure brags "I have more power than the rest of the world combined," and another deadpans "You're the first grad student who ever said that." Panel 3: "The result is a 'tube' of plasma in the gas," shown as a glowing orange cone. Panel 4: "Protons are much heavier than electrons, so consider them stationary" — big yellow proton circles laugh "Ha ha ha! Stupid tiny electrons!" Panel 5: "Fire two electron bundles into the tube; the leading bundle knocks away plasma," with blue blobs labeled bundle 1 and bundle 2 in a field of dots. Panel 6: "In the wake of the bundles there are only protons," labeled "super positive region." Panel 7: "The knocked-away electrons zoom toward the wake, boosting the bundles" — electrons rush back yelling "AAAAAH!" Panel 8: "Thus, energies that today require big colliders could be achieved in a one-meter device" — a child propositions a scientist, "Hey baby wanna come to my lab and see something tiny go really fast?" Panel 9: "We don't yet know if this method will yield LHC-level energies" — a woman murmurs "So fast" as the scientist grins. Panel 10: "But, I guess what I'm saying is, if it does, can we please do this?" — a man scoffs "Oh, you work at the LHC? Nerd! I have two of those on my lawn." Votey: a man lies in bed with eyes closed, a bubble above him reading "Dear Lord Feynman, Please let nothing be completely wrong in this comic."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.