Proton Beam Alignment and Plasma Light Spectrum at AWAKE

This report provides a summary of the activities conducted during my CERN summer student internship within the AWAKE project. The tasks undertaken encompassed diverse aspects of the project. Initially, an examination of the proton beam alignment was performed, recognising its pivotal role in the experiment. Contributions were made towards the implementation of an improved alignment procedure of the proton bunch with respect to the plasma. Secondly, the installation of a spectograph as a diagnostic tool was completed, which allows to validate the integrated plasma light as a measure of wakefield amplitude. The analysis presented strongly indicates no spectral shift for higher wakefield amplitudes. Lastly, a 3D visualisation of a proton bunch undergone self-modulation in 10 m of plasma where ion motion decoheres wakefields at the tail of the bunch is shown.