A systematic investigation of the longitudinal fields excited in a
plasma by a short, dense beam of positrons is carried out using
two-dimensional, cylindrical geometry, particle-in-cell code
simulations. In particular, we examine the behavior of the accelerating
and decelerating fields of the wakefield as a function of beam charge,
radius, length, and plasma density. The parameters are chosen to be
consistent with those employed in current and future experiments
designed to elucidate the physics of positron beam–plasma
interactions.