Reaching supercritical field strengths with intense lasers

TY - JOUR

T1 - Reaching supercritical field strengths with intense lasers

AU - Blackburn, T. G.

AU - Ilderton, A.

AU - Marklund, M.

AU - Ridgers, C. P.

N1 - © 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd on behalf of the Institute of Physics and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

PY - 2019/5/29

Y1 - 2019/5/29

N2 - It is conjectured that all perturbative approaches to quantum electrodynamics (QED) break down in the collision of a high-energy electron beam with an intense laser, when the laser fields are boosted to `supercritical' strengths far greater than the critical field of QED. As field strengths increase toward this regime, cascades of photon emission and electron-positron pair creation are expected, as well as the onset of substantial radiative corrections. Here we identify the important role played by the collision angle in mitigating energy losses to photon emission that would otherwise prevent the electrons reaching the supercritical regime. We show that a collision between an electron beam with energy in the tens of GeV and a laser pulse of intensity $10^{24}~\text{W}\text{cm}^{-2}$ at oblique, or even normal, incidence is a viable platform for studying the breakdown of perturbative strong-field QED. Our results have implications for the design of near-term experiments as they predict that certain quantum effects are enhanced at oblique incidence.

AB - It is conjectured that all perturbative approaches to quantum electrodynamics (QED) break down in the collision of a high-energy electron beam with an intense laser, when the laser fields are boosted to `supercritical' strengths far greater than the critical field of QED. As field strengths increase toward this regime, cascades of photon emission and electron-positron pair creation are expected, as well as the onset of substantial radiative corrections. Here we identify the important role played by the collision angle in mitigating energy losses to photon emission that would otherwise prevent the electrons reaching the supercritical regime. We show that a collision between an electron beam with energy in the tens of GeV and a laser pulse of intensity $10^{24}~\text{W}\text{cm}^{-2}$ at oblique, or even normal, incidence is a viable platform for studying the breakdown of perturbative strong-field QED. Our results have implications for the design of near-term experiments as they predict that certain quantum effects are enhanced at oblique incidence.

KW - physics.plasm-ph

KW - hep-ph

U2 - 10.1088/1367-2630/ab1e0d

DO - 10.1088/1367-2630/ab1e0d

M3 - Article

SN - 1367-2630

VL - 21

JO - New Journal of Physics

JF - New Journal of Physics

M1 - 053040

ER -