On the Prospect of Studying Nonperturbative QED with Beam-Beam Collisions

Probing nonperturbative QED with optimally focused laser pulses

We study nonperturbative pair production in intense, focused laser fields called e-dipole pulses. We address the conditions required, such as the quality of the vacuum, for reaching high intensities without initiating beam-depleting cascades, the number of pairs which can be created, and experimental detection of the created pairs. We find that e-dipole pulses offer an optimal method of investigating nonperturbative QED.

Dynamical Schwinger effect and high-intensity lasers. Realising nonperturbative QED

We consider the possibility of experimental verification of vacuum e^+e^- pair creation at the focus of two counter-propagating optical laser beams with intensities 10^{20}-10^{22} W/cm^2, achievable with present-day petawatt lasers, and approaching the Schwinger limit: 10^{29} W/cm^2 to be reached at ELI. Our approach is based on the collisionless kinetic equation for the evolution of the e^+ and e^- distribution functions governed by a non-Markovian source term for pair production. As possible experimental signals of vacuum pair production we consider e^+e^- annihilation into gamma-pairs and…

On the new and old physics in the interaction of a radiating electron with the extreme electromagnetic field

We show that an all-optical configuration of the laser-electron collision in the $λ^{3}$ configuration based on 10 PW-class lasers presents a viable platform for reaching the range of parameters where a perturbative QED in strong external electromagnetic field breaks. This case is contingently referred to as a case of the nonperturbative QED; and this range of parameters is the intriguing goal from an experimental point of view because of a possible manifestation of a new physics of the interaction of a highly radiating particle with a strong electromagnetic field. We show that the strong fiel…

Relativistically transparent magnetic filaments: scaling laws, initial results and prospects for strong-field QED studies

Relativistic transparency enables volumetric laser interaction with overdense plasmas and direct laser acceleration of electrons to relativistic velocities. The dense electron current generates a magnetic filament with field strength of the order of the laser amplitude ($>$10$^5$ T). The magnetic filament traps the electrons radially, enabling efficient acceleration and conversion of laser energy into MeV photons by electron oscillations in the filament. The use of microstructured targets stabilizes the hosing instabilities associated with relativistically transparent interactions, resulting i…

Seed and vacuum pair production in strong laser field

Researches on the electron-positron pair production in the presence of the intense laser field are reviewed, motivated by the theoretical importance of the nonperturbative QED problem and the worldwide development of the strong laser facilities. According to distinct experimental requirements and theoretical methods, two types of pair production are elaborated, which are respectively the pair production in the combination of a seed particle and the strong laser, and vacuum pair production without a seed particle. The origin of the nonperturbative problem caused by the strong field is analyzed.…

利用Ptarmigan模拟激光驱动的强场QED：分辨波长尺度干涉与γ射线偏振

Simulations of laser-driven strong-field QED with Ptarmigan: Resolving wavelength-scale interference and $γ$-ray polarization

本文利用Ptarmigan程序在局域单色近似下模拟过渡区强场QED过程，并验证其对线偏振激光和任意偏振γ射线的模拟精度达到百分之几。