STEFF · Strong-field electrodynamics in Flying Focus pulses

Strong-field electrodynamics in Flying Focus pulses

The dynamics of an electron in a strong external electromagnetic field is one of the most fundamental unsolved problems in classical and quantum electrodynamics (QED). In this regime, electron motion is dominated by quantum radiation reaction (RR), which is the loss of energy and momentum of electrons due to their own radiation under acceleration. Aside from the unquestionable fundamental interest, this problem is of practical importance as a laboratory source of gamma rays and because it can explain radiative properties of extreme astrophysical objects, such as quasars and pulsars. In the past decade, ultra-intense laser pulses were established as a powerful tool soon-to-be capable of probing the light-electron interactions in this regime. In fact, the first ultra-intense laser-based RR experiments were conducted in 2018. The results so far had difficulties distinguishing between RR models because of the low event statistics at current laser intensities, problematic laser-electron beam synchronization and issues determining laser beam parameters during the interaction. This project has a potential to overcome the above mentioned challenges by theoretically investigating particle beam behavior in external laser fields using the recently-described “flying focus” (FF) laser pulses. FF pulses allow precise control of the position and velocity of their peak intensity, which can travel at any velocity, over distances much longer than a Rayleigh range. Specifically, particle beams can propagate with the laser focus, so that the particles stay in the region of peak field intensity orders of magnitude longer than in collisions with stationary focus gaussian (SFG) pulses (see Fig. 1). This has profound implications, because any cumulative effects are amplified by the prolonged interaction times. The objectives of this project were the following: + Exploring cumulative aspects of classical electron-laser interactions in FF regime. + Developing analytical and numerical tools for studying strong field processes in FF laser pulses. + Simulating strong-field processes in FF regime and identifying circumstances in which FF pulses outperform SFG pulses. Both the theoretical and simulation parts of this project were aimed towards devising experimental scenarios realizable with existing technology which would bridge the current gap in laser capabilities and allow us to probe directly the strong-field QED regime and unlock other useful capabilities.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз