Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Abstract

We present a short review of recent progress in studying QED effects of interaction of ultra-relativistic laser pulses with vacuum and $e^{-}{e}^{+}$ plasma. The development of laser technologies promises very rapid growth of laser intensities in close future already. Two exawatt class facilities (ELI and XCELS, Russia) in Europe are already in the planning stage. Realization of these projects will make available a laser of intensity $\sim 10^{26}$W/cm${}^2$ or even higher. Therefore, discussion of nonlinear optical effects in vacuum are becoming urgent for experimentalists and are currently gaining much attention. We show that, in spite of the fact that the respective field strength is still essentially less than $E_S=m^2{c}^3/e\hslash =1.32\cdot 10^{16}$V/cm, the nonlinear vacuum effects will be accessible for observation at ELI and XCELS facilities. The most promissory for observation is the effect of pair creation by laser pulse in vacuum. It is shown, that at intensities $\sim 5\cdot 10^{25}$W/cm${}^2$, creation even of a single pair is accompanied by development of an avalanchelike QED cascade. There exists an important distinctive feature of the laser-induced cascades, as compared with the air showers arising due to primary cosmic ray entering the atmosphere. In our case the laser field plays not only the role of a target (similar to a nucleus in the case of air showers). It is responsible also for acceleration of slow particles. It is shown that the effect of pair creation imposes a natural limit for attainable laser intensity. Apparently, the field strength $E\sim E_S$ is not accessible for pair creating electromagnetic field at all.

To be published in digest "IZEST Scientific Case" in EPJ ST early 2014

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Real-time dynamics of lattice gauge theories with a few-qubit quantum computer
• Thermalization dynamics of a gauge theory on a quantum simulator
• U(1) Wilson lattice gauge theories in digital quantum simulators
• Semiclassical picture for electron-positron photoproduction in strong laser fields
• Collapse and revival of electromagnetic cascades in focused intense laser pulses
• Laser-driven hole boring and gamma-ray emission in high-density plasmas
• Onset of electron-seeded cascades in generic electromagnetic fields
• Quantum vacuum processes in the extremely intense light of relativistic plasma mirror sources
• Thermalization of electron-positron plasma with quantum degeneracy
• Laser-Plasma Interactions Enabled by Emerging Technologies