Depolarization of synchrotron radiation of a relativistic electron beam

Abstract

We present a theoretical study on the radiative self-polarization of a high-energy electron beam propagating perpendicular to a strong magnetic field. Recently, a similar setup has been proposed as a source of polarized electron and photon beams. We focus on the dependence of electron and radiation polarization on the dimensionless parameter $\epsilon$, which is proportional to the product of electron energy and magnetic field strength. The numerical solution of the balance equation shows that the resulting electron beam polarization increases rapidly as a function of $\epsilon$ for $\epsilon \ll 1$ and saturates at a value of approximately $-0.8$. If $\epsilon \gg 1$, the rate of self-polarization decreases significantly. At the same time, a substantial or nearly complete depolarization of synchrotron radiation is observed, particularly for an electron beam with spins initially aligned parallel to the field.

7 pages, 4 figures