Primer of Strong-Field Quantum Electrodynamics for Experimentalists

Abstract

This document serves as a conceptual and practical introduction to Strong-Field Quantum Electrodynamics (SFQED), written from the standpoint of experimental physicists. Rather than providing a comprehensive theoretical review, the document focuses on the core ideas, terminology, and challenges in SFQED that are most relevant to experimental design and interpretation. Our goal is to offer a first point of contact with the subject, bridging the gap between foundational theory and hands-on experimental work, and complementing more formal literature in the field.

accepted version

References in corpus (30)

• Extremely high-intensity laser interactions with fundamental quantum systems
• Nonlinear collective effects in photon-photon and photon-plasma interactions
• Advances in QED with intense background fields
• Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
• Charged particle motion and radiation in strong electromagnetic fields
• Conceptual Design Report for the LUXE Experiment
• Evidence for vacuum birefringence from the first optical polarimetry measurement of the isolated neutron star RX\, J1856.5$-$3754
• Laser absorption via QED cascades in counter propagating laser pulses
• Improved Determination of $\alpha (M_{\mathrm{Z}}^2$) and the Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon
• Improved Determination of alpha_QED(M_Z^2) and the Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon
• Is there a Landau Pole Problem in QED?
• Trident pair production in a constant crossed field
• The locally monochromatic approximation to QED in intense laser fields
• A Lorentz and gauge invariant measure of laser intensity
• Measuring the Boiling Point of the Vacuum of Quantum Electrodynamics
• Measurement of the Running of the Electromagnetic Coupling at Large Momentum-Transfer at LEP
• Strong-Field QED and High Power Lasers
• Testing strong-field QED close to the fully non-perturbative regime using aligned crystals
• Arbitrarily Structured Laser Pulses
• Simulations of laser-driven strong-field QED with Ptarmigan: Resolving wavelength-scale interference and $\gamma$-ray polarization
• The trident process in laser pulses
• Letter of Intent: Towards a Vacuum Birefringence Experiment at the Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields
• Identifying the electron-positron cascade regimes in high-intensity laser-matter interactions
• Using nonlinear Breit-Wheeler to test nonlinear vacuum birefringence
• Precision Measurement of Trident Production in Strong Electromagnetic Fields
• Observation of quantum effects on radiation reaction in strong fields
• Landau poles in condensed matter systems
• Compton recoil effects in staging of laser wakefield accelerators
• Properties of the quantum vacuum calculated from its structure
• Constraining Electromagnetic Signals from Black Holes with Hair