Seipt, Daniel, Ridgers, Christopher P. orcid.org/0000-0002-4078-0887, Del Sorbo, Dario et al. (1 more author) (2021) Polarized QED cascades. New Journal of Physics. 053025. ISSN 1367-2630
Abstract
By taking the spin and polarization of the electrons, positrons and photons into account in the strong-field QED processes of nonlinear Compton emission and pair production, we find that the growth rate of QED cascades in ultra-intense laser fields can be substantially reduced. While this means that fewer particles are produced, we also found them to be highly polarized. We further find that the high-energy tail of the particle spectra is polarized opposite to that expected from Sokolov-Ternov theory, which cannot be explained by just taking into account spin-asymmetries in the pair production process, but results significantly from 'spin-straggling'. We employ a kinetic equation approach for the electron, positron and photon distributions, each of them spin/polarization-resolved, with the QED effects of photon emission and pair production modelled by a spin/polarization dependent Boltzmann-type collision operator. For photon-seeded cascades, depending on the photon polarization, we find an excess or a shortage of particle production in the early stages of cascade development, which provides a path towards a controlled experiment. Throughout this paper we focus on rotating electric field configuration, which represent an idealized model and allows for a straightforward interpretation of the observed effects.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Author(s). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/M018156/1 |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jul 2021 08:50 |
Last Modified: | 06 Dec 2024 00:19 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/abf584 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/1367-2630/abf584 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:175971 |
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