Article Dans Une Revue Phys.Plasmas Année : 2025

Testing strong-field QED with the avalanche precursor

Résumé

A two-beam high-power laser facility is essential for the study of one of the most captivating phenomena predicted by strong-field quantum electrodynamics (QED) and yet unobserved experimentally: the avalanche-type cascade. In such a cascade, the energy of intense laser light can be efficiently transformed into high-energy radiation and electron-positron pairs. The future 50-petawatt-scale laser facility NSF OPAL will provide unique opportunities for studying such strong-field QED effects, as it is designed to deliver two ultra-intense, tightly focused laser pulses onto the interaction point. In this work, we investigate the potential of such a facility for studying elementary particle and plasma dynamics deeply in the quantum radiation-dominated regime, and the generation of QED avalanches. With 3D particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that QED avalanche precursors can be reliably triggered under realistic laser parameters and layout (namely, focusing $f/2$, tilted optical axes, and non-ideal co-pointing) with the anticipated capabilities of NSF OPAL. We demonstrate that seed electrons can be efficiently injected into the laser focus by using targets of three types: a gas of heavy atoms, an overcritical plasma, and a thin foil. A strong positron and high-energy photon signal is generated in all cases. The cascade properties can be identified from the final particle distributions, which have a clear directional pattern. At increasing laser field intensity, such distributions provide signatures of the transition, first, to the radiation-dominated interaction regime, and then to a QED avalanche. Our findings can also be used for designing related future experiments.

Dates et versions

hal-05116937 , version 1 (17-06-2025)

Identifiants

Citer

A.A Mironov, S.S Bulanov, A Di Piazza, M Grech, L Lancia, et al.. Testing strong-field QED with the avalanche precursor. Phys.Plasmas, 2025, 32 (9), pp.093302. ⟨10.1063/5.0283438⟩. ⟨hal-05116937⟩
59 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

  • More