Relativistic Doppler-boosted γ-rays in high fields

Capdessus, Remi and King, Martin and Del Sorbo, Dario and Duff, Matthew and Ridgers, Christopher P. and McKenna, Paul (2018) Relativistic Doppler-boosted γ-rays in high fields. Scientific Reports, 8. 9155. ISSN 2045-2322

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    Abstract

    The relativistic Doppler effect is one of the most famous implications of the principles of special relativity and is intrinsic to moving radiation sources, relativistic optics and many astrophysical phenomena. It occurs in the case of a plasma sail accelerated to relativistic velocities by an external driver, such as an ultra-intense laser pulse. Here we show that the relativistic Doppler effect on the high energy synchrotron photon emission (∼ 10 MeV), strongly depends on two intrinsic properties of the plasma (charge state and ion mass) and the transverse extent of the driver. When the moving plasma becomes relativistically transparent to the driver, we show that the γ-ray emission is Doppler-boosted and the angular emission decreases; optimal for the highest charge-to-mass ratio ion species (i.e. a hydrogen plasma). This provides new fundamental insight into the generation of γ-rays in extreme conditions and informs related experiments using multi-petawatt laser facilities.

    Author(s):Capdessus, Remi ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3403-6023, King, Martin ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3370-6141, Del Sorbo, Dario, Duff, Matthew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0745-0157, Ridgers, Christopher P. and McKenna, Paul ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8061-7091
    Item type:Article
    ID code:64184
    Keywords:Doppler effect, high energy, synchrotron photon emission, plasma, Physics, Physics and Astronomy(all)
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:30 May 2018 14:03
    Last modified:27 Sep 2019 03:05
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/64184
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