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.

    ORCID iDs

    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
      Dates:
      Date
      Event
      14 June 2018
      Published
      24 May 2018
      Accepted
      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:07 May 2021 00:46
      Related URLs:
      URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/64184
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