Quantum electrodynamics experiments with colliding Peta-Watt laser pulses

Turcu, I.C.E. and Shen, B. and Neely, D. and Sarri, G. and Tanaka, K.A. and McKenna, P. and Mangles, S.P.D. and Yu, T-P. and Luo, W. and Zhu, X-L. and Yin, Y. (2019) Quantum electrodynamics experiments with colliding Peta-Watt laser pulses. High Power Laser Science and Engineering, 7. e10. ISSN 2095-4719 (https://doi.org/10.1017/hpl.2018.66)

[thumbnail of Turcu-etal-HPLSE-2018-QED-experiments-with-colliding-Peta-Watt laser-pulses]
Preview
 Text. Filename: Turcu_etal_HPLSE_2018_QED_experiments_with_colliding_Peta_Watt_laser_pulses.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 logo
Download (358kB)| Preview

Abstract

A new generation of high power laser facilities will provide laser pulses with extremely high powers of 10 petawatt (PW) and even 100 PW, capable of reaching intensities of in the laser focus. These ultra-high intensities are nevertheless lower than the Schwinger intensity at which the theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED) predicts that a large part of the energy of the laser photons will be transformed to hard Gamma-ray photons and even to matter, via electron-positron pair production. To enable the investigation of this physics at the intensities achievable with the next generation of high power laser facilities, an approach involving the interaction of two colliding PW laser pulses is being adopted. Theoretical simulations predict strong QED effects with colliding laser pulses of focused to intensities.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:66364
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    14 February 2019
    Published
    21 November 2018
    Accepted
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:14 Dec 2018 09:33
    Last modified:20 Apr 2024 00:35
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/66364
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)