Monte Carlo calculations of pair production in high-intensity laser–plasma interactions

Duclous, Roland; Kirk, J. G.; Bell, A. R.

doi:10.1088/0741-3335/53/1/015009

Cited by 226 publications

(253 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However, the cascades always arise for a focused laser pulse or for any combination of several such pulses. Moreover, the threshold intensity observed in simulations was essentially lower than 10 25 W/cm 2 because of the large size of the focal region and presumably fluctuations of parameters χ and mean free times t e,γ [37,41,34,43,45]. But one should bear in mind that most of the authors for simplicity used in their simulations the probability rates for nonpolarized particles.…”

Section: Laser Fieldmentioning

confidence: 96%

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Narozhny

Fedotov

2014

Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top.

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Abstract. We present a short review of recent progress in studying QED effects of interaction of ultrarelativistic laser pulses with vacuum and e − e + plasma. The development of laser technologies promises very rapid growth of laser intensities in close future already. Two exawatt class facilities (ELI and XCELS, Russia) in Europe are already in the planning stage. Realization of these projects will make available a laser of intensity ∼ 10 26 W/cm 2 or even higher. Therefore, discussion of nonlinear optical effects in vacuum are becoming urgent for experimentalists and are currently gaining much attention. We show that, in spite of the fact that the respective field strength is still essentially less than ES = m 2 c 3 /e = 1.32 · 10 16 V/cm, the nonlinear vacuum effects will be accessible for observation at ELI and XCELS facilities. The most promissory for observation is the effect of pair creation by laser pulse in vacuum. It is shown, that at intensities ∼ 5·10 25 W/cm 2 , creation even of a single pair is accompanied by development of an avalanchelike QED cascade. There exists an important distinctive feature of the laser-induced cascades, as compared with the air showers arising due to primary cosmic ray entering the atmosphere. In our case the laser field plays not only the role of a target (similar to a nucleus in the case of air showers). It is responsible also for acceleration of slow particles. It is shown that the effect of pair creation imposes a natural limit for attainable laser intensity. Apparently, the field strength E ∼ ES is not accessible for pair creating electromagnetic field at all.PACS. 42.50.Ct Quantum description of interaction of light and matter; related experiments -12.20.Ds Specific calculations -52.27.Ep Electron-positron plasmas

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Section: Laser Fieldmentioning

confidence: 96%

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Narozhny

Fedotov

2014

Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top.

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“…We have also pushed the parameters in order to make the bridge between different regimes: the onset of QED characterized by χ 1 [12,15,28] and the [16,17,26,37].…”

Section: Physical Setup and Laser Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeded QED cascades in counterpropagating laser pulses

et al. 2017

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The growth rates of seeded QED cascades in counter propagating lasers are calculated with first principles 2D/3D QED-PIC simulations. The dependence of the growth rate on laser polarization and intensity are compared with analytical models that support the findings of the simulations. The models provide an insight regarding the qualitative trend of the cascade growth when the intensity of the laser field is varied. A discussion about the cascade's threshold is included, based on the analytical and numerical results. These results show that relativistic pair plasmas and efficient conversion from laser photons to gamma rays can be observed with the typical intensities planned to operate on future ultra-intense laser facilities such as ELI or VULCAN.

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“…Breit-Wheeler emission is simulated in EPOCH using the method detailed in Duclous et al 15 . In this method there is a control parameter χ = (hν/(m e c 2 ))E/E S for each gamma-ray photon which determines the importance of Breit-Wheeler pair production based on local conditions.…”

Section: Pair Plasma Creationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchrotron radiation, pair production, and longitudinal electron motion during 10-100 PW laser solid interactions

et al. 2014

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At laser intensities above 10 23 W/cm 2 the interaction of a laser with a plasma is qualitatively different to the interactions at lower intensities. In this intensity regime solid targets start to become relativistically underdense, gamma-ray production by synchrotron emission starts to become an important feature of the dynamics and, at even higher intensities, electron-positron pair production by the non-linear Breit-Wheeler process starts to occur. Previous work in this intensity regime has considered ion acceleration 1 , 2 , identified different mechanisms for the underlying plasma physics of laser generation of gamma-rays 3 , 4 , 5 considered the effect of target parameters on gamma-ray generation 6 and considered the creation of solid density positronium plasma 3 . However a complete linked understanding of the important new physics of this regime is still lacking. In this paper, an analysis is presented of the effects of target density, laser intensity, target preplasma properties and other parameters on the conversion efficiency, spectrum and angular distribution of gamma-rays by synchrotron emission. An analysis of the importance of Breit-Wheeler pair production is also presented. Target electron densities between 10 22 cm −3 and 5×10 24 cm −3 and laser intensities covering the range between 10 21 W/cm 2 (available with current generation laser facilities) and 10 24 W/cm 2 (upper intensity range expected from the ELI facility) are considered. It is found that peak efficiency of conversion of laser energy into gammaray energy is achieved when the target density is 0.1 times the relativistically corrected critical density and that higher efficiency is obtained at higher laser intensity. Target front surface preplasmas of sufficient length are found to increase the efficiency of gamma-ray production compared with striking overdense solid targets directly in a fashion comparable to that in Nakamura et al. 6 by ensuring that the laser pulse interacts with a plasma of the optimum density. However maximum laser conversion to gamma-rays is achieved by striking a uniform target of the optimum density or a preplasma of sufficient length that the preplasma is nearly a uniform slab. It is found that the efficiency of Breit-Wheeler pair production is not related to either relativistic transparency or efficiency of gamma-ray production but is maximized by striking a high density target with the most intense laser possible. A qualitative model for this behaviour is presented. An analysis of the behavior of the longitundal motion of electrons as target density and laser intensity change is presented and it is found that there are two distinct regimes separated by the ratio of the relativistically corrected plasma frequency to the laser frequency. It is found that the transition between the two regimes is related to the structure of the electron phase space at the head of the laser.

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Monte Carlo calculations of pair production in high-intensity laser–plasma interactions

Cited by 226 publications

References 15 publications

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Seeded QED cascades in counterpropagating laser pulses

Synchrotron radiation, pair production, and longitudinal electron motion during 10-100 PW laser solid interactions

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