Polarization operator for plane-wave background fields

Meuren, Sebastian; Keitel, Christoph H.; Piazza, A. Di

doi:10.1103/physrevd.88.013007

Cited by 56 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…1 naturally overestimate the energy loss as they are based on the LCA, which misses quantum interference. This is consistent with recent investigations which show that the LCA misses spectral features which depend on long distance phase correlations or interference from multiple stationary points, in both photon emission [35,36] and pair production [37][38][39].…”

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confidence: 92%

Quantum Radiation Reaction: From Interference to Incoherence

et al. 2016

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We investigate quantum radiation reaction in laser-electron interactions across different energy and intensity regimes. Using a fully quantum approach which also accounts exactly for the effect of the strong laser pulse on the electron motion, we identify in particular a regime in which radiation reaction is dominated by quantum interference. We find signatures of quantum radiation reaction in the electron spectra which have no classical analogue and which cannot be captured by the incoherent approximations typically used in the high-intensity regime. These signatures are measurable with presently available laser and accelerator technology.PACS numbers: 12.20.Ds, 41.75.Ht Intense light sources offer new prospects for observing quantum effects in laser-matter interactions. Phenomena such as particle beam spreading [1], cooling [2, 3] and trapping [4, 5] can all be phrased in terms of the quantum recoil experienced by particles interacting with laser pulses, recoil which dominates particle motion in certain regimes [6]. Because of this the topic of quantum recoil, also called quantum radiation reaction ("QRR"), now receives a great deal of attention [7][8][9][10][11][12].Investigations of QRR often focus on high-intensity regimes currently out of experimental reach. In such regimes QRR comes from multiphoton emission, and the shortness of the 'formation length' of quantum processes at high intensity implies that these emissions can be described as incoherent events [13, 14]. In this Letter we show that the nature of QRR varies significantly in different intensity and energy regimes, in particular regimes which are relevant to experiments soon to be performed. In particular we reveal a regime, accessible with the laser intensities and accelerator technology available today, in which QRR is dominated by coherent quantum effects with no classical analogue, effects which are distinct from those in the high-intensity regime and which cannot be described by the approximations or numerical methods used there. Further, we will find new kinematic delineations of the different regimes.Consider an electron interacting with a strong electromagnetic field. The classical Lorentz force equation predicts that the electron moves with some momentum π µ . A measurement of the electron momentum would however yield a different result P µ , because the Lorentz equation does not account for the fact that the electron radiates and, by conservation of momentum, recoils when it does so [15]. The impact of this radiation reaction ("RR") on the motion of the electron can be characterised simply by the difference between the actual momentum of the electron and that predicted by the Lorentz force: P µ −π µ is classical RR. The momentum P µ can be obtained as the classical or low-energy limit of a quantum mechanical observable, namely the expectation value of the electron momentum operatorP µ [16][17][18][19]. Hence P µ − π µ is a measure of QRR. The expectation value P µ can be calculated for arbitrary weak fields in perturbation theory...

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supporting

confidence: 92%

Quantum Radiation Reaction: From Interference to Incoherence

et al. 2016

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“…The polarisation tensor in plane waves was first found in [23,24]. Most recently, a manifestly symmetric representation of this tensor was obtained and the Ward identity verified in [25]. The tensor in homogeneous fields has been reexamined in detail in [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Note, though, that to calculate the observables (18), (20) and (25), one needs only the flip amplitude. This single amplitude corresponds to a particular component of the polarisation tensor, but the tensor as a whole is not needed.…”

Section: A Scattering and The Polarisation Tensormentioning

confidence: 99%

Vacuum refractive indices and helicity flip in strong-field QED

et al. 2014

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Vacuum birefringence is governed by the amplitude for a photon to flip helicity or polarisation state in an external field. Here we calculate the flip and non-flip amplitudes in arbitrary plane wave backgrounds, along with the induced spacetime-dependent refractive indices of the vacuum. We compare the behaviour of the amplitudes in the low energy and high energy regimes, and analyse the impact of pulse shape and energy. We also provide the first lightfront-QED derivation of the coefficients in the Heisenberg-Euler effective action.

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“…also [5,41] and references therein), and generic plane wave backgrounds [42,43]; see [44] for a more recent derivation and an alternative representation, and [29] for a novel systematic expansion especially suited for all-optical experimental scenarios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photon propagation in slowly varying inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields

Karbstein

Shaisultanov

2015

Phys. Rev. D

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Starting from the Heisenberg-Euler effective Lagrangian, we determine the photon current and photon polarization tensor in inhomogeneous, slowly varying electromagnetic fields. To this end, we consider background field configurations varying in both space and time, paying special attention to the tensor structure. As a main result, we obtain compact analytical expressions for the photon polarization tensor in realistic Gaussian laser pulses, as generated in the focal spots of high-intensity lasers. These expressions are of utmost importance for the investigation of quantum vacuum nonlinearities in realistic high-intensity laser experiments.

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Polarization operator for plane-wave background fields

Cited by 56 publications

References 79 publications

Quantum Radiation Reaction: From Interference to Incoherence

Quantum Radiation Reaction: From Interference to Incoherence

Vacuum refractive indices and helicity flip in strong-field QED

Photon propagation in slowly varying inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields

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