Gamma-ray generation in ultrahigh-intensity laser-foil interactions

Nerush, E. N.; Kostyukov, I. Yu.; Ji, Liangliang; Pukhov, A.

doi:10.1063/1.4863423

Cited by 52 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…In Refs. [49,50] such interaction was simulated for moderate intensities ∼ 10 23−24 W/cm 2 for the case of normal or inclined incidence of weakly focused laser pulses onto foil targets. Contrary to what was initially anticipated, the yield of the pairs, although been observed, remained small, so that such interaction mainly results in generation of hard photons in quantitative agreement with [51], where pair photoproduction effect was ignored.…”

Section: Laser Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

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: 99%

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Narozhny

Fedotov

2014

Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top.

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“…Among these mechanisms and schemes, the most promising application is for use in laser-driven plasma accelerator science, such as laser wakefield acceleration of electrons [2] and a laser driving foil to accelerate protons [3]. Laser-plasma interaction can also be an efficient source of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) [4], x rays [5], and even gamma rays [6,7]. One of the key issues in the above mechanisms is how to make use of the laser ponderomotive force efficiently to pump a strong charge separation field in plasma, which is the origin of particle acceleration.…”

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confidence: 99%

Light Fan Driven by a Relativistic Laser Pulse

et al. 2014

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When a relativistic laser pulse with a high photon density interacts with a specially tailored thin foil target, a strong torque is exerted on the resulting spiral-shaped foil plasma, or "light fan." Because of its structure, the latter can gain significant orbital angular momentum (OAM), and the opposite OAM is imparted to the reflected light, creating a twisted relativistic light pulse. Such an interaction scenario is demonstrated by particle-in-cell simulation as well as analytical modeling, and should be easily verifiable in the laboratory. As an important characteristic, the twisted relativistic light pulse has a strong torque and ultrahigh OAM density. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.235001 PACS numbers: 52.38.-r, 03.50.De, 42.50.Tx, 52.59.-f Prompted by the fast development of laser techniques [1], light-matter interaction has entered the regime of a relativistic laser-plasma interaction. Over the past few decades, a number of novel mechanisms and schemes have been proposed. Among these mechanisms and schemes, the most promising application is for use in laser-driven plasma accelerator science, such as laser wakefield acceleration of electrons [2] and a laser driving foil to accelerate protons [3]. Laser-plasma interaction can also be an efficient source of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) [4], x rays [5], and even gamma rays [6,7]. One of the key issues in the above mechanisms is how to make use of the laser ponderomotive force efficiently to pump a strong charge separation field in plasma, which is the origin of particle acceleration. Hence, it is the force (the accelerating force, the confining force, etc.) that people care about most in relativistic laser plasma physics. The effect of another important dynamical quantity, the torque, although as important as force, has not been revealed for a relativistic laser pulse. How to observe the orbital angular momentum (OAM) in laser-plasma interaction and how the appearance of OAM would essentially affect the process are of special interest. Circularly polarized light carries a spin angular momentum of AEℏ per photon; however, the total OAM of a normal Gaussian pulse, commonly found in the current chirped pulse amplification technology, is zero. Therefore, observation of the torque and OAM in relativistic laserplasma interaction is rare.OAM has been discussed extensively for weak light [8-13] and extreme ultraviolet light [14][15][16]. Since Allen et al. first showed that a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) laser pulse has finite OAM [8], many applications using twisted light have been found [9][10][11]. The OAM of a twisted light can be transferred to matter. More interestingly, several phenomena observed in astrophysics, like pulsars, are related to the OAM of light and plasma [17,18]. Thus, simulating and investigating such an immense process in a laboratory on the Earth would be of great convenience. Recently, Mendonca et al. have derived the solutions of plasma wave with OAM [19,20]. They also created a donut plasma wakefield using an intense laser with OAM f...

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“…The simulations were carried out taking into account emission of hard photons and pair photoproduction in a strong field using the Monte Carlo method (Elkina et al 2011;Nerush et al 2014). Collisions of particles and, in particular, Compton scattering and bremsstrahlung are not taken into account.…”

Section: Results Of Numerical Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this case, the probability of the pair photoproduction is of the order of the probability of emission of synchrotron photon by the electron. Therefore, pair production (3) should be also taken into account, that can be done by means of Monte Carlo technique Nerush et al (2014) utilizing Baier-Katkov quasiclassical formulas (Baier et al 1998;Berestetskii et al 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weibel Instability in Hot Plasma Flows with the Production of Gamma-Rays and Electron–Positron Pairs

Nerush

Serebryakov

Kostyukov

2017

ApJ

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We present the results of theoretical analysis and numerical simulations of the Weibel instability in two counterstreaming hot relativistic plasma flows, e.g. flows of electron-proton plasma having rest-mass density ρ ∼ 10 −4 g cm −3 , Lorentz factors Γ ∼ 10 and proper temperature T ∼ 10 13 K. The instability growth rate and the filament size at the linear stage are found analytically, and are in qualitative agreement with results of three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. In the simulations, incoherent synchrotron emission and pair photoproduction in electromagnetic fields are taken into account. If the plasma flows are dense, fast and/or hot enough, the overall energy of synchrotron photons can be much larger than the energy of generated electromagnetic fields. Furthermore, a sizable number of positrons can be produced due to the pair photoproduction in the generated magnetic field. We propose a rough criterion for judging copious pair production and synchrotron losses. By means of this criterion we conclude that incoherent synchrotron emission and pair production during the Weibel instability can have implications for the collapsar model of gamma-ray bursts.

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Gamma-ray generation in ultrahigh-intensity laser-foil interactions

Cited by 52 publications

References 48 publications

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

Light Fan Driven by a Relativistic Laser Pulse

Weibel Instability in Hot Plasma Flows with the Production of Gamma-Rays and Electron–Positron Pairs

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