Preparation of Strong-field QED Experiments at FACET-II

Abstract

The collision of 10-13 GeV level electrons with tightly focused 20 TW laser pulses at FACET II will enable experimental studies in the strong-field QED regime beyond the Schwinger limit. Experimental parameters, diagnostics and perspectives are described.

Advances in QED with intense background fields

“…. 12, 0.0036) [71]; DRACO (0.6, 0.0027 [230 MeV]) [72]; E144 (0.36, 0.83) [73]; E320 (2, 0.15) [45]; E320 II (proposed upgrade) (16, 0.15) [74]; ELI [51]; EP-OPAL [75]; Gemini 1 (1 . .…”

Single particle detection system for strong-field QED experiments

“…It is defined, also in natural units, as χ e = a 0 γ e (ω 0 /m e )(1 − cos θ), [13,14]; (square) RAL, 2018 [19]. The open markers show the upcoming SF-QED experiments: (down-pointing triangle) E-320, 2021/2022 [20]; (up-pointing triangle) E-320 upgrade, 2022/2023 [20]; (pentagon) LUXE phase 0, 2024 [25]; (diamond) LUXE phase 1, 2026 [25]. The E-320 will probe the nonperturbative full quantum regime of interaction (χ e > 1 and a 0 > 1).…”

Pulse envelope effects in nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair creation

“…Breit-Wheeler (BW) pair creation-the decay of light quanta into an electron-positron pair, is one of the most intriguing strong-field quantum electrodynamic (QED) phenomena [1][2][3][4][5] and one of the main goals for modernday strong laser-particle experiments [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. The current high-power laser facilities in operation or in development have entered the multipetawatt regime and pave the way to measure the process in the nonlinear and nonperturbative regime [14][15][16][17][18].…”

“…In the upcoming laser-particle experiments, e.g. LUXE [9] and FACET II-E320 [11], high-energy photons with E γ ∼ 10 GeV and laser pulses with the intensity ξ l ∼ O(1) and carrier frequency ω l ∼ 1 eV would be utilized. The BW yield of the potential measurement in these campaigns would be limited as η 1 and ηξ ∼ 1.…”

“…3 (e): at ξ l = 5, the yield is enhanced by about 5 times for E γ = 10 GeV and about 40 times for E γ = 5 GeV. This implies that the plasma-generated harmonics have the great advantage for the current laser-particle experiments, in which the dominant energy of the potential photon sources is much smaller than 10 GeV [9][10][11]67]. In Fig.…”