Resonant Production of an Ultrarelativistic Electron-Positron Pair by a Gamma Quantum in the Field of a Nucleus and a Laser Wave

Abstract

Resonant electron-positron pair production by a high-energy gamma quantum ω i > ∼ 10 2 GeV in the field of a nucleus and a quasi-monochromatic laser wave with the intensities I < ∼ 10 16 ÷ 10 17 W cm 2 was theoretically studied. Under the resonant condition an intermediate virtual electron (positron) in the laser field becomes a real particle. Due to that fact the initial process of the second order in the fine structure constant in a laser field effectively reduces into two successive processes of the first order: the laser-stimulated Breit-Wheeler process and the laser-assisted process of an intermediate electron (positron) scattering by a nucleus. It is shown that there is a threshold energy for the initial gamma quantum, which significantly depends on the number of absorbed photons of a wave. In the resonant condition the electron-positron pair energy is determined by the outgoing angle of a positron (for the channel A) or an electron (for the channel B) relative to the initial gamma quantum momentum. The differential cross sections for the first few resonances with simultaneous registration of the energy and the outgoing angle of a positron or an electron were obtained. For the initial gamma quantum energy ω i = 125 GeV the resonant energies of an electron-positron pair for the case of first three resonances can be measured with a very high magnitude of the differential cross section: from ∼ 10 13 for the first resonance to ∼ 10 8 (in the units of αZ 2 r 2 e ) for the third resonance.