Related papers: Laser-driven vacuum breakdown waves
The cascaded production and dynamics of electron-positron plasma in ultimately focused laser fields of extreme intensity are studied by 3D particle-in-cell simulations with the account for the relevant processes of quantum electrodynamics…
A model for laser light absorption in electron-positron plasmas self-consistently created via QED cascades is described. The laser energy is mainly absorbed due to hard photon emission via nonlinear Compton scattering. The degree of…
Development of the self-sustained quantum-electrodynamical (QED) cascade in a single strong laser pulse is studied analytically and numerically. The hydrodynamical approach is used to construct the analytical model of the cascade evolution,…
Triggering vacuum breakdown at the upcoming laser facilities can provide rapid electron-positron pair production for studies in laboratory astrophysics and fundamental physics. However, the density of the emerging plasma should seemingly…
QED cascades are complex avalanche processes of hard photon emission and electron-positron pair creation driven by ultra-strong electromagnetic fields. They play a fundamental role in astrophysical environments such as a pulsars'…
The self-sustained or avalanche-type cascade is an intriguing prediction of strong-field quantum electrodynamics (QED) that has yet to be observed in laboratories. It is accompanied by the conversion of electromagnetic energy into gamma…
Understanding the interplay of strong-field QED and collective plasma effects is important for explaining extreme astrophysical environments like magnetars. It has been shown that QED pair plasmas is possible to be produced and observed by…
A formula for the ionization rate in extremely intense electromagnetic field is proposed and used for numerical study of QED (quantum-electrodynamical) cascades in noble gases in the field of two counter-propagating laser pulses. It is…
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…
The quantum electrodynamic (QED) theory predicts the photon emission and pair creation involved in QED cascades occur mainly in a forward cone with finite angular spread $\Delta\theta \sim 1/\gamma_{i}$ along the momenta of incoming…
In strong electromagnetic fields, unique plasma phenomena and applications emerge, whose description requires recently developed theories and simulations [Y. Shi, Ph.D. thesis, Princeton University (2018)]. In the classical regime, to…
The phenomenon of electron-laser vacuum breakdown is the multiple cascade production of electron-positron pairs in head-on collision of a beam of relativistic electrons with an intense laser pulse. This effect was first predicted by the…
Development of QED cascades in a standing electromagnetic wave for circular and linear polarizations is simulated numerically with a 3D PIC-MC code. It is demonstrated that for the same laser energy the number of particles produced in a…
The dynamic process of a laser or particle beam propagating from vacuum into underdense plasma has been investigated theoretically. Our theoretical model combines a Lagrangian fluid model with the classic quasistatic wakefield theory. It is…
Three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations with the code QuickPIC are used to illustrate the typical accelerating structures associated with the interaction of an intense laser beam with an underdense plasma in the blowout regime.…
Electrons at the surface of a plasma that is irradiated by a laser with intensity in excess of $10^{23}~\mathrm{W}\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ are accelerated so strongly that they emit bursts of synchrotron radiation. Although the combination of high…
The dynamics of electric field generation and radial acceleration of ions by a laser pulse of relativistic intensity propagating in an underdense plasma has been investigated using an one-dimensional electrostatic, ponderomotive model…
With the aid of large-scale three-dimensional QED-PIC simulations, we describe a realistic experimental configuration to measure collective effects that couple strong field quantum electrodynamics to plasma kinetics. For two counter…
Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of sustained acceleration of electron-positron (e+e-) plasmas by comoving electromagnetic (EM) pulses are presented. When a thin slab of overdense e+e- plasma is irradiated with linear-polarized…
Self-guided femtosecond laser pulses propagating in low-pressure gas can generate plasma filaments, establishing a new framework for plasma wakefield acceleration. Unlike conventional schemes relying on mechanically confined or preformed…