Related papers: Bright polarised x-ray flashes from dense plasmas
High-energy spin-polarized electron, positron, and $\gamma$-photon beams have many significant applications in the study of material properties, nuclear structure, particle physics, and high-energy astrophysics. Thus,efficient production of…
In simulations of a 12.5PW laser (focused intensity I = 4x10^23W/cm^2) striking a solid aluminium target 10% of the laser energy is converted to gamma-rays. A dense electron-positron plasma is generated with a maximum density of 10^26/m^3;…
Converting light into matter has been a longstanding goal in physics, particularly the creation of electron-positron pairs through quantum electrodynamic (QED) processes. While current approaches using multiple colliding laser pulses can…
Dense positrons are shown to be effectively generated from laser-solid interactions in the strong-field quantum electrodynamics (QED) regime. Whether these positrons are polarized has not yet been reported, limiting their potential…
The polarization of gamma rays produced in strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SFQED) is a fundamental and long-standing prediction, the verification of which has remained elusive, limiting both foundational tests and applications. Here,…
In simulations of a 10PW laser striking a solid we demonstrate the possibility of producing a pure electron-positron plasma by the same processes as those thought to operate in high-energy astrophysical environments. A maximum positron…
Most of the light from blazars, active galactic nuclei with jets of magnetized plasma that point nearly along the line of sight, is produced by high-energy particles, up to $\sim 1$ TeV. Although the jets are known to be ultimately powered…
We present measurements of hard x-rays in the 50-300 keV range from copper plasmas produced by 100 fs, 806 nm laser pulses at a peak intensity ~ 1016 W cm-2. Surface roughness, even at the tens of nanometer level, is shown to influence the…
Owing to the rapid progress in laser technology, very high-contrast femtosecond laser pulses of relativistic intensities become available. These pulses allow for interaction with micro-structured solid-density plasma without destroying the…
We investigate how next-generation laser pulses at 10 PW $-$ 200 PW interact with a solid target in the presence of a relativistically underdense preplasma produced by amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). Laser hole boring and relativistic…
We propose a scheme to explore regimes of strong-field Quantum Electrodynamics (SF-QED) otherwise unattainable with the currently available laser technology. The scheme relies on relativistic plasma mirrors curved by radiation pressure to…
When photons propagate in vacuum they may fluctuate into matter pairs thus allowing the vacuum to be polarised. This linear effect leads to charge screening and renormalisation. When exposed to an intense background field a nonlinear effect…
The generation of polarized particle beams still relies on conventional particle accelerators, which are typically very large in scale and budget. Concepts based on laser-driven wake-field acceleration have strongly been promoted during the…
This contribution presents an overview of fundamental QED processes in the presence of an external field produced by an ultra-intense laser. The discussion focusses on the basic intensity effects on vacuum polarisation and the prospects for…
Ultra-intense lasers are expected to produce, in near future, relativistic electron-positron plasma droplets. Considering the local photon production rate in complete leading order in quantum electrodynamics (QED), we point out that these…
High-flux polarized particle beams are of critical importance for the investigation of spin-dependent processes, such as in searches of physics beyond the Standard Model, as well as for scrutinizing the structure of solids and surfaces in…
Generation of highly-polarized high-energy brilliant $\gamma$-rays via laser-plasma interaction has been investigated in the quantum radiation-reaction regime. We employ a quantum-electrodynamics particle-in-cell code to describe…
Polarization is one of the fundamental natures of electromagnetic radiation. The detection of polarization or polarized photons from distant X-ray radiating systems (such as X-ray binaries (XBs), active galactic nuclei (AGN), pulsars, and…
The acceleration of polarized electrons, positrons, protons and ions in strong laser and plasma fields is a very attractive option to obtain polarized beams in the multi-MeV range. Recently, there has been substantial progress in the…
The rapid development of high brilliance X-ray radiation sources is revolutionizing physics, chemistry, and biology research through their novel applications. Another breakthrough is anticipated with the construction of next-generation…