/ Theory-Nucl arXiv:0811.3570

Dynamical Schwinger effect and high-intensity lasers. realising nonperturbative QED

Blaschke, D.B. (Rostock U.) ; Prozorkevich, A.V. (Saratov State U.) ; Ropke, G. (Rostock U.) ; Roberts, C.D. (Argonne, PHY) ; Schmidt, S.M. (Julich, Forschungszentrum) ; Shkirmanov, D.S. (Saratov State U.) ; Smolyansky, S.A. (Saratov State U.)

Published in: Eur.Phys.J.
Year: 2009
Vol.: D55
Page No: 341-358
Pages: 18

Abstract: We consider the possibility of experimental verification of vacuum e^+e^- pair creation at the focus of two counter-propagating optical laser beams with intensities 10^{20}-10^{22} W/cm^2, achievable with present-day petawatt lasers, and approaching the Schwinger limit: 10^{29} W/cm^2 to be reached at ELI. Our approach is based on the collisionless kinetic equation for the evolution of the e^+ and e^- distribution functions governed by a non-Markovian source term for pair production. As possible experimental signals of vacuum pair production we consider e^+e^- annihilation into gamma-pairs and the refraction of a high-frequency probe laser beam by the produced e^+e^- plasma. We discuss the dependence of the dynamical pair production process on laser wavelength, with special emphasis on applications in the X-ray domain (X-FEL), as well as the prospects for \mu^+\mu^- and \pi^+\pi^- pair creation at high-intensity lasers. We investigate perspectives for using high-intensity lasers as boosters'' of ion beams in the few-GeV per nucleon range, which is relevant, e.g., to the exploration of the QCD phase transition in laboratory experiments.

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