A quantum fluid model is used to describe the interacion of a nondegenerate cold relativistic electron beam with an intense optical wiggler taking into account the beam space-charge potential and photon recoil effect. A nonlinear set of coupled equations are obtained and solved numerically. The numerical results shows that in the limit of plasma wave-breaking an ultra-high power radiation pulse are emitted at the$gamma$-ray wavelength range which can reach an output intensity near the Schwinger limit depending of the values of the FEL parameters such as detuning and input signal initial phase at the entrance of the interaction region.
Using the Madelung transformation we show that in a quantum Free Electron Laser (QFEL) the beam obeys the equations of a quantum fluid in which the potential is the classical potential plus a quantum potential. The classical limit is shown explicitly.
We propose a collective Thomson scattering experiment at the VUV free electron laser facility at DESY (FLASH) which aims to diagnose warm dense matter at near-solid density. The plasma region of interest marks the transition from an ideal plasma to a correlated and degenerate many-particle system and is of current interest, e.g. in ICF experiments or laboratory astrophysics. Plasma diagnostic of such plasmas is a longstanding issue. The collective electron plasma mode (plasmon) is revealed in a pump-probe scattering experiment using the high-brilliant radiation to probe the plasma. The distinctive scattering features allow to infer basic plasma properties. For plasmas in thermal equilibrium the electron density and temperature is determined from scattering off the plasmon mode.
We study the perspectives of measuring the phenomenon of vacuum birefringence predicted by quantum electrodynamics using an x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) alone. We devise an experimental scheme allowing the XFEL beam to collide with itself under a finite angle, and thus act as both pump and probe field for the effect. The signature of vacuum birefringence is encoded in polarization-flipped signal photons to be detected with high-purity x-ray polarimetry. Our findings for idealized scenarios underline that the discovery potential of solely XFEL-based setups can be comparable to those involving optical high-intensity lasers. For currently achievable scenarios, we identify several key details of the x-ray optical ingredients that exert a strong influence on the magnitude of the desired signatures.
The density matrix in the Lindblad form is used to describe the behavior of the Free-Electron Laser (FEL) operating in a quantum regime. The detrimental effects of the spontaneous emission on coherent FEL operation are taken into account. It is shown that the density matrix formalism provides a simple method to describe the dynamics of electrons and radiation field in the quantum FEL process. In this work, further insights on the key dynamic parameters (e.g., electron populations, bunching factor, radiation power) are presented. We also derive a simple differential equation that describes the evolution of the radiated power in the linear regime. It is confirmed that the essential results of this work agree with those predicted by a discrete Wigner approach at practical conditions for efficient operation of quantum FELs.
Creation of electrons and positrons from light alone is a basic prediction of quantum electrodynamics, but yet to be observed. Here we show that it is possible to create ${>}10^8$ positrons by dual laser irradiation of a structured plasma target, at intensities of $2 times 10^{22} mathrm{W}mathrm{cm}^{-2}$. In contrast to previous work, the pair creation is primarily driven by the linear Breit-Wheeler process ($gammagamma to e^+ e^-$), not the nonlinear process assumed to be dominant at high intensity, because of the high density of $gamma$ rays emitted inside the target. The favorable scaling with laser intensity of the linear process prompts reconsideration of its neglect in simulation studies, but also permits positron jet formation at intensities that are already experimentally feasible. Simulations show that the positrons, confined by a quasistatic plasma magnetic field, may be accelerated by the lasers to energies $> 200$ MeV.