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DOE OSTI2021

Signature of Collective Plasma Effects in Beam-Driven QED Cascades

QED cascades play an important role in extreme astrophysical environments like magnetars. Furthermore, they can also be produced by passing a relativistic electron beam through an intense laser field. Signatures of collective pair plasma effects in these QED cascades are shown to appear, in exquisite detail, through plasma-induced frequency upshifts in the laser spectrum. Remarkably, these signatures can be detected even in small plasma volumes moving at relativistic speeds. Strong-field quantum and collective pair plasma effects can thus be explored with existing technology, provided that ultradense electron beams are colocated with multipetawatt lasers.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Plasma physics in strong-field regimes: Theories and simulations

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 quantify effects of strong magnetic fields on three-wave interactions, a convenient formula is derived by solving the fluid model to the second order in general geometry. As an application, magnetic resonances are exploited to mediate laser pulse compression, whereby higher intensity pulses can be produced in wider frequency ranges, as confirmed by particle-in-cell simulations. In even stronger fields, relativistic-quantum effects become important, and a plasma model based on scalar quantum electrodynamics (QED) is developed which unveils observable corrections to Faraday rotation and cyclotron absorption in strongly magnetized plasmas. Beyond the perturbative regime, lattice QED is extended as a numerical tool for plasma physics, using which the transition from wakefield acceleration to electron-positron pair production is captured when laser intensity exceeds the Schwinger threshold.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗