Speaker
Description
Interaction of ultraintense lasers with matter results in $\gamma$-photon emission mainly via the multiphoton Compton scattering process, a phenomenon being of primary interest of the recently developed and upcoming multi-petawatt laser facilities. The $\gamma$-ray flashes have always been of interest for a wide portion of the scientific community, regardless if the research focuses on the microcosms or the macrocosms. During the last decade the literature on laser generated $\gamma$-photons saw drastic increase [1-3], with theoretical predictions going along the same path as computer simulations. Generating intense $\gamma$-ray flashes is of particular interest for astrophysical studies [4-5].
We aim on presenting our two recently developed schemes on $\gamma$-ray flashes that demonstrate high laser to $\gamma$-photon energy conversion efficiency. The first scheme [6-7] employs a tightly focused ($\lambda^3$ regime [8]) radially polarised laser pulse to generate a collimated $\gamma$-photon beam. The properties of the particle-in-cell particles are imported into Monte-Carlo simulations [9], to simulate the interaction of laser-generated particles with a high-Z material (second target) The second scheme [10] introduces a tailored target, usually with a preplasma [11], in the relativistically near-critical regime, to enhance the laser intensity and obtain significantly high laser to $\gamma$-photon energy conversion efficiency with a 10 PW class laser. By considering $\gamma$-photons contained in a small solid angle, it is demonstrated that the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production process can be observed experimentally at current and next-generation high-power laser facilities [12].
References:
[1] T. Nakamura et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 195001 (2012)
[2] C. P. Ridgers et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 165006 (2012)
[3] K. V. Lezhnin et al., Phys. Plasmas 25, 123105 (2018)
[4] M. J. Rees et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 258, 41p-43p (1992)
[5] S. V. Bulanov et al., Plasma Phys. Rep. 41, 1-51 (2015)
[6] P. Hadjisolomou et al., Phys. Rev. E 104, 015203 (2021)
[7] P. Hadjisolomou et al., J. Plasma Phys. 88, 1 (2022)
[8] G. Mourou et al., Plasma Phys. Rep. 28, 12 (2002)
[9] D. Kolenaty et al., Phys. Rev. Res. 4, 023124 (2012)
[10] P. Hadjisolomou et al., Sci. Rep. 12, 17142 (2022)
[11] I. Tsygvintsev et al., Matem. Mod. 34, 3-12 (2023)
[12] A. Macleod et al., Phys. Rev. A 107, 012215 (2023)
