ORCID
- King, B.: 0000-0003-4489-8468
Abstract
Accurate modeling is necessary to support precision experiments investigating strong-field QED phenomena. This modeling is particularly challenging in the transition between the perturbative and nonperturbative regimes, where the normalized laser amplitude a0 is comparable to unity and wavelength-scale interference is significant. Here, we describe how to simulate nonlinear Compton scattering, Breit–Wheeler pair creation, and trident pair creation in this regime, using the Monte Carlo particle-tracking code Ptarmigan. This code simulates collisions between high-intensity lasers and beams of electrons or γ rays, primarily in the framework of the locally monochromatic approximation. We benchmark our simulation results against full QED calculations for pulsed plane waves and show that they are accurate at the level of a few per cent, across the full range of particle energies and laser intensities. This work extends our previous results to linearly polarized lasers and arbitrary polarized γ rays.
DOI
10.1063/5.0159963
Publication Date
2023-09-01
Publication Title
Physics of Plasmas
Volume
30
Issue
9
ISSN
1070-664X
Embargo Period
2023-12-06
Organisational Unit
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics
Recommended Citation
Blackburn, T. G., King, B., & Tang, S. (2023) 'Simulations of laser-driven strong-field QED with Ptarmigan: Resolving wavelength-scale interference and γ-ray polarization', Physics of Plasmas, 30(9). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0159963
