Polarization-operator approach to pair creation in short laser pulses

Sebastian Meuren, Karen Z. Hatsagortsyan, Christoph H. Keitel, and Antonino Di Piazza
Phys. Rev. D 91, 013009 – Published 27 January 2015

Abstract

Short-pulse effects are investigated for the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process, i.e. the production of an electron-positron pair induced by a gamma photon inside an intense plane-wave laser pulse. To obtain the total pair-creation probability we verify (to leading-order) the cutting rule for the polarization operator in the realm of strong-field QED by an explicit calculation. Using a double-integral representation for the leading-order contribution to the polarization operator, compact expressions for the total pair-creation probability inside an arbitrary plane-wave background field are derived. Correspondingly, the photon wave function including leading-order radiative corrections in the laser field is obtained via the Schwinger-Dyson equation in the quasistatic approximation. Moreover, the influence of the carrier-envelope phase and of the laser pulse shape on the total pair-creation probability in a linearly polarized laser pulse is investigated, and the validity of the (local) constant-crossed field approximation analyzed. It is shown that with presently available technology pair-creation probabilities of the order of ten percent could be reached for a single gamma photon.

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  • Received 27 June 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.013009

© 2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Sebastian Meuren*, Karen Z. Hatsagortsyan, Christoph H. Keitel, and Antonino Di Piazza§

  • Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

  • *s.meuren@mpi-hd.mpg.de
  • k.hatsagortsyan@mpi-hd.mpg.de
  • keitel@mpi-hd.mpg.de
  • §dipiazza@mpi-hd.mpg.de

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Issue

Vol. 91, Iss. 1 — 1 January 2015

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