Extremely high-intensity laser interactions with fundamental quantum systems

TL;DR

This review surveys how ultra-strong laser fields access new regimes of relativistic quantum dynamics, QED in strong backgrounds, and nuclear/particle-physics processes. It surveys both the theoretical frameworks (Volkov states, Furry picture, RR and QRDR) and the experimental landscape (CPA/OPCPA sources, 10 PW to exawatt facilities, XFELs) that enable these explorations. Key contributions include delineating classical and quantum RR regimes, outlining pathways to observe photon–photon scattering and vacuum polarization, and proposing laser-based colliders and nuclear-quantum-optics applications. The work highlights significant challenges in achieving observable signals amid backgrounds and underscores the potential of next-generation laser facilities to probe fundamental physics at and beyond the Standard Model in tabletop-scale experiments.

Abstract

The field of laser-matter interaction traditionally deals with the response of atoms, molecules and plasmas to an external light wave. However, the recent sustained technological progress is opening up the possibility of employing intense laser radiation to trigger or substantially influence physical processes beyond atomic-physics energy scales. Available optical laser intensities exceeding $10^{22}\;\text{W/cm$^2$}$ can push the fundamental light-electron interaction to the extreme limit where radiation-reaction effects dominate the electron dynamics, can shed light on the structure of the quantum vacuum, and can trigger the creation of particles like electrons, muons and pions and their corresponding antiparticles. Also, novel sources of intense coherent high-energy photons and laser-based particle colliders can pave the way to nuclear quantum optics and may even allow for potential discovery of new particles beyond the Standard Model. These are the main topics of the present article, which is devoted to a review of recent investigations on high-energy processes within the realm of relativistic quantum dynamics, quantum electrodynamics, nuclear and particle physics, occurring in extremely intense laser fields.

Figures (26)

• Figure 1: (Color online) Summary of the four pillars of ELI. A power value of $10(\times2)\;\text{PW}$ indicates the availability of two laser systems each with $10\;\text{PW}$ power. Reprinted with permission from Feder_2010. Copyright 2010, American Institute of Physics.
• Figure 2: (Color online) Comparison among the peak brilliances of the three facilities FLASH, LCLS and European XFEL as a function of the laser photon energy. An envisaged peak brilliance of $5\times 10^{33}$ photons/(s mrad$^2$ mm$^2$ 0.1% bandwidth) at a photon energy of $12.4\;\text{keV}$ for the SACLA facility is reported in XFEL. See also XFEL.
• Figure 3: (Color) Free wave packet evolution in a plane wave field. The solid gray line indicates the center of mass trajectory, coinciding essentially with the classical trajectory, and the laser pulse travels from left to right. The blue regions indicate the copropagating self-adaptive numerical grid. Time and space coordinates are given in "atomic units", with $1\;\text{a.u.}=24\;\text{as}$ and $1\;\text{a.u.}=0.05\;\text{nm}$, respectively. From Bauke_2011b.
• Figure 4: (Color) The total Rb$^{10+}$ (black lines) and Rb$^{11+}$ (red lines) ion populations in a gaseous target as a function of the peak intensity of a linearly-polarized laser field with a wavelength of $0.8\;\text{$\mu$m}$ and with a pulse duration of $5\;\text{fs}$. The solid lines display two-electron inelastic tunneling, the dashed lines one-electron inelastic tunneling and the dashed-dotted lines the results via the PPT theory. Adapted from Zon_2009.
• Figure 5: (Color) (a) Experimental photoelectron spectra for argon at $I_0=1.2\times 10^{19}$ W/cm$^2$ and at an angle of $62^{\circ}$ from the laser propagation direction. Analytical results are shown for all photoelectrons (continuous line) and for the L-shell (dashed line). The angular distributions are at an electron energy of (b) 60 keV, (c) 400 keV, and (d) 770 keV. From DiChiara_2008.