Effects of radiation reaction in relativistic laser acceleration

Y. Hadad, L. Labun, J. Rafelski, N. Elkina, C. Klier, H. Ruhl

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

80 Scopus citations

Abstract

The goal of this paper is twofold: to explore the response of classical charges to electromagnetic force at the level of unity in natural units and to establish a criterion that determines physical parameters for which the related radiation-reaction effects are detectable. In pursuit of this goal, the Landau-Lifshitz equation is solved analytically for an arbitrary (transverse) electromagnetic pulse. A comparative study of the radiation emission of an electron in a linearly polarized pulse for the Landau-Lifshitz equation and for the Lorentz force equation reveals the radiation-reaction-dominated regime, in which radiation-reaction effects overcome the influence of the external fields. The case of a relativistic electron that is slowed down by a counterpropagating electromagnetic wave is studied in detail. We further show that when the electron experiences acceleration of order unity, the dynamics of the Lorentz force equation, the Landau-Lifshitz equation and the Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac equation all result in different radiation emission that could be distinguished in experiment. Finally, our analytic and numerical results are compared with those appearing in the literature.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number096012
JournalPhysical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
Volume82
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 24 2010

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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