Electron Polarization in Ultrarelativistic Plasma Current Filamentation Instabilities.

Plasma current filamentation of an ultrarelativistic electron beam impinging on an overdense plasma is investigated, with emphasis on radiation-induced electron polarization. Particle-in-cell simulations provide the classification and in-depth analysis of three different regimes of the current filaments, namely, the normal filament, abnormal filament, and quenching regimes. We show that electron radiative polarization emerges during the instability along the azimuthal direction in the momentum space, which significantly varies across the regimes. We put forward an intuitive Hamiltonian model to trace the origin of the electron polarization dynamics. In particular, we discern the role of nonlinear transverse motion of plasma filaments, which induces asymmetry in radiative spin flips, yielding an accumulation of electron polarization. Our results break the conventional perception that quasisymmetric fields are inefficient for generating radiative spin-polarized beams, suggesting the potential of electron polarization as a source of new information on laboratory and astrophysical plasma instabilities.

Double-Slit Interference in the Ion Dynamics of Dissociative Photoionization.

The ion momentum distribution in the x-ray-induced dissociative photoionization of molecules is investigated, treating the ionization analytically under the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and simulating numerically the ion motion via the Schrödinger equation. The ion-photoelectron entanglement transfers information of the electronic interference to the ion dynamics. As a consequence, the ion momentum distributions of dissociative molecular photoionization present Young's double-slit interference when the photoelectron emission angle is fixed. We demonstrate that double-slit interference signatures persist in the ion longitudinal momentum shift even when the information of the correlated photoelectron is lost, which is the case for heteronuclear molecules when an additional photoelectron recoil momentum arises due to the different ion masses. For the case of sequential double ionization, we show that double-slit interference in the ion dynamics can be utilized for coherent control of the molecular dynamics.

Electron Slingshot Acceleration in Relativistic Preturbulent Shocks Explored via Emitted Photon Polarization.

Transient electron dynamics near the interface of counterstreaming plasmas at the onset of a relativistic collisionless shock (RCS) is investigated using particle-in-cell simulations. We identify a slingshotlike injection process induced by the drifting electric field sustained by the flowing focus of backward-moving electrons, which is distinct from the well-known stochastic acceleration. The flowing focus signifies the plasma kinetic transition from a preturbulent laminar motion to a chaotic turbulence. We find a characteristic correlation between the electron dynamics in the slingshot acceleration and the photon emission features. In particular, the integrated radiation from the RCS exhibits a counterintuitive nonmonotonic dependence of the photon polarization degree on the photon energy, which originates from a polarization degradation of relatively high-energy photons emitted by the slingshot-injected electrons. Our results demonstrate the potential of photon polarization as an essential information source in exploring intricate transient dynamics in RCSs with relevance for Earth-based plasma and astrophysical scenarios.

Nondipole Time Delay and Double-Slit Interference in Tunneling Ionization.

Recently two-center interference in single-photon molecular ionization was employed to observe a zeptosecond time delay due to the photon propagation of the internuclear distance in a molecule [Grundmann et al., Science 370, 339 (2020)SCIEAS0036-807510.1126/science.abb9318]. We investigate the possibility of a comparable nondipole time delay in tunneling ionization and decode the emerged time delay signal. With the here newly developed Coulomb-corrected nondipole molecular strong-field approximation, we derive and analyze the photoelectron momentum distribution, the signature of nondipole effects, and the role of the degeneracy of the molecular orbitals. We show that the ejected electron momentum shifts and interference fringes efficiently imprint both the molecule structure and laser parameters. The corresponding nondipole time delay value significantly deviates from that in single-photon ionization. In particular, when the two-center interference in the molecule is destructive, the time delay is independent of the bond length. We also identify the double-slit interference in tunneling ionization of atoms with nonzero angular momentum via a nondipole momentum shift.

Helicity Transfer in Strong Laser Fields via the Electron Anomalous Magnetic Moment.

Electron beam longitudinal polarization during the interaction with counterpropagating circularly polarized ultraintense laser pulses is investigated, while accounting for the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron. Although it is known that the helicity transfer from the laser photons to the electron beam is suppressed in linear and nonlinear Compton scattering processes, we show that the helicity transfer nevertheless can happen via an intermediate step of the electron radiative transverse polarization, phase matched with the driving field, followed up by spin rotation into the longitudinal direction as induced by the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron. With spin-resolved QED Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate the consequent helicity transfer from laser photons to the electron beam with a degree up to 10%, along with an electron radial polarization up to 65% after multiple photon emissions in a femtosecond timescale. This effect is detectable with currently achievable laser facilities, evidencing the role of the leading QED vertex correction to the electron anomalous magnetic moment in the polarization dynamics in ultrastrong laser fields.

Retrieving Transient Magnetic Fields of Ultrarelativistic Laser Plasma via Ejected Electron Polarization.

Interaction of an ultrastrong short laser pulse with nonprepolarized near-critical density plasma is investigated in an ultrarelativistic regime, with an emphasis on the radiative spin polarization of ejected electrons. Our particle-in-cell simulations show explicit correlations between the angle resolved electron polarization and the structure and properties of the transient quasistatic plasma magnetic field. While the magnitude of the spin signal is the indicator of the magnetic field strength created by the longitudinal electron current, the asymmetry of electron polarization is found to gauge the islandlike magnetic distribution which emerges due to the transverse current induced by the laser wave front. Our studies demonstrate that the spin degree of freedom of ejected electrons could potentially serve as an efficient tool to retrieve the features of strong plasma fields.

Polarized Ultrashort Brilliant Multi-GeV γ Rays via Single-Shot Laser-Electron Interaction.

Generation of circularly polarized (CP) and linearly polarized (LP) γ rays via the single-shot interaction of an ultraintense laser pulse with a spin-polarized counterpropagating ultrarelativistic electron beam has been investigated in nonlinear Compton scattering in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. For the process simulation, a Monte Carlo method is developed which employs the electron-spin-resolved probabilities for polarized photon emissions. We show efficient ways for the transfer of the electron polarization to the high-energy photon polarization. In particular, multi-GeV CP (LP) γ rays with polarization of up to about 95% can be generated by a longitudinally (transversely) spin-polarized electron beam, with a photon flux meeting the requirements of recent proposals for the vacuum birefringence measurement in ultrastrong laser fields. Such high-energy, high-brilliance, high-polarization γ rays are also beneficial for other applications in high-energy physics, and laboratory astrophysics.

Polarized Positron Beams via Intense Two-Color Laser Pulses.

The generation of ultrarelativistic polarized positrons during the interaction of an ultrarelativistic electron beam with a counterpropagating two-color petawatt laser pulse is investigated theoretically. Our Monte Carlo simulation, based on a semiclassical model, incorporates photon emissions and pair productions, using spin-resolved quantum probabilities in the local constant field approximation, and describes the polarization of electrons and positrons for the pair production and photon emission processes, as well as the classical spin precession in between. The main reason for the polarization is shown to be the spin asymmetry of the pair production process in strong external fields, combined with the asymmetry of the two-color laser field. Employing a feasible scenario, we show that highly polarized positron beams, with a polarization degree of ζ≈60%, can be produced in a femtosecond timescale, with a small angular divergence, ∼74 mrad, and high density, ∼10^{14} cm^{-3}. The laser-driven polarized positron source raises hope for providing an alternative for high-energy physics studies.

Ultrarelativistic Electron-Beam Polarization in Single-Shot Interaction with an Ultraintense Laser Pulse.

Spin polarization of an ultrarelativistic electron beam head-on colliding with an ultraintense laser pulse is investigated in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. We develop a Monte Carlo method to model electron radiative spin effects in arbitrary electromagnetic fields by employing spin-resolved radiation probabilities in the local constant field approximation. Because of spin-dependent radiation reaction, the applied elliptically polarized laser pulse polarizes the initially unpolarized electron beam and splits it along the propagation direction into two oppositely transversely polarized parts with a splitting angle of about tens of milliradians. Thus, a dense electron beam with above 70% polarization can be generated in tensof femtoseconds with realistic laser pulses. The proposed method demonstrates a way for relativistic electron beam polarization with currently achievable laser facilities.

Under-the-Tunneling-Barrier Recollisions in Strong-Field Ionization.

A new pathway of strong-laser-field-induced ionization of an atom is identified which is based on recollisions under the tunneling barrier. With an amended strong-field approximation, the interference of the direct and the under-the-barrier recolliding quantum orbits are shown to induce a measurable shift of the peak of the photoelectron momentum distribution. The scaling of the momentum shift is derived relating the momentum shift to the tunneling delay time according to the Wigner concept. This allows us to extend the Wigner concept for the quasistatic tunneling time delay into the nonadiabatic domain. The obtained corrections to photoelectron momentum distributions are also relevant for state-of-the-art accuracy of strong-field photoelectron spectrograms in general.

γ-Ray Beams with Large Orbital Angular Momentum via Nonlinear Compton Scattering with Radiation Reaction.

Gamma-ray beams with a large angular momentum may affect astrophysical phenomena, which calls for appropriate earth-based experimental investigations. For this purpose, we investigate the generation of well-collimated γ-ray beams with a very large orbital angular momentum using nonlinear Compton scattering of a strong laser pulse of twisted photons at ultrarelativistic electrons. Angular momentum conservation among absorbed laser photons, quantum radiation, and electrons is numerically demonstrated in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. We point out that the angular momentum of the absorbed laser photons is not solely transferred to the emitted γ photons, but due to radiation reaction shared between the γ photons and interacting electrons. The efficiency of the angular momentum transfer is optimized with respect to the laser and electron beam parameters. The accompanying process of electron-positron pair production is furthermore shown to enhance the orbital angular momentum gained by the γ-ray beam.

Single-Shot Carrier-Envelope Phase Determination of Long Superintense Laser Pulses.

The impact of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of an intense multicycle laser pulse on the radiation of an electron beam during nonlinear Compton scattering is investigated. We have identified a CEP effect specific to the ultrarelativistic regime. When the electron beam counterpropagates with the laser pulse, pronounced high-energy x-ray double peaks emerge near the backward direction relative to the initial electron motion. This is achieved in the relativistic interaction domain, where both the electron energy is required to be lower than for the electron reflection condition at the laser peak and the stochasticity effects in the photon emission need to be weak. The asymmetry parameter of the double peaks in the angular radiation distribution is shown to serve as a sensitive measure for the CEP of up to 10-cycle long laser pulses and can be applied for the characterization of extremely strong laser pulses in present and near future laser facilities.

Experimental Evidence for Quantum Tunneling Time.

The first hundred attoseconds of the electron dynamics during strong field tunneling ionization are investigated. We quantify theoretically how the electron's classical trajectories in the continuum emerge from the tunneling process and test the results with those achieved in parallel from attoclock measurements. An especially high sensitivity on the tunneling barrier is accomplished here by comparing the momentum distributions of two atomic species of slightly deviating atomic potentials (argon and krypton) being ionized under absolutely identical conditions with near-infrared laser pulses (1300 nm). The agreement between experiment and theory provides clear evidence for a nonzero tunneling time delay and a nonvanishing longitudinal momentum of the electron at the "tunnel exit."

Tunneling dynamics in multiphoton ionization and attoclock calibration.

The intermediate domain of strong-field ionization between the tunneling and multiphoton regimes is investigated using the strong-field approximation and the imaginary-time method. An intuitive model for the dynamics is developed which describes the ionization process within a nonadiabatic tunneling picture with a coordinate dependent electron energy during the under-the-barrier motion. The nonadiabatic effects in the elliptically polarized laser field induce a transversal momentum shift of the tunneled electron wave packet at the tunnel exit and a delayed appearance in the continuum as well as a shift of the tunneling exit towards the ionic core. The latter significantly modifies the Coulomb focusing during the electron excursion in the laser field after exiting the ionization tunnel. We show that nonadiabatic effects are especially large when the Coulomb field of the ionic core is taken into account during the under-the-barrier motion. The simple man model modified with these nonadiabatic corrections provides an intuitive background for exact theories and has direct implications for the calibration of the attoclock technique.

Attosecond Gamma-Ray Pulses via Nonlinear Compton Scattering in the Radiation-Dominated Regime.

The feasibility of the generation of bright ultrashort gamma-ray pulses is demonstrated in the interaction of a relativistic electron bunch with a counterpropagating tightly focused superstrong laser beam in the radiation-dominated regime. The Compton scattering spectra of gamma radiation are investigated using a semiclassical description for the electron dynamics in the laser field and a quantum electrodynamical description for the photon emission. We demonstrate the feasibility of ultrashort gamma-ray bursts of hundreds of attoseconds and of dozens of megaelectronvolt photon energies in the near-backwards direction of the initial electron motion. The tightly focused laser field structure and the radiation reaction are shown to be responsible for such short gamma-ray bursts, which are independent of the durations of the electron bunch and of the laser pulse. The results are measurable with the laser technology available in the near future.

High-energy recollision processes of laser-generated electron-positron pairs.

Two oppositely charged particles created within a microscopic space-time region can be separated, accelerated over a much larger distance, and brought to a recollision by a laser field. Consequently, new reactions become feasible, where the energy absorbed by the particles is efficiently released. By investigating the laser-dressed polarization operator, we identify a new contribution describing high-energy recollisions experienced by an electron-positron pair generated by pure light when a gamma photon impinges on an intense, linearly polarized laser pulse. The energy absorbed in the recollision process over the macroscopic laser wavelength corresponds to a large number of laser photons and can be exploited to prime high-energy reactions. Thus, the recollision contribution to the polarization operator differs qualitatively and quantitatively from the well-known one, describing the annihilation of an electron-positron pair within the microscopic formation region.

Robust signatures of quantum radiation reaction in focused ultrashort laser pulses.

Radiation-reaction effects in the interaction of an electron bunch with a superstrong focused ultrashort laser pulse are investigated in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. The angle-resolved Compton scattering spectra are calculated in laser pulses of variable duration using a semiclassical description for the radiation-dominated dynamics and a full quantum treatment for the emitted radiation. In dependence of the laser-pulse duration we find signatures of quantum radiation reaction in the radiation spectra, which are characteristic for the focused laser beam and visible in the qualitative behavior of both the angular spread and the spectral bandwidth of the radiation spectra. The signatures are robust with respect to the variation of the electron and laser-beam parameters in a large range. Qualitatively, they differ fully from those in the classical radiation-reaction regime and are measurable with presently available laser technology.

Radiation-reaction-force-induced nonlinear mixing of Raman sidebands of an ultraintense laser pulse in a plasma.

Stimulated Raman scattering of an ultraintense laser pulse in plasmas is studied by perturbatively including the leading order term of the Landau-Lifshitz radiation reaction force in the equation of motion for plasma electrons. In this approximation, the radiation reaction force causes a phase shift in nonlinear current densities that drive the two Raman sidebands (anti-Stokes and Stokes waves), manifesting itself into the nonlinear mixing of two sidebands. This mixing results in a strong enhancement in the growth of the forward Raman scattering instability.

Under-the-barrier dynamics in laser-induced relativistic tunneling.

The tunneling dynamics in relativistic strong-field ionization is investigated with the aim to develop an intuitive picture for the relativistic tunneling regime. We demonstrate that the tunneling picture applies also in the relativistic regime by introducing position dependent energy levels. The quantum dynamics in the classically forbidden region features two time scales, the typical time that characterizes the probability density's decay of the ionizing electron under the barrier (Keldysh time) and the time interval which the electron spends inside the barrier (Eisenbud-Wigner-Smith tunneling time). In the relativistic regime, an electron momentum shift as well as a spatial shift along the laser propagation direction arise during the under-the-barrier motion which are caused by the laser magnetic field induced Lorentz force. The momentum shift is proportional to the Keldysh time, while the wave-packet's spatial drift is proportional to the Eisenbud-Wigner-Smith time. The signature of the momentum shift is shown to be present in the ionization spectrum at the detector and, therefore, observable experimentally. In contrast, the signature of the Eisenbud-Wigner-Smith time delay disappears at far distances for pure quasistatic tunneling dynamics.

Manipulating the annihilation dynamics of positronium via collective radiation.

A method is investigated to manipulate the annihilation dynamics of a dense gas of positronium atoms employing superradiance and subradiance regimes of the cooperative spontaneous emission of the system. The corresponding annihilation dynamics is explored in two setups with regard to its fundamental novel properties and controlled by the gas density and by the intensity of a driving strong resonant laser field. In particular, the method allows us to increase the annihilation lifetime of an ensemble of positronium atoms by trapping the atoms in the excited state via collective radiative effects in the resonant laser field. In the second setup, the effect is enhanced by employing a cavity field. The maximum lifetime increase is by a factor of about 200 for para-positronium and by a factor of about 100 for ortho-positronium.