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arXiv · 1406.7235

Polarization operator approach to pair creation in short laser pulses

Sebastian Meuren·Karen Z. Hatsagortsyan·Christoph H. Keitel·Antonino Di Piazza
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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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Sebastian Meuren, Karen Z. Hatsagortsyan, Christoph H. Keitel, Antonino Di Piazza. 2015-01-28. Polarization operator approach to pair creation in short laser pulses. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.91.013009

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