arXiv subjects

Jian-Xing Li

Publications and source records attributed to Jian-Xing Li.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Diagnosis of ultrafast ultraintense laser pulse characteristics by machine-learning-assisted electron spin

Rapid development of ultrafast ultraintense laser technologies continues to create opportunities for studying strong-field physics under extreme conditions. However, accurate determination of the spatial and temporal characteristics of a laser pulse is still a great challenge, especially when laser powers higher than hundreds of terawatts are involved. In this paper, by utilizing the radiative spin-flip effect, we find that the spin depolarization of an electron beam can be employed to diagnose characteristics of ultrafast ultraintense lasers with peak intensities around $10^{20}$-$10^{22}$~W/cm$^2$. With three shots, our machine-learning-assisted model can predict, simultaneously, the pulse duration, peak intensity, and focal radius of a focused Gaussian ultrafast ultraintense laser (in principle, the profile can be arbitrary) with relative errors of $0.1\%$-$10\%$. The underlying physics and an alternative diagnosis method (without the assistance of machine learning) are revealed by the asymptotic approximation of the final spin degree of polarization. Our proposed scheme exhibits robustness and detection accuracy with respect to fluctuations in the electron beam parameters. Accurate measurements of the ultrafast ultraintense laser parameters will lead to much higher precision in, for example, laser nuclear physics investigations and laboratory astrophysics studies. Robust machine learning techniques may also find applications in more general strong-field physics scenarios.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Production of polarized particle beams via ultraintense laser pulses

High-energy spin-polarized electron, positron, and $γ$-photon beams have many significant applications in the study of material properties, nuclear structure, particle physics, and high-energy astrophysics. Thus,efficient production of such polarized beams attracts a broad spectrum of research interests. This is driven mainly by the rapid advancements in ultrashort and ultraintense laser technology. Currently available laser pulses can achieve peak intensities in the range of $10^{22}-10^{23}$ Wcm$^{-2}$, with pulse durations of tens of femtoseconds. The dynamics of particles in laser fields of the available intensities is dominated by quantum electrodynamics (QED) and the interaction mechanisms have reached regimes spanned by nonlinear multiphoton absorbtion (strong-field QED processes). In strong-field QED processes, the scattering cross sections obviously depend on the spin and polarization of the particles, and the spin-dependent photon emission and the radiation-reaction effects can be utilized to produce the polarized particles. An ultraintense laser-driven polarized particle source possesses the advantages of high-brilliance and compactness, which could open the way for the unexplored aspects in a range of researches. In this work, we briefly review the seminal conclusions from the study of the polarization effects in strong-field QED processes, as well as the progress made by recent proposals for production of the polarized particles by laser-beam or laser-plasma interactions.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Generation of arbitrarily polarized muon pairs via polarized $e^-e^+$ collision

Generation of arbitrarily spin polarized muon pairs is investigated via polarized $e^-e^+$ collision. We calculate the fully spin-resolved cross section ${\rm d}σ_{e^-e^+\rightarrow μ^-μ^+}$ and utilize the Monte Carlo method of binary collision to describe the production and polarization processes of muon pairs. We find that, due to the dependence of mixed helicities on the scattering angle, arbitrarily polarized muon pairs with both of the longitudinal and transverse spin components can be produced. The collision of tightly collimated electron and positron beams with highly longitudinal polarization and nC charge can generate about $40\%$ muon pairs with longitudinal polarization and about $60\%$ muon pairs with transverse polarization. The compact high-flux $e^-e^+\rightarrowμ^-μ^+$ muon source could be implemented through the next-generation laser-plasma linear collider, and would be essential to facilitate the investigation of fundamental physics and the measurement technology in broad areas.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

All-optical ultrafast spin rotation for relativistic charged particle beams

An all-optical method of ultrafast spin rotation is put forward to precisely manipulate the polarization of relativistic charged particle beams of leptons or ions. In particular, laser-driven dense ultrashort beams are manipulated via single-shot interaction with a co-propagating moderate temporally asymmetric (frequency-chirped or subcycle THz) laser pulse. Using semi-classical numerical simulations, we find that in a temporally asymmetrical laser field, the spin rotation of a particle can be determined from the flexibly controllable phase retardation between its spin precession and momentum oscillation. An initial polarization of a proton beam can be rotated to any desired orientation (e.g., from the common transverse to the more useful longitudinal polarization) with extraordinary precision (better than 1\%) in tens of femtoseconds using a feasible frequency-chirped laser pulse. Moreover, the beam qualities, in terms of energy and angular divergence, can be significantly improved in the rotation process. This method has potential applications in various areas involving ultrafast spin manipulation, like laser-plasma, laser-nuclear and high-energy particle physics.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Signatures of linear Breit-Wheeler pair production in polarized $γγ$ collisions

Laser-driven brilliant controllable polarized $γ$-photon sources open the way for designing compact $γγ$ collider, which enable the large yield of linear Breit-Wheeler (LBW) pairs in a single shot and thus provide an opportunity for the investigation of polarized LBW process. In this work we investigate the polarization characteristics of LBW pair production via our developed spin-resolved binary collision simulation method. Polarization of $γ$-photons modifies the kinematics of scattering particles and induces the correlated energy-angle shift of LBW pairs, and the latter's polarization characteristic depends on the helicity configures of scattering particles. Our method confirms that the polarized $γγ$ collider with an asymmetric setup can be performed with currently achievable laser facilities to produce abundant polarized LBW pairs, fulfilling the detection power of polarimetries. The precise knowledge of polarized LBW process is in favor of the calibration and monitor of polarized $γγ$ collider, and could enhance the opacity of $γ$-photons in high-energy astrophysical objects to exacerbate the inconsistency between some observations and standard models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Brilliant circularly polarized $γ$-ray sources via single-shot laser plasma interaction

Circularly polarized (CP) $γ$-ray sources are versatile for broad applications in nuclear physics, high-energy physics and astrophysics. The laser-plasma based particle accelerators provide accessibility for much higher flux $γ$-ray sources than conventional approaches, in which, however, the circular polarization properties of emitted $γ$-photons are used to be neglected. In this letter, we show that brilliant CP $γ$-ray beams can be generated via the combination of laser plasma wakefield acceleration and plasma mirror techniques. In weakly nonlinear Compton scattering scheme with moderate laser intensities, the helicity of the driving laser can be transferred to the emitted $γ$-photons, and their average polarization degree can reach about $\sim 37\%$ ($21\%$) with a peak brilliance of $\gtrsim 10^{21}~$photons/(s $\cdot$ mm$^2 \cdot$ mrad$^2 \cdot$ 0.1% BW) around 1~MeV (100~MeV). Moreover, our proposed method is easily feasible and robust with respect to the laser and plasma parameters.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Photon polarization effects in polarized electron-positron pair production in a strong laser field

Deep understanding of photon polarization impact on pair production is essential for the efficient creation of laser driven polarized positron beams, and demands a complete description of polarization effects in strong-field QED processes. We investigate, employing fully polarization resolved Monte Carlo simulations, the correlated photon and electron (positron) polarization effects in multiphoton Breit-Wheeler pair production process during the interaction of an ultrarelativistic electron beam with a counterpropagating elliptically polarized laser pulse. We showed that the polarization of e^-e^+ pairs is degraded by 35\%, when the polarization of the intermediate photon is resolved, accompanied with an approximately 13\% decrease of the pair yield. Moreover, the polarization direction of energetic positrons in small angle region is reversed, which originates from the pair production of hard photons with polarization parallel with electric field.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Generation of arbitrarily polarized GeV lepton beams via nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process

Generation of arbitrarily spin-polarized lepton (here refer in particular to electron and positron) beams has been investigated in the single-shot interaction of high-energy polarized $γ$ photons with an ultraintense asymmetric laser pulse via nonlinear Breit-Wheeler (BW) pair production. We develop a fully spin-resolved semi-classical Monte Carlo method to describe the pair creation and polarization in the local constant field approximation. In nonlinear BW process the polarization of created pairs is simultaneously determined by the polarization of parent $γ$ photons, the polarization and asymmetry of scattering laser field, due to the spin angular momentum transfer and the asymmetric spin-dependent pair production probabilities, respectively. In considered all-optical method, dense GeV lepton beams with average polarization degree up to about $80\%$ (adjustable between the transverse and longitudinal components) can be obtained with currently achievable laser facilities, which could be used as injectors of the polarized $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Generation of quasi-monoenergetic proton beams via quantum radiative compression

Dense high-energy monoenergetic proton beams are vital for wide applications, thus modern laser-plasma-based ion acceleration methods are aiming to obtain high-energy proton beams with energy spread as low as possible. In this work, we put forward a quantum radiative compression method to post-compress a highly accelerated proton beam and convert it to a dense quasi-monoenergetic one. We find that when the relativistic plasma produced by radiation pressure acceleration collides head-on with an ultraintense laser beam, large-amplitude plasma oscillations are excited due to quantum radiation-reaction and the ponderomotive force, which induce compression of the phase space of protons located in its acceleration phase with negative gradient. Our three-dimensional spin-resolved QED particle-in-cell simulations show that hollow-structure proton beams with a peak energy $\sim$ GeV, relative energy spread of few percents and number $N_p\sim10^{10}$ (or $N_p\sim 10^9$ with a $1\%$ energy spread) can be produced in near future laser facilities, which may fulfill the requirements of important applications, such as, for radiography of ultra-thick dense materials, or as injectors of hadron colliders.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Trapping and acceleration of spin-polarized positrons from $γ$ photon splitting in wakefields

Energetic spin-polarized positrons are extremely demanded for forefront researches, such as $e^- e^+$ collider physics, but making compact positron sources is still very challenging. Here we put forward an efficient scheme of trapping and acceleration of polarized positrons in plasma wakefields. Seed electrons colliding with a bichromatic laser create polarized $γ$ photons which then split into $e^- e^+$ pairs via nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process with an average (partial) positron polarization above 30\% (70\%). Over 70\% positrons are trapped and accelerated in recovered wakefields driven by a hollow electron beam, obtaining an energy gain of 3.5 GeV/cm with slight depolarization. This scheme provides a potential for constructing compact and economical positron sources for future applications.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Stochasticity in radiative polarization of ultrarelativistic electrons in an ultrastrong laser pulse

Stochasticity effects in the spin (de)polarization of an ultrarelativistic electron beam during photon emissions in a counterpropoagating ultrastrong focused laser pulse in the quantum radiation reaction regime are investigated. We employ a Monte Carlo method to describe the electron dynamics semiclassically, and photon emissions as well as the electron radiative polarization quantum mechanically. While in the latter the photon emission is inherently stochastic, we were able to identify its imprints in comparison with the new developed semiclassical stochasticity-free method of radiative polarization applicable in the quantum regime. With an initially spin-polarized electron beam, the stochastic spin effects are seen in the dependence of the depolarization degree on the electron scattering angle and the electron final energy (spin stochastic diffusion). With an initially unpolarized electron beam, the spin stochasticity is exhibited in enhancing the known effect of splitting of the electron beam along the propagation direction into two oppositely polarized parts by an elliptically polarized laser pulse. The considered stochasticity effects for the spin are observable with currently achievable laser and electron beam parameters.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Generation of highly-polarized high-energy brilliant $γ$-rays via laser-plasma interaction

Generation of highly-polarized high-energy brilliant $γ$-rays via laser-plasma interaction has been investigated in the quantum radiation-reaction regime. We employ a quantum-electrodynamics particle-in-cell code to describe spin-resolved electron dynamics semiclassically and photon emission and polarization quantum mechanically in the local constant field approximation. As an ultrastrong linearly-polarized (LP) laser pulse irradiates on a near-critical-density (NCD) plasma followed by an ultrathin planar aluminum target, the electrons in NCD plasma are first accelerated by the driving laser to ultrarelativistic energies, and then head-on collide with reflected laser pulse by the aluminum target, emitting brilliant LP $γ$-rays due to nonlinear Compton scattering with an average polarization of about 70\% and energy up to hundreds of MeV. By comparison, as a conical gold target filled with NCD plasma is employed, the linear polarization degree, collimation and brilliance of emitted $γ$-ray beam are all significantly improved due to the enhanced strong laser-driven quasi-static magnetic field in plasmas. Such $γ$-rays can be produced with currently achievable laser facilities and find various applications in high-energy physics and astrophysics.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

High-energy gamma-photon polarization in nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production and gamma-polarimetry

The interaction of an unpolarized electron beam with a counterpropagating ultraintense linearly polarized laser pulse is investigated in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. We employ a semiclassical Monte Carlo method to describe spin-resolved electron dynamics, photon emissions and polarization, and pair production. Abundant high-energy linearly polarized gamma photons are generated intermediately during this interaction via nonlinear Compton scattering, with an average polarization degree of more than 50%, which further interacting with the laser fields produce electron-positron pairs due to nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process. The photon polarization is shown to significantly affect the pair yield by a factor beyond 10%. The considered signature of the photon polarization in the pair's yield can be experimentally identified in a prospective two-stage setup. Moreover, the signature can serve also for the polarimetry of high-energy high-flux gamma photons with a resolution well below 1% with currently achievable laser facilities.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

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 at a single shot 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, nuclear physics, and laboratory astrophysics.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Ultrarelativistic polarized positron jets via collision of electron and ultraintense laser beams

Relativistic spin-polarized positron beams are indispensable for future electron-positron colliders to test modern high-energy physics theory with high precision. However, present techniques require very large scale facilities for those experiments. We put forward a novel efficient way for generating ultrarelativistic polarized positron beams employing currently available laser fields. For this purpose the generation of polarized positrons via multiphoton Breit-Wheeler pair production and the associated spin dynamics in single-shot interaction of an ultraintense laser pulse with an ultrarelativistic electron beam is investigated in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. A specifically tailored small ellipticity of the laser field is shown to promote splitting of the polarized particles along the minor axis of laser polarization into two oppositely polarized beams. In spite of radiative de-polarization, a dense positron beam with up to about 90\% polarization can be generated in tens of femtoseconds. The method may eventually usher high-energy physics studies into smaller-scale laser laboratories.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Spin-polarization effects of an ultrarelativistic electron beam in an ultraintense two-color laser pulse

Spin-polarization effects of an ultrarelativistic electron beam head-on colliding with an ultraintense two-color laser pulse are investigated comprehensively in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. We employ a Monte Carlo method, derived from the recent work of [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 122}, 154801 (2019)], to calculate the spin-resolved electron dynamics and photon emissions in the local constant field approximation. We find that electron radiation probabilities in adjacent half cycles of a two-color laser field are substantially asymmetric due to the asymmetric field strengths, and consequently, after interaction the electron beam can obtain a total polarization of about 11\% and a partial polarization of up to about 63\% because of radiative spin effects, with currently achievable laser facilities, which may be utilized in high-energy physics and nuclear physics. Moreover, the considered effects are shown to be crucially determined by the relative phase of the two-color laser field and robust with respect to other laser and electron beam parameters.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Imprint of the stochastic nature of photon emission by electrons on the proton energy spectra in the laser-plasma interaction

The impact of stochasticity effects (SEs) in photon emissions on the proton energy spectra during laser-plasma interaction is theoretically investigated in the quantum radiation-dominated regime, which may facilitate SEs experimental observation. We calculate the photon emissions quantum mechanically and the plasma dynamics semiclassically via two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. An ultrarelativistic plasma generated and driven by an ultraintense laser pulse head-on collides with another strong laser pulse, which decelerates the electrons due to radiation-reaction effect and results in a significant compression of the proton energy spectra because of the charge separation force. In the considered regime the SEs are demonstrated in the shift of the mean energy of the protons up to hundreds of MeV. This effect is robust with respect to the laser and target parameters and measurable in soon available strong laser facilities.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Single-shot determination of spin-polarization for ultrarelativistic electron beams via nonlinear Compton scattering

Impacts of spin-polarization of an ultrarelativistic electron beam head-on colliding with a strong laser pulse on emitted photon spectra and electron dynamics have been investigated in the quantum radiation regime. We simulate photon emissions quantum mechanically and electron dynamics semiclassically via taking spin-resolved radiation probabilities in the local constant field approximation. A small ellipticity of the laser field brings about an asymmetry in angle-resolved photon spectrum, which sensitively relies on the polarization of the electron beam. The asymmetry is particularly significant in high-energy photon spectra, and is employed for the polarization detection of a high-energy electron beam with extraordinary precision, e.g., better than 0.3\% for a few-GeV electron beam at a density of the scale of $10^{16}$ cm$^{-3}$ with currently available strong laser fields. This method demonstrates for the first time a way of single-shot determination of polarization for ultrarelativistic electron beams via nonlinear Compton scattering. A similar method based on the asymmetry in the electron momentum distribution after the interaction due to spin-dependent radiation reaction is proposed as well.

physics.plasm-ph↗