arXiv subjects

S. Villalba-Chávez

Publications and source records attributed to S. Villalba-Chávez.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Comparative study of nonperturbative electron-positron pair production by intense laser fields colliding with either bremsstrahlung $γ$-rays or relativistic ions

It is well known that electron-positron pairs can be created in the strong-field environments formed by (i) a high-intensity laser field and a high-energy $γ$-photon (nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process) or (ii) a high-intensity laser field and a nuclear Coulomb field (nonlinear Bethe-Heitler process). Both of these processes are particularly interesting in the interaction regime where the laser field enters nonperturbatively. Various experimental collaborations are currently aiming at detecting for the first time the nonperturbative Breit-Wheeler process, by exploiting high-intensity laser pulses and $γ$-ray sources based on bremsstrahlung. In contrast, an experimental observation of the nonlinear, nonperturbative Bethe-Heitler process still lies further ahead in the future because its technical realization appears at present more challenging. Our comparative study shows, however, that the physical properties of the total rates for the processes (i) and (ii) can become remarkably similar when the parameters for the bremsstrahlung-driven nonperturbative Breit-Wheeler process are properly chosen. In this sense, the upcoming experiments on the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process could also be used to closely ``simulate'' the currently hard to observe nonlinear Bethe-Heitler process.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2026

Muon pair production in electron-positron collisions close to threshold in the presence of a strong laser field

Within the framework of strong-field quantum electrodynamics, we study the creation of muon-antimuon pairs in laser-assisted collisions of electrons with positrons, whose center-of-mass energy is close to the threshold of the process. Our focus lies on incident collision energies slightly below the threshold, where the associated energy gap has to be overcome by multiphoton absorption from the applied high-intensity laser field while the collision occurs. We calculate the cross section of the process and discuss its nonperturbative dependencies on the energy gap and the laser parameters. Three qualitatively different interaction regimes are identified, where the influence of the laser field either has a classical or fully quantum nature. In the latter case, an exponential dependence of the cross section on the collision parameters is found, which resembles the Schwinger effect.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Bound-free electron-positron pair production in combined Coulomb and constant crossed electromagnetic fields: a Schwinger-like process with intrinsic assistance

The bound-free channel of electron-positron pair production by a highly charged bare ion in the presence of a strong constant crossed electromagnetic field is studied. To calculate the pair production rate, two different methods are applied and compared with each other: (i) a quasiclassical tunneling theory and (ii) a strong-field approximation, both equipped with appropriate Coulomb correction factors. The resulting rate, which depends nonperturbatively on both the Coulomb field of the ion and the constant crossed field, is calculated in a broad range of applied field strengths and nuclear charge numbers. Its functional form resembles the rate for a dynamically assisted Schwinger-like process, with the assistance being provided by the atomic binding energy of the created electron.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Relative-phase dependence of dynamically assisted electron-positron pair creation in the superposition of strong oscillating electric-field pulses

Production of electron-positron pairs in the superposition of oscillating electric-field pulses with largely different frequencies is studied, focussing on the impact of relative phases between the pulses. Various field configurations are considered: superpositions of either two or three pulses of equal duration as well as combinations of a long low-frequency and a short high-frequency pulse. We show that the relative phase of superimposed high-frequency modes can exert a sizeable effect on the total numbers of produced pairs, enhancing them by about 10-30% for the considered field parameters.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Entering the overcritical regime of nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production in collisions of bremsstrahlung $γ$-rays and superintense, tightly focused laser pulses

Near-future high-intensity lasers offer prospects for the observation of nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production in an overcritical field regime, where the quantum nonlinearity parameter substantially exceeds unity. This experimentally yet unexplored scenario is envisaged here to be reached via the collision of a tightly focused laser pulse with high-energy bremsstrahlung photons. We calculate the achievable number of pairs in a range of laser intensities around 10$^{23}$ W/cm$^2$ and GeV-energies of the incident bremsstrahlung-generating electron beam. We investigate under which conditions the attenuation of the $γ$-beam due to the production process must be taken into account and how much the second generation of created pairs contributes to the total yield. In the considered interaction regime, where the local production rate grows rather moderately with higher field intensities, it is shown that the range of mostly contributing bremsstrahlung frequencies is generally very broad. For sufficiently large values of the quantum nonlinearity parameter, an optimum domain of frequencies emerges which is located far below the spectral endpoint. Furthermore, we show that it is beneficial for achieving the optimum pair yield to increase the interaction volume by a wider laser focus at the expense of decreased field intensity.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Impact of laser focussing and radiation reaction on particle spectra from nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production in the nonperturbative regime

Near-future experiments intend to detect strong-field Breit-Wheeler pair creation from the collision between bremsstrahlung bursts containing GeV-$γ$ quanta and high-intensity laser pulses. In this theoretical study, we investigate the influence of laser focusing, radiation reaction and a broad bremsstrahlung $γ$ spectrum on the energy and angular distributions of created pairs. Understanding the role of these inherent reaction attributes provides relevant insights for experimental detection strategies and data interpretation. We show that the inclusion of radiation reaction leads to a narrow energy spectrum of the yielded particles, whose maximum is shifted to substantially lower energies as compared to the case in which radiative energy losses are ignored. The broad bremsstrahlung spectrum also has distinct influence on the particle distributions, whereas the impact of laser focusing turns out to be rather moderate in the considered parameter regime.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Dynamically-assisted nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production in bichromatic laser fields of circular polarization

Production of electron-positron pairs by a high-energy $γ$ photon and a bichromatic laser wave is considered where the latter is composed of a strong low-frequency and a weak high-frequency component, both with circular polarization. An integral expression for the production rate is derived that accounts for the strong laser mode to all orders and for the weak laser mode to first order. The structure of this formula resembles the well-known expression for the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler process in a strong laser field, but includes the dynamical assistance from the weak laser mode. We analyze the dependence of the dynamical rate enhancement on the applied field parameters and show, in particular, that it is substantially higher when the two laser modes have opposite helicity.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Electron-positron pair creation in the superposition of two oscillating electric field pulses with largely different frequency, duration and relative positioning

Production of electron-positron pairs in two oscillating strong electric field pulses with largely different frequencies and durations is considered. In a first scenario, the influence of a low-frequency background field on pair production by a short main pulse of high frequency is analyzed. The background field is shown to cause characteristic modifications of the momentum spectra of created particles which, in turn, may be used for imaging of the background pulse. In a second scenario, an ultrashort, relatively weak assisting pulse is superimposed onto a strong main pulse. By studying the dependence of the pair production on the field parameters it is shown that duration and relative position of the ultrashort pulse modify the momentum spectra of produced particles in a distinctive way. Both scenarios enable, moreover, to extract partial information about the time periods when pairs with certain momenta are produced predominantly.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2019

Dimensionality-driven photoproduction of massive Dirac pairs near threshold in gapped graphene monolayers

Generation of quasi-particle--hole pairs in gapped graphene monolayers in the combined field of two counterpropagating light waves is studied. The process represents an analogue of electron-positron pair production from the QED vacuum by the Breit-Wheeler effect. We show, however, that the two-dimensional structure of graphene causes some striking differences between both scenarios. In particular, contrary to the QED case, it allows for non-zero pair production rates at the energy threshold when the Breit-Wheeler reaction proceeds nonlinearly with absorption of three photons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Two-color phase-of-the-phase spectroscopy applied to nonperturbative electron-positron pair production in strong oscillating electric fields

Production of electron-positron pairs from vacuum in strong bichromatic electric fields, oscillating in time with a fundamental frequency and its second harmonic, is studied. Strong-field processes occuring in such field configurations are generally known to be sensitive to the relative phase between the field modes. Phase-of-the-phase spectroscopy has recently been introduced in the context of strong-field photoionization as a systematic means to analyze these coherence effects. We apply this method to field-induced pair production by calculating the phase dependence of the momentum-resolved particle yields. We show that asymmetric checkerboard patterns arise in the phase-of-the-phase spectra, similarly to those found in strong-field photoionization. The physical origin of these characteristic structures, which differ between the created electron and positron, are discussed.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2019

Electron-positron pair production in oscillating electric fields with double-pulse structure

Electron-positron pair production from vacuum in a strong electric field oscillating in time is studied. The field is assumed to consist of two consecutive pulses, with variable time delay in between. Pair production probabilities are obtained by numerical solution of the corresponding time-dependent Dirac equation. Considering symmetric field configurations comprising two identical pulses, we show that the pulse distance strongly affects the momentum spectra of produced particles and even the total production probability. Conversely, in a highly asymmetric situation when the field contains low-intensity prepulse and high-intensity main pulse, we identify a range of field parameters where the prepulse despite its weakness can leave visible traces in the particle spectra.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2013

Searching for minicharged particles via birefringence, dichroism and Raman spectroscopy of the vacuum polarized by a high-intensity laser wave

Absorption and dispersion of probe photons in the field of a high-intensity circularly polarized laser wave are investigated. The optical theorem is applied for determining the absorption coefficients in terms of the imaginary part of the vacuum polarization tensor. Compact expressions for the vacuum refraction indices and the photon absorption coefficients are obtained in various asymptotic regimes of interest. The outcomes of this analysis reveal that, far from the region relatively close to the threshold of the two-photon reaction, the birefringence and dichroism of the vacuum are small and, in some cases, strongly suppressed. On the contrary, in a vicinity of the region in which the photo-production of a pair occurs, these optical properties are manifest with lasers of moderate intensities. We take advantage of such a property in the search of minicharged particles by considering high-precision polarimetric experiments. In addition, Raman-like electromagnetic waves resulting from the inelastic part of the vacuum polarization tensor are suggested as an alternative form for finding exclusion limits on these hypothetical charge carriers. The envisaged parameters of upcoming high-intensity laser facilities are used for establishing upper bounds on the minicharged particles.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Spin effects in strong-field laser-electron interactions

The electron spin degree of freedom can play a significant role in relativistic scattering processes involving intense laser fields. In this contribution we discuss the influence of the electron spin on (i) Kapitza-Dirac scattering in an x-ray laser field of high intensity, (ii) photo-induced electron-positron pair production in a strong laser wave and (iii) multiphoton electron-positron pair production on an atomic nucleus. We show that in all cases under consideration the electron spin can have a characteristic impact on the process properties and their total probabilities. To this end, spin-resolved calculations based on the Dirac equation in the presence of an intense laser field are performed. The predictions from Dirac theory are also compared with the corresponding results from the Klein-Gordon equation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Has the Photon an Anomalous Magnetic Moment?

Due to its interaction with the virtual electron-positron field in vacuum, the photon exhibits a nonzero anomalous magnetic moment whenever it has a nonzero transverse momentum component to an external constant magnetic field. At low and high frequencies this anomalous magnetic moment behaves as paramagnetic, and at energies near the first threshold of pair creation it has a maximum value greater than twice the electron anomalous magnetic moment. These results might be interesting in an astrophysical and cosmological context.

hep-th↗