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-resolve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2019-04, Vol.122 (15), p.154801-154801, Article 154801
Main Authors: Li, Yan-Fei, Shaisultanov, Rashid, Hatsagortsyan, Karen Z, Wan, Feng, Keitel, Christoph H, Li, Jian-Xing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer simulation
Electromagnetic fields
Electron spin
Electrons
Laser beams
Lasers
Monte Carlo simulation
Polarization (spin alignment)
Relativistic electron beams
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.154801