Electron-angular-distribution reshaping in the quantum radiation-dominated regime

Dynamics of an electron beam head-on colliding with an ultraintense focused ultrashort circularly polarized laser pulse are investigated in the quantum radiation-dominated regime. Generally, the ponderomotive force of the laser fields may deflect the electrons transversely, to form a ring structure in the cross section of the electron beam. However, we find that when the Lorentz factor of the electron γ is approximately one order of magnitude larger than the invariant laser field parameter ξ, the stochastic nature of the photon emission leads to electron aggregation abnormally inwards to the propagation axis of the laser pulse. Consequently, the electron angular distribution after the interaction exhibits a peak structure in the beam propagation direction, which is noticeably distinguished from the "ring" structure of the distribution in the classical regime and, therefore, can be recognized as a proof of the fundamental quantum stochastic nature of radiation. The stochasticity signature is robust with respect to the laser and electron parameters and observable with current experimental techniques.