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

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Abstract

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 method 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. The pair production spin asymmetry in strong fields, significantly exceeding the asymmetry of the radiative polarization, produces locally highly polarized particles, which are split by a specifically tailored small ellipticity of the laser field into two oppositely polarized beams along the minor axis of laser polarization. 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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number135120
JournalPhysics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
Volume800
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Multiphoton Breit-Wheeler pair production
  • Nonlinear Compton scattering
  • Polarized positrons
  • Strong field QED

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