Ingle, L A and Arran, C D and Oxley, M C and Blackburn, T G and Bulanov, S V and Murphy, C D and Ridgers, C P (2025) The effect of the electron’s spin magnetic moment on quantum radiation in strong electromagnetic fields. New Journal of Physics, 27 (6): 064302. ISSN 1367-2630
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Ultra-intense laser pulses can create sufficiently strong fields to probe quantum electrodynamics effects in a novel regime. By colliding a 60 GeV electron bunch with a laser pulse focussed to the maximum achievable intensity of 10 23 W cm −2, we can reach fields much stronger than the critical Schwinger field in the electron rest frame. When the ratio of these fields χ e ≫ 1 we find that the hard ( > 25 GeV) radiation from the electron has a substantial contribution from spin-light. 33% more photons are produced above this energy due to spin-light, the radiation resulting from the acceleration of the electron’s intrinsic magnetic moment. This increase in high-energy photons results in 14% more positrons produced with energy above 25 GeV. Furthermore, the enhanced photon production due to spin-light results in a 46% increase in the electron recoil radiation reaction. These observable signatures provide a potential route to observing spin-light in the strongly quantum regime ( χ e ≫ 1 ) for the first time.