Speaker
Description
The phenomenon of radiation reaction describes the fact that accelerated charged particles emit radiation that carries away energy and momentum and, hence, the radiation emission must act back onto the motion of the particles. Those effects are expected to affect laser-plasma accelerators in the near future. This presentation explores novel signatures of radiation reaction via the angular deflection of an electron beam colliding at 90 degrees with an intense laser pulse. Due to the radiation reaction effect, the electrons can be deflected towards the beam axis for plane wave backgrounds, which is not possible in the absence of radiation reaction effects. The magnitude and size of the deflection angle can be controlled by tailoring the laser pulse shapes. The effect is first derived analytically using the Landau–Lifshitz equation, which allows to determine the important scaling behavior with laser intensity and particle energy. These findings are validated through comprehensive 1D and 3D simulations performed using the SMILEI PIC-code, employing both the classical and quantum radiation reaction models, thus confirming the phenomenon's observability with current laser technology.
