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Semiclassical analysis of axionlike particle emission via nonlinear Compton-like scattering in intense laser fields

Pei-Lun He1,*, En-Rui Zhou1, and Yue-Yue Chen2,†

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Dark Matter Physics, Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center for IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
  • 2Department of Physics, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China

  • *Contact author: peilunhe@sjtu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: yue-yue.chen@shnu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 016017 – Published 21 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xt23-2q87

Abstract

We investigate the production of axionlike particles through nonlinear Compton-like scattering in intense laser fields using the Baier-Katkov operator method. By explicitly constructing the eikonal spinor wave function, we utilize the semiclassical nature of relativistic electrons, which simplifies the theoretical derivation and circumvents the need to evaluate certain operator products. The spin-resolved axion emission rate is obtained within the locally constant field approximation. Explicit calculations demonstrate that the radiation yield is dominated by the electron’s transverse acceleration, driven by the magnetic field and by the component of the electric field perpendicular to the instantaneous electron velocity. The electron spin dependence of the axion emission rate is found to differ significantly from that of photon emission by analytically examining the asymptotic behavior of the radiation in both the weak- and strong-field limits and by numerically exploring the intermediate regime. The derived spin-resolved axion emission rate can be directly incorporated into existing semiclassical Monte Carlo algorithms developed for strong-field photon processes, enabling efficient modeling of axionlike particle generation. Our results provide promising avenues for the experimental detection and control of axionlike particles with high-intensity laser facilities.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 016017– Published 21 July, 2026
  • Received 30 July 2025
  • Accepted 8 January 2026
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