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Radiatively trapped e± pair plasma as a laser-to-γ photon converter

Daniel Younis*, Daniel F. Gordon, and Bahman Hafizi

  • *Contact author: daniel.h.younis.civ@us.navy.mil
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033143 – Published 11 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/h42l-2jc2

Abstract

An energy equilibrium arises when an electron-positron pair plasma is generated by the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler interaction of a γ-ray bunch with laser photons and becomes radiatively confined. Ordinarily, ponderomotive scattering prevents leptons from accessing the high-field regions where quantum electrodynamic (QED) effects dominate, but if quantum (stochastic) radiation reaction is sufficiently strong, a balance of acceleration and recoil forces emerges. This unique scenario enables leptons to continuously mediate the transformation of laser photons into directed γ-rays via inverse Compton scattering as they copropagate with the field. Importantly, it is observed that the lepton energy stabilizes while the γ energy increases in direct proportion to laser energy depletion. The proposed scheme enables fundamental tests of QED, and is investigated here using the particle-in-cell method in full dimensionality, in addition to test-particle calculations. The per-species energy conversion efficiency is analyzed as a function of the initial laser and γ-beam properties.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033143– Published 11 August, 2025
  • Received 5 February 2025
  • Revised 23 May 2025
  • Accepted 30 July 2025
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