Strong signatures of radiation reaction below the radiation dominated regime

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that radiation reaction effects in electron-laser interactions can be observed in a new regime where the electron's initial momentum is balanced by the laser's influence, making RR effects more detectable with current laser technology.

Contribution

It introduces a novel regime where radiation reaction effects are significantly enhanced and experimentally accessible, enabling direct testing of theoretical models.

Findings

Radiation reaction effects are more sensitive in this new regime.

Current laser systems can experimentally observe these effects.

Theoretical equations of radiation reaction become testable.

Abstract

The influence of radiation reaction (RR) on multiphoton Thomson scattering by an electron colliding head-on with a strong laser beam is investigated in a new regime, in which the momentum transferred on average to the electron by the laser pulse approximately compensates the one initially prepared. This equilibrium is shown to be far more sensitive to the influence of RR than previously studied scenarios. As a consequence RR can be experimentally investigated with currently available laser systems and the underlying widely discussed theoretical equations become testable for the first time.