Comment to the paper: 'Seeded quantum FEL at 478 keV' AIP Conf. Proc. 'Light at Extreme Intensities' 1462 173-176 (2012)'

TL;DR

This paper critically examines a previous claim about generating gamma rays at 478 keV using a seeded quantum FEL, demonstrating that the original analysis overestimated the FEL Pierce parameter by two orders of magnitude.

Contribution

It provides a detailed critique showing the original paper's calculation of the FEL Pierce parameter was significantly overestimated, challenging its feasibility claims.

Findings

The FEL Pierce parameter is two orders of magnitude lower than previously claimed.

The original analysis overestimated the FEL performance by a factor of 100.

The feasibility of the proposed gamma-ray production at 478 keV is therefore questionable.

Abstract

We criticize the thesis exposed the paper 'Seeded quantum FEL at 478 keV' AIP Conf. Proc. 'Light at Extreme Intensities,' 1462 173-176 (2012), which presents the possibility of producing gamma rays at 478 KeV by means of a seeded quantum FEL driven by an electron beam at 125 MeV, current I=40 A, interacting with an infrared laser. We show that, in the case analyzed, the FEL Pierce parameter has a value two orders of magnitude less than what claimed in the paper in question, overturning the conclusions of the analysis.