Laboratory gamma-ray pulsar

TL;DR

This paper proposes that gamma-ray pulsar mechanisms can be replicated in laboratory settings using high-power optical lasers, demonstrating potential for controlled gamma-ray production and pair creation in lab conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel laboratory approach to simulate gamma-ray pulsar phenomena using high-power laser fields, highlighting the feasibility of creating gamma-rays and electron-positron pairs.

Findings

Focusing a few PW optical laser achieves the Aristotelian regime for electrons.

The required charge density matches that of a solid, enabling efficient gamma-ray conversion.

At around 50 PW, pair production occurs without external electron sources.

Abstract

The mechanism by which gamma-ray pulsars shine might be reproducible in a laboratory. This claim is supported by three observations: (i) properly focusing a few PW optical laser gives an electromagnetic field in the so-called Aristotelian regime, when a test electron is radiation-overdamped; (ii) the Goldreich-Julian number density of this electromagnetic field (the number density of elementary charges needed for a nearly full conversion of optical power into gamma-rays) is of order the electron number density in a solid; (iii) above about $50$PW, the external source of electrons is not needed -- charges will be created by a pair production avalanche.