Effects of high energy photon emissions in laser generated ultra-relativistic plasmas: real-time synchrotron simulations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a real-time simulation method for high-energy photon emissions in ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interactions, incorporating synchrotron radiation spectra and noise reduction, validated against radiation reaction models.

Contribution

It extends previous models by allowing arbitrary fields and instantaneous circular motion, improving accuracy and efficiency in simulating high-energy photon emissions.

Findings

The method accurately predicts emitted energy in agreement with radiation reaction calculations.

Noise reduction techniques enhance simulation stability and accuracy.

The approach is validated for arbitrary electromagnetic fields in laser-plasma contexts.

Abstract

We model the emission of high energy photons due to relativistic charged particle motion in intense laser-plasma interactions. This is done within a particle-in-cell code, for which high frequency radiation normally cannot be resolved due to finite time steps and grid size. A simple expression for the synchrotron radiation spectra is used together with a Monte-Carlo method for the emittance. We extend previous work by allowing for arbitrary fields, considering the particles to be in instantaneous circular motion due to an effective magnetic field. Furthermore we implement noise reduction techniques and present validity estimates of the method. Finally, we perform a rigorous comparison to the mechanism of radiation reaction, and find the emitted energy to be in excellent agreement with the losses calculated using radiation reaction.