Inverse Faraday Effect driven by Radiation Friction

TL;DR

This paper proposes detecting radiation friction in laser-plasma interactions by observing the inverse Faraday effect, where intense circularly polarized lasers generate multi-gigagauss magnetic fields due to angular momentum absorption.

Contribution

It introduces a macroscopic signature of radiation friction through magnetic field generation in laser-plasma experiments, supported by analytical and simulation results.

Findings

Multi-gigagauss magnetic fields can be generated at laser intensities above 10^23 W/cm^2.

Radiative losses enable electromagnetic angular momentum absorption in high-density targets.

The inverse Faraday effect serves as a detectable signature of radiation friction effects.

Abstract

A collective, macroscopic signature to detect radiation friction in laser-plasma experiments is proposed. In the interaction of superintense circularly polarized laser pulses with high density targets, the effective dissipation due to radiative losses allows the absorption of electromagnetic angular momentum, which in turn leads to the generation of a quasistatic axial magnetic field. This peculiar "inverse Faraday effect" is investigated by analytical modeling and three-dimensional simulations, showing that multi-gigagauss magnetic fields may be generated at laser intensities $>10^{23}~\mbox{W cm}^{-2}$.