LUXE: A new experiment to study non-perturbative QED in electron-laser and photon-laser collisions

TL;DR

LUXE is a planned experiment at DESY Hamburg aiming to explore non-perturbative quantum electrodynamics phenomena, such as electron-positron pair creation, using high-intensity laser and electron/photon collisions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup to investigate strong-field QED effects at unprecedented laser intensities, expanding the understanding of non-perturbative quantum phenomena.

Findings

Design of the LUXE experimental setup

Expected measurement of positron production rates

Potential to test QED in the non-perturbative regime

Abstract

LUXE (Laser Und XFEL Experiment) is a new experiment in planning at DESY Hamburg using the electron beam of the European XFEL. LUXE is intended to study collisions between a high-intensity optical laser and 16.5 GeV electrons from the XFEL electron beam, as well as collisions between the optical laser and high-energy secondary photons. The physics objective of LUXE are processes of quantum electrodynamics (QED) at the strong-field frontier, where the electromagnetic field of the laser is above the Schwinger limit. In this regime, QED is non-perturbative. This manifests itself in the creation of physical electron-positron pairs from the QED vacuum, similar to Hawking radiation from black holes. LUXE intends to measure the positron production rate in an unprecedented laser intensity regime. An overview of the LUXE experimental setup and its challenges will be given, followed by a discussion of the expected physics reach in the context of testing QED in the non-perturbative regime.