Strong-Field QED Experiments using the BELLA PW Laser Dual Beamlines

TL;DR

The upgraded BELLA PW laser facility now enables strong-field QED experiments involving intense laser-electron interactions and positron production, advancing the study of quantum electrodynamics in extreme fields.

Contribution

This paper introduces the new dual-beamline setup at BELLA PW, allowing for parallel SF-QED experiments with detailed simulation predictions.

Findings

Simulation shows potential to study laser-particle interactions up to χ~2.

Experiments can produce GeV positron beams via Breit-Wheeler process.

Facility upgrades enable exploration of classical to quantum regimes in strong fields.

Abstract

The Petawatt (PW) laser facility of the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center has recently commissioned its second laser pulse transport line. This new beamline can be operated in parallel with the first beamline and enables strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SF-QED) experiments at BELLA. In this paper, we present an overview of the upgraded BELLA PW facility with a SF-QED experimental layout in which intense laser pulses collide with GeV-class laser-wakefield-accelerated electron beams. We present simulation results showing that experiments will allow the study of laser-particle interactions from the classical to the SF-QED regime with a nonlinear quantum parameter of up to $\chi\sim$2. In addition, we show that experiments will enable the study and production of GeV-class, mrad-divergence positron beams via the Breit-Wheeler process.