Laser induced Compton Scattering to Dark Photon or Axion-like Particle

TL;DR

This paper proposes using intense laser fields to produce and detect dark photons or axion-like particles via nonlinear Compton scattering, offering a novel approach to search for light, invisible particles.

Contribution

It introduces a method to generate and detect dark photons or axion-like particles using high-intensity lasers, providing a complementary approach to existing collider and beam dump experiments.

Findings

Laser-induced nonlinear Compton scattering can produce dark photons or axion-like particles.

This method is competitive for detecting particles lighter than 1 MeV.

It offers a new avenue for exploring light, invisible particles in particle physics.

Abstract

The laser of an intense electromagnetic field provides an important tool to study the strong-field particle physics. The nonlinear Compton scattering was observed in the collision of an ultra-relativistic electron beam with a laser pulse in 1990s. The precision measurement of the nonlinear Compton scattering shines the light on the studies of strong-field QED and nonlinear effects in QED. In this work, we propose to produce new massive particles through the nonlinear Compton scattering in the presence of a high intense laser field. We take dark photon or axion-like particle as illustrative new particle. Compared with other collider and beam dump experiments, the laser induced process provides a complementary and competitive search of new invisible particles lighter than 1 MeV.