Generation of Polarized Overdense Pair-photon Fireball via Laser-Driven Nonlinear-linear QED Cascade

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel laser-driven nonlinear QED plasma method to generate dense, polarized pair-photon fireballs at accessible laser intensities, advancing laboratory astrophysics research.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach coupling polarization-resolved QED processes to lower the threshold for creating overdense pair-photon fireballs with current laser technology.

Findings

Self-organized NL-QED cascade ignited at 10-petawatt intensities.

Generation of an overdense, highly polarized, quasi-neutral fireball.

Achieved pair density of approximately 4.1×10^{16} cm^{-3}.

Abstract

Relativistic, polarized pair-photon fireballs are central to understand the microscopic energy transfer of high-energy astrophysical outflows, yet generating an overdense fireball in the laboratory, especially via an ultraintense laser, remains a formidable challenge. Here, we propose a novel method of laser-driven nonlinear-linear quantum electrodynamics (NL-QED) plasma, that dramatically lowers the laser intensity threshold for dense pair-photon fireball creation. By coupling polarization-resolved linear Breit-Wheeler and Compton processes with strong-field nonlinear radiation, we find that a self-organized NL-QED cascade is ignited in the laser-driven hole boring at currently accessible 10-petawatt intensities ($\sim 10^{22}\ \mathrm{W/cm^2}$). Consequently, we demonstrate the generation of an overdense (pair density $n_{\rm}\simeq 4.1\times 10^{16}\ \mathrm{cm^{-3}}$, gamma-photon density $n_\gamma\simeq 9.6\times 10^{21}\ \mathrm{cm^{-3}}$), highly polarized, and quasi-neutral fireball. Our method provides a comprehensive framework for studying laser-driven QED plasma and its application in laboratory astrophysics, probing multi-process QED physics.