Electron-photon interactions in high energy beam production and cooling

TL;DR

This paper reviews the use of laser interactions in high energy physics, focusing on gamma-gamma and gamma-electron colliders, laser cooling, and positron production, highlighting their potential to enhance collider performance.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of laser-based techniques for beam production and cooling in high energy colliders, emphasizing recent advances and physics principles.

Findings

Laser backscattering enables high energy photon generation for colliders.

Laser cooling achieves ultra-low emittance electron beams.

Photon-electron interactions facilitate polarized positron production.

Abstract

In this review we consider three important applications of lasers in high energy physics: gamma gamma, gamma electron colliders, laser cooling, positron production. These topics are actual now due to plans of construction linear e+e-, e-e-, gamma-gamma, gamma-e colliders with energies 0.3--1 TeV. High energy photons for gamma-gamma, gamma-e collisions can be obtained using laser backscattering. These types of collisions considerably increase physics potential of linear colliders. Very low emittance of electron beams required for achieving ultimate gamma-gamma luminosity can be obtained using a laser cooling of electron beams. Combining a laser-electron Compton scattering with subsequent conversion of these photons to e+e- pairs on the target (it can be a laser target) one can get a nice source of polarized positron. In this paper, we briefly consider these subjects with emphasis on underlying physics of photon-electron interactions.