Quantum radiation reaction in laser-electron-beam collisions.
It is possible using current high-intensity laser facilities to reach the quantum radiation reaction regime for energetic electrons. An experiment using a wakefield accelerator to drive GeV electrons into a counterpropagating laser pulse would demonstrate the increase in the yield of high-energy photons caused by the stochastic nature of quantum synchrotron emission: we show that a beam of 10(9) 1 GeV electrons colliding with a 30 fs laser pulse of intensity 10(22)  W cm(-2) will emit 6300 photons with energy greater than 700 MeV, 60× the number predicted by classical theory.
Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
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Blackburn
Department of Physics, University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom and Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, United Kingdom.
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Ridgers
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Postfach 10 39 80, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany.
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Kirk
Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom and Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, United Kingdom.
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Bell