2023/02/10 by Zhigang Bu, Bu, Zhigang, Liangliang Ji +13 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · Engineering · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2302.05065
Accelerating a free electron to high energy forms the basis for studying particle and nuclear physics. Here it is shown that wavefunction of such an energetic electron can be further manipulated with femtosecond intense lasers. During the scattering between a high-energy electron and a strong laser pulse, we find a regime where the enormous photon spin angular momenta can be efficiently transferred to the electron orbital angular momentum (OAM). The wavefunction of the scattered electron is twisted from its initial plane-wave state to quantum vortex state. Nonlinear quantum electrodynamics (QED) theory suggests that GeV-level electrons acquire average intrinsic OAM beyond 100 h-barat laser intensities of 1020W/cm2 with linear scaling. These electrons emit gamma photons with double-peaked spectrum, which sets them apart from ordinary electrons. The findings demonstrate a proficient method for generating relativistic leptons with quantum vortex wavefunctions based on existing laser technology, thereby fostering a novel source for particle and nuclear physics.