Limitations on the attainable intensity of high power lasers

2010/04/29 by A. M. Fedotov, N. B. Narozhny, G. Mourou +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-ph #physics.optics #physics.plasm-ph #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.105.080402

published as Phys.Rev.Lett.105:080402,2010 · 4 pages, 3 figures

arxiv created 2010/04/29 · arxiv updated 2014/11/20

Abstract

It is shown that even a single e^-e⁺ pair created by a super strong laser field in vacuum would cause development of an avalanche-like QED cascade which rapidly depletes the incoming laser pulse. This confirms the old N. Bohr conjecture that the electric field of the critical QED strength E_S=m²c³/eℏ could never be created.

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• Generation-Resolved Signatures in QED Cascades: Diagnostics for Ultraintense Laser Parameters

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