Extremely high-intensity laser interactions with fundamental quantum systems

Abstract

The field of laser-matter interaction traditionally deals with the response\nof atoms, molecules and plasmas to an external light wave. However, the recent\nsustained technological progress is opening up the possibility of employing\nintense laser radiation to trigger or substantially influence physical\nprocesses beyond atomic-physics energy scales. Available optical laser\nintensities exceeding $10^{22}\\;\\text{W/cm$^2$}$ can push the fundamental\nlight-electron interaction to the extreme limit where radiation-reaction\neffects dominate the electron dynamics, can shed light on the structure of the\nquantum vacuum, and can trigger the creation of particles like electrons, muons\nand pions and their corresponding antiparticles. Also, novel sources of intense\ncoherent high-energy photons and laser-based particle colliders can pave the\nway to nuclear quantum optics and may even allow for potential discovery of new\nparticles beyond the Standard Model. These are the main topics of the present\narticle, which is devoted to a review of recent investigations on high-energy\nprocesses within the realm of relativistic quantum dynamics, quantum\nelectrodynamics, nuclear and particle physics, occurring in extremely intense\nlaser fields.\n