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Article
Report number	arXiv:2106.15170
Title	A laser-plasma platform for photon-photon physics A laser–plasma platform for photon–photon physics: the two photon Breit–Wheeler process
Author(s)	Kettle, B. (JAI, UK) ; Hollatz, D. (Helmholtz Inst., Jena ; U. Jena (main) ; Jena U.) ; Gerstmayr, E. (JAI, UK) ; Samarin, G.M. (Queen's U., Belfast) ; Alejo, A. (Queen's U., Belfast) ; Astbury, S. (Rutherford) ; Baird, C. (York U., England) ; Bohlen, S. (DESY) ; Campbell, M. (CERN) ; Colgan, C. (JAI, UK) ; Dannheim, D. (CERN) ; Gregory, C. (Rutherford) ; Harsh, H. (Helmholtz Inst., Jena ; U. Jena (main) ; Jena U.) ; Hatfield, P. (Oxford U.) ; Hinojosa, J. (U. Michigan, Ann Arbor ; Michigan U.) ; Katzir, Y. (Rutherford) ; Morton, J. (AWRE, Aldermaston) ; Murphy, C.D. (York U., England) ; Nurnberg, A. (CERN) ; Osterhoff, J. (DESY) ; Pérez-Callejo, G. (CELIA, Bordeaux) ; Põder, K. (DESY) ; Rajeev, P.P. (Rutherford) ; Roedel, C. (Helmholtz Inst., Jena) ; Roeder, F. (U. Jena (main) ; Jena U.) ; Salgado, F.C. (Helmholtz Inst., Jena ; U. Jena (main) ; Jena U.) ; Sarri, G. (Queen's U., Belfast) ; Seidel, A. (Helmholtz Inst., Jena ; U. Jena (main) ; Jena U.) ; Spannagel, S. (DESY ; CERN) ; Spindloe, C. (Rutherford) ; Steinke, S. (LBNL, Berkeley) ; Streeter, M.J. V. (Queen's U., Belfast ; Lancaster U.) ; Thomas, A.G. R. (U. Michigan, Ann Arbor ; Michigan U. ; Lancaster U.) ; Underwood, C. (York U., England) ; Watt, R. (JAI, UK) ; Zepf, M. (Helmholtz Inst., Jena ; Jena U.) ; Rose, S.J. (JAI, UK) ; Mangles, S.P. D. (JAI, UK)
Publication	2021-11-03
Imprint	2021-06-29
Number of pages	19
Note	28 pages, 14 figures
In:	New J. Phys. 23 (2021) 115006
DOI	10.1088/1367-2630/ac3048
Subject category	Accelerators and Storage Rings ; Particle Physics - Experiment ; Other Fields of Physics ; Physics in General
Abstract	We describe a laser-plasma platform for photon-photon collision experiments to measure fundamental quantum electrodynamic processes such as the linear Breit-Wheeler process with real photons. The platform has been developed using the Gemini laser facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. A laser wakefield accelerator and a bremsstrahlung convertor are used to generate a collimated beam of photons with energies of hundreds of MeV, that collide with keV x-ray photons generated by a laser heated plasma target. To detect the pairs generated by the photon-photon collisions, a magnetic transport system has been developed which directs the pairs onto scintillation-based and hybrid silicon pixel single particle detectors. We present commissioning results from an experimental campaign using this laser-plasma platform for photon-photon physics, demonstrating successful generation of both photon sources, characterisation of the magnetic transport system and calibration of the single particle detectors, and discuss the feasibility of this platform for the observation of the Breit-Wheeler process. The design of the platform will also serve as the basis for the investigation of strong-field quantum electrodynamic processes such as the nonlinear Breit-Wheeler and the Trident process, or eventually, photon-photon scattering.
Copyright/License	preprint: (License: CC BY 4.0) publication: © 2021-2024 The Author(s) (License: CC-BY-4.0)

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