Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Article number | 043051 |
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 24/04/2015 |
<mark>Journal</mark> | New Journal of Physics |
Volume | 17 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Publication Status | Published |
<mark>Original language</mark> | English |
With the aid of large-scale three-dimensional quantum electrodynamics (QED)-particle-in-cell simulations, we describe a potential experimental configuration to measure collective effects that couple strong field QED to plasma kinetics and develop a simple analytic model that describes the absorption due to radiation emission. For two counter propagating lasers interacting with a foil at intensities exceeding 10(22) W cm(-2), a near-binary result occurs; when quantum effects are included, a foil that classically would effectively transmit the laser pulse becomes opaque. This is a dramatic change in plasma behavior, directly as a consequence of the coupling of radiation reaction and pair production to plasma dynamics.