Abstract
The progress in the development of laser systems generating the femtosecond optical pulses of intensity (1020 – 1025) W/cm2 opens up wide possibilities to get the unique sources of x-ray pulse emission with fs pulse duration and energy in the range from a few keV up to a few MeV. Its applications include the experiments on the fundamental physics. We discuss the possibility of abundant electron-positron pair creation via the multi-photon Breit-Wheeler process, and possibility of reaching the critical field of Quantum Electrodynamics (the Schwinger field) which would lead to the vacuum polarization and breakdown.
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Bulanov, S.V. et al. (2011). Extreme Field Limits in the Ultra-Relativistic Interaction of Electromagnetic Waves with Plasmas. In: Lee, J., Nam, C.H., Janulewicz, K.A. (eds) X-Ray Lasers 2010. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 136. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1186-0_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1186-0_18
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