TY - JOUR
T1 - Monte Carlo simulation of pair creation using petawatt lasers
AU - Henderson, Alexander
AU - Liang, Edison
AU - Yepes, Pablo
AU - Chen, Hui
AU - Wilks, Scott
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This work was partially supported by NSF AST-0909167 and DOE DE-SC-000-1481.
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - Irradiating high-Z targets such as gold with ultra-intense lasers creates electron-positron pairs. In particular, the positron density in the plasma created by this procedure is higher than that obtained via other laboratory-based methods, with theoretical maximum densities exceeding 1018 cm-3. All of the significantly contributing processes are well-known and hence we can study this phenomenon using Monte Carlo simulation. We focus on the latter part of this procedure, the passage of high-energy electrons through the target creating pairs. In particular, we discuss the usefulness of CERN's GEANT4 Monte Carlo code in simulating this process. Once this code is successfully calibrated, we will use it to perform parameter studies, and design future targets to optimize the positron yield.
AB - Irradiating high-Z targets such as gold with ultra-intense lasers creates electron-positron pairs. In particular, the positron density in the plasma created by this procedure is higher than that obtained via other laboratory-based methods, with theoretical maximum densities exceeding 1018 cm-3. All of the significantly contributing processes are well-known and hence we can study this phenomenon using Monte Carlo simulation. We focus on the latter part of this procedure, the passage of high-energy electrons through the target creating pairs. In particular, we discuss the usefulness of CERN's GEANT4 Monte Carlo code in simulating this process. Once this code is successfully calibrated, we will use it to perform parameter studies, and design future targets to optimize the positron yield.
KW - Pair plasma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80555155607&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80555155607&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10509-011-0678-x
DO - 10.1007/s10509-011-0678-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80555155607
SN - 0004-640X
VL - 336
SP - 273
EP - 277
JO - Astrophysics and Space Science
JF - Astrophysics and Space Science
IS - 1
ER -