Classical and Quantum simulation of Extreme Plasma Physics

12/09/2021

Recent advances in laser technology will soon allow explorations into new regimes of electrodynamics. One of the most promising experiments to observe signals from Strong-field Quantum Electrodynamics is head-on collision between an energetic electron beam and an ultra-intense laser pulse. Accurate estimates of observables in these experiments usually require ab-initio simulations (e.g., Particle-in-cell codes with Monte Carlo routines), which are computationally expensive. Furthermore, analytical models usually restrict to highly idealized setups, like the plane wave, which do not map well to experiments. In this work, we propose a new semi-analytical approach to focused beam-laser scattering, which allows extending scaling laws originally derived for plane wave to realistic scenarios. This method leads to accurate estimation and optimization of the positron yield by changing the laser spotsize. In a parallel line of work, we investigate the potential use of Quantum Computing (QC) to model extreme plasmas. This new information processing paradigm promises significant speedups for certain classes of problems in the coming decades. Although already somewhat mature in the areas adjacent to Quantum Mechanics, QC is still in its cradle regarding Plasma Physics. We highlight several scenarios where new quantum algorithms could be developed.

Authors in the community:

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  Ó

  Óscar Löfgren Amaro

  ist187343

Supervisors of this institution:

• 

  M

  Marija Vranic

  ist90377

physical-sciences - Physical sciences

por - Portuguese

Instituto Superior Técnico