Attractors and chaos of electron dynamics in electromagnetic standing waves

Abstract

In an electromagnetic standing wave formed by two super-intense colliding laser pulses, radiation reaction totally modifies the electron motion. The quantum corrections to the electron motion and the radiation reaction force can be independently small or large, depending on the laser intensity and wavelength, thus dividing the parameter space into 4 domains. The electron motion evolves to limit cycles and strange attractors when radiation reaction dominates. This creates a new framework for high energy physics experiments on the interaction of energetic charged particle beams and colliding super-intense laser pulses.