Bethe-Heitler Pair Creation in a Bichromatic Laser Field

Abstract

Within this thesis, the non-linear creation of electron-positron pairs in the superposition of a nuclear Coulomb field and a two-colour laser field of high intensity is studied. Primarily, two complementary scenarios are investigated: On the one hand, if the two laser frequencies are commensurable, quantum interference may occur. This interference manifests in the total pair-creation rate and the angular distribution of the created particles, which are studied in the nuclear rest frame and the laboratory frame. Furthermore, the relative phase between the two laser modes allows to tune the strength of the terms arising from interference. Therefore, this parameter may be used to optimize the pair-creation yield. On the other hand, for incommensurable frequencies, a set-up of largely differing frequencies is considered. This way, a strong laser field in the non-perturbative regime assisted by a single highly-energetic $\gamma$-photon is described. Due to the assistance of the latter, a strong enhancement of the total pair-creation rate can be found depending on the laser intensity. Additionally, the influence of the $\gamma$-photon on the angular and energetic distribution of the created particles is investigated, again in the nuclear rest frame and the laboratory frame. Furthermore, the differences arising in the two former cases are directly compared by means of a continuous variation of the laser frequency ratio. This illustrates the strong modifications due to the interference in the commensurable case. Finally, for the special case of two modes with identical frequency, the total pair-creation rate is studied as a function of the ellipticity of the combined laser field. Here, the cases of a constant total field intensity and a constant maximum field intensity are compared.