Physics Letters B (Feb 2025)
Bounding elastic photon-photon scattering at s≈1 MeV using a laser-plasma platform
- R. Watt,
- B. Kettle,
- E. Gerstmayr,
- B. King,
- A. Alejo,
- S. Astbury,
- C. Baird,
- S. Bohlen,
- M. Campbell,
- C. Colgan,
- D. Dannheim,
- C. Gregory,
- H. Harsh,
- P. Hatfield,
- J. Hinojosa,
- D. Hollatz,
- Y. Katzir,
- J. Morton,
- C.D. Murphy,
- A. Nurnberg,
- J. Osterhoff,
- G. Pérez-Callejo,
- K. Põder,
- P.P. Rajeev,
- C. Roedel,
- F. Roeder,
- F.C. Salgado,
- G.M. Samarin,
- G. Sarri,
- A. Seidel,
- C. Spindloe,
- S. Steinke,
- M.J.V. Streeter,
- A.G.R. Thomas,
- C. Underwood,
- W. Wu,
- M. Zepf,
- S.J. Rose,
- S.P.D. Mangles
Affiliations
- R. Watt
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- B. Kettle
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- E. Gerstmayr
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- B. King
- Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK; Corresponding author.
- A. Alejo
- School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University of Belfast, BT7 1NN, Belfast, UK
- S. Astbury
- Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
- C. Baird
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- S. Bohlen
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- M. Campbell
- CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
- C. Colgan
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- D. Dannheim
- CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
- C. Gregory
- Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
- H. Harsh
- Helmholtz Institut Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany; Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, 07743 Jena, Germany
- P. Hatfield
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK
- J. Hinojosa
- Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, USA
- D. Hollatz
- Helmholtz Institut Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany; Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Y. Katzir
- Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
- J. Morton
- AWE Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR, UK
- C.D. Murphy
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- A. Nurnberg
- CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
- J. Osterhoff
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- G. Pérez-Callejo
- Departamento de Física Teórica Atómica y Óptica, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
- K. Põder
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
- P.P. Rajeev
- Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
- C. Roedel
- Helmholtz Institut Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
- F. Roeder
- Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, 07743 Jena, Germany
- F.C. Salgado
- Helmholtz Institut Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany; Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, 07743 Jena, Germany
- G.M. Samarin
- School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University of Belfast, BT7 1NN, Belfast, UK
- G. Sarri
- School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University of Belfast, BT7 1NN, Belfast, UK
- A. Seidel
- Helmholtz Institut Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany; Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, 07743 Jena, Germany
- C. Spindloe
- Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
- S. Steinke
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- M.J.V. Streeter
- School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University of Belfast, BT7 1NN, Belfast, UK; Physics Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
- A.G.R. Thomas
- Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, USA; Physics Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
- C. Underwood
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- W. Wu
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- M. Zepf
- Helmholtz Institut Jena, Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany; Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, 07743 Jena, Germany
- S.J. Rose
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- S.P.D. Mangles
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 861
p. 139247
Abstract
We report on a direct search for elastic photon-photon scattering using x-ray and γ photons from a laser-plasma based experiment. A γ photon beam produced by a laser wakefield accelerator provided a broadband γ spectrum extending to above Image 1. These were collided with a dense x-ray field produced by the emission from a laser heated germanium foil at Image 2, corresponding to an invariant mass of Image 3. In these asymmetric collisions elastic scattering removes one x-ray and one high-energy γ photon and outputs two lower energy γ photons. No changes in the γ photon spectrum were observed as a result of the collisions allowing us to place a 95% upper bound on the cross section of Image 4. Although far from the QED prediction, this represents the lowest upper limit obtained so far for Image 5.
