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Gamma-ray vortices from nonlinear inverse Thomson scattering of circularly polarized light
Yoshitaka Taira1,2, Takehito Hayakawa3,4, Masahiro Katoh5
1Research Institute for Measurement and Analytical Instrumentation, National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba Central 2, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8568, Japan. yoshitaka-taira@aist.go.jp.
Abstract:
Inverse Thomson scattering is a well-known radiation process that produces high-energy photons both in nature and in the laboratory. Nonlinear inverse Thomson scattering occurring inside an intense light field is a process which generates higher harmonic photons. In this paper, we theoretically show that the higher harmonic gamma-ray produced by nonlinear inverse Thomson scattering of circularly polarized light is a gamma-ray vortex, which means that it possesses a helical wave front and carries orbital angular momentum. Our work explains a recent experimental result regarding nonlinear inverse Thomson scattering that clearly shows an annular intensity distribution as a remarkable feature of a vortex beam. Our work implies that gamma-ray vortices should be produced in various situations in astrophysics in which high-energy electrons and intense circularly polarized light fields coexist. Nonlinear inverse Thomson scattering is a promising radiation process for realizing a gamma-ray vortex source based on currently available laser and accelerator technologies, which would be an indispensable tool for exploring gamma-ray vortex science.
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