Energy Losses Due to Radiation Reaction for Electrons Accelerated by Interfering Intense Laser Pulses with Tilted Amplitude Fronts

The dynamics of an electron accelerated by laser radiation with the help of a scheme based on the interference of three relativistically intense electromagnetic pulses with titled amplitude fronts is analyzed. It is shown that, starting at the center of the interference pattern, the electron moves along a spiral trajectory with the axis perpendicular to the wave vectors of the laser beams, gaining considerable kinetic energy in the process. The impact of radiation reaction under the arrangement is simulated numerically in the framework of various approaches intended to take into account the energy loss resulting from the effect. The energy loss by the electron is shown to depend strongly on its initial energy and on whether the electron and the laser pulse initially travel in the same or opposite directions. The relation between small energy losses due to radiation reaction and the electron capture by the optical field is established. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)