Charged particle motion and radiation in strong electromagnetic fields

Abstract

The dynamics of charged particles in electromagnetic fields is an essential component of understanding the most extreme environments in our Universe. In electromagnetic fields of sufficient magnitude, radiation emission dominates the particle motion and effects of nonlinear quantum electrodynamics (QED) are crucial, which triggers electron-positron pair cascades and counterintuitive particle-trapping phenomena. As a result of recent progress in laser technology, high-power lasers provide a platform to create and probe such fields in the laboratory. With new large-scale laser facilities on the horizon and the prospect of investigating these hitherto unexplored regimes, we review the basic physical processes of radiation reaction and QED in strong fields, how they are treated theoretically and in simulation, the new collective dynamics they unlock, recent experimental progress and plans, as well as possible applications for high-flux particle and radiation sources.