High-energy electron-positron beam collisions with large-angle disruptions

Abstract

We show that the beam and field dynamics in high-energy electron-positron ($e^-e^+$) collisions are characterized by a new dimensionless parameter introduced as $\varepsilon$ in this study. The disruption effect deflects the particles transversely at angles equal to $\varepsilon$. The particles simultaneously undergo deceleration of longitudinal velocities (a ``braking effect"). The deceleration scales as $\propto \varepsilon^2$. A longitudinal electric field is further provoked, whose amplitude scales as $\propto \varepsilon$. We identify $\varepsilon \gtrsim 1$ (with large-angle disruptions) as a novel extreme regime, where the transverse motion becomes strongly relativistic. The braking effect completely stops and further reverses the beam propagation. Our theoretical model is in excellent agreement with electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations. The previous beam-beam studies, including legacy numerical codes, apply only to the $\varepsilon \ll 1$ regime. They fail to capture the correct beam features and collision luminosities, and overestimate beam-beam effects (including beamstrahlung and pair production) for considerable $\varepsilon$, thus demonstrating the need for fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell codes to study these regimes.