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The framework of 'time-dependent basis light-front quantisation' (tBLFQ) offers a non-perturbative approach to scattering problems in external fields, based on Fock space truncation. Here we extend tBLFQ to include spatio-temporal field inhomogeneities in multiple spacetime directions. This extension is necessary for the proper modelling of e.g. intense laser fields. We focus on the example of nonlinear Compton scattering of an electron on an axicon-type laser, with an emphasis on the transverse structure of the beam. We analyse the impact of field intensity and particle energy, as well as basis truncation effects, on the radiation spectrum of the scattered electron.

As a toy model for QED in strong background fields, we consider the impact of back-reaction and loop effects on scattering processes in quantum optics. We show that neglecting back-reaction misses qualitative and quantitative features of strong-field physics. We are able to study an analogue of the Narozhny-Ritus conjecture on the scaling of higher loop diagrams with intensity: we prove that there is no corresponding behaviour in our model. Implications for QED are identified and discussed., 9 pages, 6 figures. v2: typo corrected

There are many situations in which a strong electromagnetic field may be approximated as a fixed background. Going beyond this approximation, i.e. accounting for the back-reaction of quantum process on the field, is however challenging. Here we develop an approach to this problem which is a straightforward extension of background field methods. The approach follows from the observation that scattering in an on-shell background is equivalent to scattering between coherent states; we show that by deforming these states one can model back-reaction. Focussing on intense laser-matter interactions, we provide examples which model beam depletion and, furthermore, introduce an extremisation principle with which to determine the level of depletion in a given scattering process., 16 pages, 6 pdf figures

We compare the effects of timelike, lightlike and spacelike one-dimensional inhomogeneities on the probability of nonperturbative pair production in strong fields. Using interpolating coordinates we give a unifying picture in which the effect of the inhomogeneity is encoded in branch cuts and poles circulated by complex worldline instantons. For spacelike inhomogeneities the length of the cut is related to the existence of critical points, while for lightlike inhomogeneities the cut contracts to a pole and the instantons become contractable to points, leading to simplifications particular to the lightlike case. We calculate the effective action in fields with up to three nonzero components, and investigate its behaviour under changes in field dependence., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures

We derive a simple expression for the photon helicity and polarisation-flip probabilities in arbitrary background fields, in the low energy regime. Taking the background to model a focused laser beam, we study the impact of pulse shape and collision geometry on the probabilities and on ellipticity signals of vacuum birefringence. We find that models which do not account for pulse duration can overestimate all signals in near head-on collisions by up to an order of magnitude. Taking pulse duration into account, the flip probability becomes relatively insensitive to both angular incidence and the fine details of the pulse structure., Comment: 10 pages, 9 jpg and pdf figures. Version 2: added references and extended discussion of ellipticity and collision angle dependence. Matches version to appear in PRD

We give an exact, analytic, and manifestly gauge invariant account of pair production in combined longitudinal and transverse electromagnetic fields, both depending arbitrarily on lightfront time. The instantaneous, nonperturbative probability of pair creation is given explicitly along with the spectra of the final particle yield. Our results are relevant to high-intensity QED experiments now being planned for future optical and x-ray free electron lasers., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures