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Measuring signatures of strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SF-QED) processes in an intense laser field is an experimental challenge: it requires detectors to be highly sensitive to single electrons and positrons in the presence of the typically very strong x-ray and γ -photon background levels. In this paper, we describe a particle detector capable of diagnosing single leptons from SF-QED interactions and discuss the background level simulations for the upcoming Experiment-320 at FACET-II (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). The single particle detection system described here combines pixelated scintillation LYSO screens and a Cherenkov calorimeter. We detail the performance of the system using simulations and a calibration of the Cherenkov detector at the ELBE accelerator. Single 3 GeV leptons are expected to produce approximately 537 detectable photons in a single calorimeter channel. This signal is compared to Monte-Carlo simulations of the experiment. A signal-to-noise ratio of 18 in a single Cherenkov calorimeter detector is expected and a spectral resolution of 2% is achieved using the pixelated LYSO screens.

The Landau–Lifshitz (LL) equation has been proposed as the classical equation to describe the dynamics of a charged particle in a strong electromagnetic field when influenced by radiation reaction. Until recently, there has been no clear experimental verification. However, aligned crystals have remedied the situation: here, as in Nielsen et al CERN NA63 Collaboration (2020 Phys. Rev. D 102 052004), we report on a quantitative experimental test of the LL equation by measuring the emission spectra of electrons and positrons penetrating aligned single crystals. The recorded spectra are in remarkable agreement with simulations based on the LL equation of motion with moderate quantum corrections for recoil and, in the case of electrons in axially aligned crystals, spin and reduced radiation intensity.

Abstract The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is an option for a future $${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} $$ e + e - collider operating at centre-of-mass energies up to $$3\,\text {TeV} $$ 3 TeV , providing sensitivity to a wide range of new physics phenomena and precision physics measurements at the energy frontier. This paper is the first comprehensive presentation of the Higgs physics reach of CLIC operating at three energy stages: $$\sqrt{s} = 350\,\text {GeV} $$ s = 350 GeV , 1.4 and $$3\,\text {TeV} $$ 3 TeV . The initial stage of operation allows the study of Higgs boson production in Higgsstrahlung ( $${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{Z}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ e + e - → Z H ) and $${\mathrm{W}} {\mathrm{W}} $$ W W -fusion ( $${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{H}} {{\nu }}_{\!\mathrm{e}} {\bar{{\nu }}}_{\!\mathrm{e}} $$ e + e - → H ν e ν ¯ e ), resulting in precise measurements of the production cross sections, the Higgs total decay width $$\varGamma _{{\mathrm{H}}}$$ Γ H , and model-independent determinations of the Higgs couplings. Operation at $$\sqrt{s} > 1\,\text {TeV} $$ s > 1 TeV provides high-statistics samples of Higgs bosons produced through $${\mathrm{W}} {\mathrm{W}} $$ W W -fusion, enabling tight constraints on the Higgs boson couplings. Studies of the rarer processes $${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow \mathrm{t} {\bar{\mathrm{t}}} {\mathrm{H}} $$ e + e - → t t ¯ H and $${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{H}} {\mathrm{H}} {{\nu }}_{\!\mathrm{e}} {\bar{{\nu }}}_{\!\mathrm{e}} $$ e + e - → H H ν e ν ¯ e allow measurements of the top Yukawa coupling and the Higgs boson self-coupling. This paper presents detailed studies of the precision achievable with Higgs measurements at CLIC and describes the interpretation of these measurements in a global fit.

We present a quantitative experimental analysis of the radiation emission of 12.6 GeV electrons moving along and across the (111) planes of a strongly bent silicon crystal with a bending radius of 0.15 m. We have measured the radiation emitted during volume reflection, which has shown to strongly enhance the emission of low-energy photons, and a convincing agreement between simulations and experimental data is found.

We report on experimental spectra of photons radiated by 50-GeV positrons crossing silicon single crystals of thicknesses 1.1, 2.0, 4.2, and 6.2 mm at sufficiently small angles to the (110) planes that their motion effectively is governed by the continuum crystal potential. The experiment covers a regime of interaction where each positron emits several hard photons, whose recoils are not negligible and which are formed on lengths where the variation of the crystal field cannot be ignored. As a result, neither the single-photon semiclassical theory of Baier et al. nor the conventional cascade approach to multiple hard photon emissions (quantum radiation reaction) based on the local constant field approximation are able to reproduce the experimental results. After developing a theoretical scheme which incorporates the essential physical features of the experiments, i.e., multiple emissions, photon recoil, and background field variation within the radiation formation length, we show that it provides results in convincing agreement with the data.

We outline the opportunities to study the production of the Standard Model bosons, W±, Z0, and H0, at “low” energies at fixed-target experiments based on possible future ultrahigh-energy proton colliders, that is, the High-Energy LHC, the Super proton-proton Collider, and the Future Circular Collider hadron-hadron. These can be indeed made in conjunction with the proposed future colliders designed to reach up to s=100 TeV by using bent crystals to extract part of the halo of the beam which would then impinge on a fixed target. Without disturbing the collider operation, this technique allows for the extraction of a substantial amount of particles in addition to serving for a beam-cleaning purpose. With this method, high-luminosity fixed-target studies at centre-of-mass energies above the W±, Z0, and H0 masses, s≃170–300 GeV, are possible. We also discuss the possibility offered by an internal gas target, which can also be used as luminosity monitor by studying the beam transverse shape.

We present the experimental data and analysis of experiments conducted at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory investigating the processes of channeling, volume-reflection and volume-capture along the (111) plane in a strongly bent quasimosaic silicon crystal. These phenomena were investigated at 5 energies: 3.35, 4.2, 6.3, 10.5, and 14.0 GeV with a crystal with bending radius of 0.15 m, corresponding to curvatures of 0.053, 0.066, 0.099, 0.16, and 0.22 times the critical curvature, respectively. Based on the parameters of fitting functions we have extracted important parameters describing the channeling process such as the dechanneling length, the angle of volume reflection, the surface transmission, and the widths of the distribution of channeled particles parallel and orthogonal to the plane.

The demand for high luminosity in the next generation of linear e^{+}e^{-} colliders necessitates extremely dense beams, giving rise to strong fields at the collision point, and therefore the impact of the field on the physical processes occurring at the interaction point must be considered. These processes are well described by the interaction of the individual lepton with the field of the oncoming bunch, and they depend strongly on the beamstrahlung parameter ϒ which expresses the field experienced by the lepton in units of the critical field. In this paper, we describe calculations and simulations of strong field processes—also of higher order—at the interaction point.

The processes of coherent bremsstrahlung (CB) and coherent pair production (CPP) based on aligned crystal targets have been studied in the energy range 20–170 GeV. The experimental arrangement allowed for measurements of single photon properties of these phenomena including their polarization dependences. This is significant as the theoretical description of CB and CPP is an area of active debate and development. With the approach used in this paper, both the measured cross sections and polarization observables are predicted very well. This indicates a proper understanding of CB and CPP up to energies of 170 GeV. Birefringence in CPP on aligned crystals is applied to determine the polarization parameters in our measurements. New technologies for high-energy photon beam optics including phase plates and polarimeters for linear and circular polarization are demonstrated in this experiment. Coherent bremsstrahlung for the strings-on-strings (SOS) orientation yields a larger enhancement for hard photons than CB for the channeling orientations of the crystal. Our measurements and our calculations indicate low photon polarizations for the high-energy SOS photons.

There are several advantages in using a crystal for stripping of the H^{-} ion to obtain efficient injection of protons into a circular accelerator. First, the stripping efficiency of a crystal is at least as large as for an amorphous foil of the same substance and thickness. Second, the emittance increase imposed by the multiple Coulomb scattering of the protons on subsequent turns is drastically lower by a factor of up to ≃7. Third, the restricted energy loss of the protons is lower by a factor of up to ≃1.5—this, combined with the fact that the thermal conductivity of a single crystal of diamond is much higher than that of the amorphous material, will reduce the effect of heating of the stripping material. In high-power schemes based on amorphous foils heating of the electron stripping material is a limiting factor. Fourth, the reduced total energy loss is accompanied by a smaller energy loss straggling implying a smaller longitudinal emittance. Last, the so-called random orientation of the crystal can provide the option of stripping the H^{-} ions as in an amorphous foil while preserving the advantage of a high thermal conductivity, simply by changing the orientation of the crystal. A simulation using realistic parameters is presented, which reflects the efficient conservation of emittance using a diamond crystal. The phenomenon should in fact be applicable in general for the stripping of H^{-}, although the advantages depend on parameters such as the energy. A reasonable figure of merit is the ratio of the total transverse emittance increase of crystalline and amorphous foils in one turn and in the presented case this is as high as a factor 3.9.

We treat, as an illustrative example of gravitational time dilation in relativity, the observation that the centre of the Earth is younger than the surface by an appreciable amount. Richard Feynman first made this insightful point and presented an estimate of the size of the effect in a talk; a transcription was later published in which the time difference is quoted as ‘one or two days’. However, a back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that the result is in fact a few years. In this paper we present this estimate alongside a more elaborate analysis yielding a difference of two and a half years. The aim is to provide a fairly complete solution to the relativity of the ‘aging’ of an object due to differences in the gravitational potential. This solution—accessible at the undergraduate level—can be used for educational purposes, as an example in the classroom. Finally, we also briefly discuss why exchanging ‘years’ for ‘days’—which in retrospect is a quite simple, but significant, mistake—has been repeated seemingly uncritically, albeit in a few cases only. The pedagogical value of this discussion is to show students that any number or observation, no matter who brought it forward, must be critically examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]