QU Lecture - QED in Intense Background Fields

The presence of background electromagnetic fields can alter the rates of particle physics processes. If the background is weak, it is a good approximation that only low numbers of photons interact with charges. However, if the background is sufficiently intense, the charge-field coupling becomes non-perturbative, and all orders of interaction become important. This is sometimes referred to as the electromagnetic 'intensity frontier'. Upcoming experiments at SLAC, DESY and the next generation of intense laser facilities, which includes the 'European Light Infrastructure' (ELI), plan to measure this non-perturbativity for the first time and there remain open questions about how to deal with quantum electrodynamics (QED) at very high intensities.

These lectures will cover some of the main ideas of QED in intense fields ('strong-field QED'). The first two lectures will motivate and focus on the plane-wave model, covering Volkov states and some of the phenomenology of nonlinear Compton scattering, Breit-Wheeler pair creation and radiation reaction. The final lecture will cover the vacuum polarisation and touch on some open questions about QED in very intense fields.

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If you want to attend the lecture in person, please register for this event via indico: https://indico.desy.de/event/33978/. (separate for the three instances)
The lecture takes place at DESY, building 2a, seminar room 2. The room is currently limited to 25 persons. It is mandatory to wear FFP2 masks during the lecture and follow distance regulations.

Alternatively, you may follow the lecture via Zoom:
https://uni-hamburg.zoom.us/j/92293543262
(Meeting ID: 922 9354 3262, Passcode: 97540703)