Beam-Shape Effects in Nonlinear Compton and Thomson Scattering

Understand

We discuss intensity effects in collisions between beams of optical photons from a high-power laser and relativistic electrons.

• Our main focus are the modifications of the emission spectra due to realistic finite-beam geometries.
• By carefully analyzing the classical limit we precisely quantify the distinction between strong-field QED Compton scattering and classical Thomson scattering.
• A purely classical, but fully covariant, calculation of the bremsstrahlung emitted by an electron in a plane wave laser field yields radiation into harmonics, as expected.