Ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions are expected to produce the strongest electromagnetic fields in the known Universe. These highly-Lorentz contracted fields can manifest themselves as linearly polarized quasi-real photons that can interact via the Breit-Wheeler process to produce lepton anti-lepton pairs. Furthermore, the energy and momentum distribution of the produced dileptons carry information about the strength and spatial distribution of the colliding fields. Recently it has been demonstrated that photons from these fields can interact even in heavy-ion collisions with hadronic overlap, providing a purely electromagnetic probe of the produced medium. In this review we discuss the recent theoretical progress and experimental advances for mapping the ultra-strong electromagnetic fields produced in heavy-ion collisions via measurement of the Breit-Wheeler process.
Brandenburg, J. D., et al. "Mapping the electromagnetic fields of heavy-ion collisions with the Breit-Wheeler process." European Physical Journal. A, vol. 57, no. 10, Oct. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00595-5
Brandenburg, J. D., Zha, W., & Xu, Z. (2021). Mapping the electromagnetic fields of heavy-ion collisions with the Breit-Wheeler process. European Physical Journal. A, 57(10). https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00595-5
Brandenburg, J. D., Zha, W., and Xu, Z., "Mapping the electromagnetic fields of heavy-ion collisions with the Breit-Wheeler process," European Physical Journal. A 57, no. 10 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00595-5
@article{osti_1832772,
author = {Brandenburg, J. D. and Zha, W. and Xu, Z.},
title = {Mapping the electromagnetic fields of heavy-ion collisions with the Breit-Wheeler process},
annote = {Ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions are expected to produce the strongest electromagnetic fields in the known Universe. These highly-Lorentz contracted fields can manifest themselves as linearly polarized quasi-real photons that can interact via the Breit-Wheeler process to produce lepton anti-lepton pairs. Furthermore, the energy and momentum distribution of the produced dileptons carry information about the strength and spatial distribution of the colliding fields. Recently it has been demonstrated that photons from these fields can interact even in heavy-ion collisions with hadronic overlap, providing a purely electromagnetic probe of the produced medium. In this review we discuss the recent theoretical progress and experimental advances for mapping the ultra-strong electromagnetic fields produced in heavy-ion collisions via measurement of the Breit-Wheeler process.},
doi = {10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00595-5},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1832772},
journal = {European Physical Journal. A},
issn = {ISSN 1434-6001},
number = {10},
volume = {57},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Springer},
year = {2021},
month = {10}}
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC02-98CH10886; SC0005131
OSTI ID:
1832772
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 23088681
Report Number(s):
BNL--222428-2021-JAAM
Journal Information:
European Physical Journal. A, Journal Name: European Physical Journal. A Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 57; ISSN 1434-6001
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