Scattering of twisted particles: extension to wave packets and orbital helicity

High-energy photons and other particles carrying non-zero orbital angular momentum (OAM) emerge as a new tool in high-energy physics. Recently, it was suggested to generate high-energy photons with non-zero OAM (twisted photons) by the Compton backscattering of laser twisted photons on relativistic electron beams. Twisted electrons in the intermediate energy range have also been demostrated experimentally; twisted protons and other particles can in principle be created in a similar way. Collisions of energetic twisted states can offer a new look at particle properties and interactions. A theoretical description of twisted particle scattering developed previously treated them as pure Bessel states and ran into difficulty when describing the OAM of the final twisted particle at non-zero scattering angles. Here we develop further this formalism by incorporating two additional important features. First, we treat the initial OAM state as a wave packet of a finite transverse size rather than a pure Bessel state. This realistic assumption allows us to resolve the existing controversy between two theoretical analyses for non-forward scattering. Second, we describe the final twisted particle in terms of the orbital helicity --- the OAM projection on its average direction of propagation rather than on the fixed reaction axis. Using this formalism, we determine to what extent the twisted state is transferred from the initial to final OAM particle in a generic scattering kinematics. As a particular application, we prove that in the Compton backscattering the orbital helicity of the final photon stays close to the OAM projection of the initial photon.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures; v2: expanded introduction and section 4.2 on final orbital helicit

New method for calculating helicity amplitudes of jet-like QED processes for high-energy colliders II. Processes with lepton pair production

As continuation of our previous paper we further develop our new method for calculating helicity amplitudes of jet-like QED processes described by tree diagrams, applying it to lepton pair production. This method consists in replacing spinor structures for real and weakly virtual intermediate leptons by simple transition vertices. New vertices are introduced for the pair production case, and previous bremsstrahlung vertices are generalized to include virtual photons inside the considered jet. We present a diagrammatic approach that allows to write down in an efficient way the leading helicity amplitudes, at tree level. The obtained compact amplitudes are particularly suitable for numerical calculations in jet-like kinematics. Several examples with up to four particles in a jet are discussed in detail.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, Latex, Springer-Latex macros include

Double lepton pair production with electron capture in relativistic heavy--ion collisions

We present a theoretical study of a double lepton pair production in ultra--relativistic collision between two bare ions. Special emphasis is placed to processes in which creation of (at least one) $e^+ e^-$ pair is accompanied by the capture of an electron into a bound ionic state. To evaluate the probability and cross section of these processes we employ two approaches based on (i) the first--order perturbation theory and multipole expansion of Dirac wavefunctions, and (ii) the equivalent photon approximation. With the help of such approaches, detailed calculations are made for the creation of two bound--free $e^+ e^-$ pairs as well as of bound--free $e^+ e^-$ and free--free $\mu^+ \mu^-$ pairs in collisions of bare lead ions Pb$^{82+}$. The results of the calculations indicate that observation of the double lepton processes may become feasible at the LHC facility.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

A new possibility to monitor collisions of relativistic heavy ions at LHC and RHIC

We consider the radiation of particles of one bunch in the collective field of the oncoming bunch, called coherent bremsstrahlung (CBS). The main characteristics of CBS for LHC (in the Pb-Pb mode) and for RHIC are calculated. At LHC about $3.9 10^8 dE_\gamma/E_\gamma$ photons per second are expected for photon energies $E_\gamma \stackrel{<} {\sim} E_c= 93$ eV. It seems that CBS can be a potential tool for optimizing collisions and for measuring beam parameters. The bunch length can be found from the critical energy of the CBS spectrum; the transverse bunch size is related to the photon rate. A specific dependence of photon rate on the impact parameter between the beams allows for a fast control over the beam displacement.Comment: 9 pages + 4 figures, latex with poscript figures uuencode