title: Analytical and Numerical Methods for High-Precision Studies in Ultrarelativistic Strong-Field Quantum Electrodynamics
creator: Montefiori, Samuele
subject: ddc-530
subject: 530 Physics
description: This thesis presents a comprehensive exploration of both analytical and numerical techniques used to model processes in ultrarelativistic strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SFQED).  %  We developed SFQEDtoolkit, an open-source library that employs advanced function approximation techniques to accurately model nonlinear Compton (NIC) emission and nonlinear Breit-Wheeler (NBW) pair creation processes.  %  Simulations combining particle-in-cell (PIC) codes with SFQEDtoolkit have been used to investigate collisions between ultrarelativistic dense electron beams and plasma targets, demonstrating that electron-positron jets exceeding solid densities can be produced within self-generated magnetic fields up to 10 MT.  %  These findings reveal a novel regime where SFQED, atomic, and plasma physics are intrinsically interwoven, opening a new avenue of research in SFQED.  %  Furthermore, we derive analytical expressions for NIC and NBW differential distributions that describe the energy, angular, spin, and polarization characteristics of the produced particles.  %  Notably, the derivation of these distributions, following state-of-the-art methodologies, yields results that can give negative values over certain parameter intervals, undermining their probabilistic interpretation.  %  We demonstrate that integrating these distributions over the ``formation time'' of the quantum process restores their conventional physical meaning.  %  Overall, the contributions of this thesis advance the analytical and numerical modeling of SFQED processes, providing a robust framework for forthcoming experimental studies of SFQED, which are critically relevant for extreme-field plasma physics and the microphysics of pulsars and magnetars.
date: 2025
type: Dissertation
type: info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis
type: NonPeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
identifier: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/36586/5/Samuele%20Montefiori%20-%20PhD%20thesis.pdf
format: application/pdf
identifier: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/36586/15/erratum.pdf
identifier: DOI:10.11588/heidok.00036586
identifier: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-365864
identifier:   Montefiori, Samuele  (2025) Analytical and Numerical Methods for High-Precision Studies in Ultrarelativistic Strong-Field Quantum Electrodynamics.  [Dissertation]     
relation: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/36586/
rights: info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights: http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/help/license_urhg.html
language: eng