Toward experimental observations of induced Compton scattering by high-power laser facilities

Abstract

Induced Compton scattering (ICS) is a nonlinear interaction between intense electromagnetic radiation and a rarefied plasma. Although the magnetosphere of pulsars is a potential site at which ICS occurs in nature, ICS signatures have not been discovered so far. One of the reasons for the non-detection of ICS signatures is that we still do not possess a concrete understanding of such nonlinear plasma interactions because of their nonlinear nature and the lack of experimental confirmations. Here, we propose a possible approach to understand ICS experimentally in laboratories, specifically, with the use of the up-to-date short-pulse lasers. We find that the scattered light of ICS has characteristic signatures in its spectrum. The signatures will be observed in some current laser facilities. The characteristic spectrum is quantitatively predictable and we can diagnose the properties of the scattering plasma from the signatures.