Radiation generation during laser and particle beam interactions in particle-in-cell codes

Abstract

Radiation reaction can severely affect the motion of ultra-relativistic particles in intense electromagnetic fields. Here, we study particle-in-cell (PIC) methods of kinetic modeling of radiation reaction in classical and quantum regimes. We test the methods of photon emission from highly energetic particles moving in strong electromagnetic field in two open-source PIC codes Smilei and EPOCH. We benchmark the codes and discuss the differences.