Studying radiation from strongly accelerating laser fields

In upcoming experiments with ultra-high fields of high-power short-pulse lasers we will experimentally study the radiation from electrons under extreme fields. Aiming at the detection of radiation from the Unruh effect, first we will encounter the copious classical Larmor radiation. The characterization of (linear) Larmor radiation has never been experimentally carried out, thus this amounts to a first study of physics at extreme acceleration. Moreover, we can study radiation damping effects. Furthermore, the experiment should be able to confirm or disprove whether the radiation components may be enhanced by collective effects, if a tightly clumped cluster of electrons is accelerated. The technique of laser driven dense electron sheet formation by irradiating a thin DLC foil target should provide such a coherent electron cluster with a very high density. If and when such relativistic electron sheets are realized, a counterpropagating second laser can interact with them coherently. Under these conditions enhanced Larmor and Unruh radiation signals may be observed.