Quantum beamstrahlung: Pulse shaping prospects for a photon-photon collider

Beamstrahlung is the fraction energy loss to radiation as one beam pulse is accelerated by the electromagnetic field of the other pulse through which it passes in a collider. In linear colliders the individual pulses must be formed with much larger charge densities to compensate for their much lower rate of interactions (102 -- 103 per second) in comparison to storage rings (typically 105 per second). Therefore the electromagnetic fields generated by the charges in each pulse will be correspondingly larger, as will the acceleration they induce in the charges of the intersecting pulses; this in turn leads to a larger loss of energy to radiation. In this report we consider three questions: What is the quantum result for beamstrahlung and when is the classical result valid? How does the transverse beam geometry/emdash/i.e., ribbon versus cylindrical pulse/emdash/affect the beamstrahlung? Extending the quantum calculation to multiple photon emission, what is the photon flux and what are the prospects for a photon-photon collider? 3 refs., 2 figs