Prospects for statistical tests of strong-field quantum electrodynamics with high-intensity lasers (2303.00568v1)

Abstract: Exploiting high-energy electron beams colliding into high-intensity laser pulses brings an opportunity to reach high values of the dimensionless rest-frame acceleration $\chi$ and thereby invoke processes described by strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SFQED). Measuring deviations from the results of perturbative SFQED at high $\chi$ can be valuable for testing the existing predictions, as well as for guiding further theoretical developments. Nevertheless such experimental measurements are challenging due to the probabilistic nature of the interaction processes, a strong background produced by low-$\chi$ interactions and limited capabilities to control and measure the alignment and synchronization in such collision experiments. Here we elaborate a methodology of using approximate Bayesian computations (ABC) for retrieving statistically justified inferences based on the results of many repeated experiments even in case of partially unknown collision parameters that vary from experiment to experiment. As a proof of principles, we consider the problem of inferring the effective mass change due to coupling with strong-field environment.