Quantum effects with an X-ray free electron laser

A quantum kinetic equation coupled with Maxwell’s equation is used to estimate the laser power required at an XFEL facility to expose intrinsically quantum effects in the process of QED vacuum decay via spontaneous pair production. A 9 TW-peak XFEL laser with photon energy 8.3 keV could be sufficient to initiate particle accumulation and the consequent formation of a plasma of spontaneously produced pairs. The evolution of the particle number in the plasma will exhibit non-Markovian aspects of the strong-field pair production process and the plasma’s internal currents will generate an electric field whose interference with that of the laser leads to plasma oscillations.