Differential measurement of trident production in strong electromagnetic fields

In this paper, we present experimental results and numerical simulations of trident production, <math display="inline"><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>e</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>-</mo></mrow></msup><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><msup><mrow><mi>e</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>-</mo></mrow></msup><msup><mrow><mi>e</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup><msup><mrow><mi>e</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>-</mo></mrow></msup></mrow></math>, in a strong electromagnetic field. The experiment was conducted at CERN for the purpose of probing the strong-field parameter <math display="inline"><mi>χ</mi></math> up to 2.4, using a 200 GeV electron beam penetrating a <math display="inline"><mrow><mn>400</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi mathvariant="normal">μ</mi><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi></mrow></mrow></math> thick germanium crystal oriented along the <math display="inline"><mo stretchy="false">⟨</mo><mn>110</mn><mo stretchy="false">⟩</mo></math> axis. For the current experimental parameters we found that the trident process is primarily a two-step process, and show remarkable agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental data. This paper is an extension of the previously published paper [C. F. Nielsen , Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 071601 (2023)] and features new analysis differential in the energy of the produced positron and electron in the trident process. Even for the more demanding differential analysis, we find good agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental data, while a slight discrepancy is found in the high energy tail of the trident spectrum. This discrepancy could be an indication of the direct process, but further investigation is needed due to the large uncertainties in this part of the spectrum. Finally we present a suggestion for a future experiment, aiming to probe the direct process using thin crystals.