High-Field Electrodynamics

Tremendous technological developments and rapid progress in theory have opened a new area of modern physics called high-field electrodynamics: the systematic study of the interaction of relativistic electrons or positrons with ultrahigh-intensity coherent electromagnetic radiation.This advanced undergraduate/graduate-level text provides a detailed introduction to high-field electrodynamics from its fundamentals to some of its important modern applications. The author describes a broad collection of theoretical techniques and where possible approaches derivations by at least two different routes to yield deeper physical insight and a wider range of mathematical and physical techniques. He also discusses some of the outstanding ramifications of electrodynamics in areas ranging from quantum optics squeezed states and the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox to rotating black holes non-Abelian gauge field theories and the Bohm-Aharanov effect.High-Field Electrodynamics gives a comprehensive description of the theoretical tools needed to approach this novel discipline. It highlights important modern applications and serves as a starting point for more advanced and specialized research at the frontiers of modern physics.