Impact of Non-Ideal Beams on a Stimulated Photon-Photon Scattering Experiment using High-Power Lasers

Stimulated photon-photon scattering (SPPS) has been selected as a flagship experiment for the in-design, 2× 25-petawatt NSF OPAL laser. Photon-photon scattering arises in quantum electrodynamics, where virtual particles may mediate the scattering of two real photons with low probability, as long as conservation laws are satisfied; SPPS includes a third "pump" beam to stimulate scattering in a known direction. Simulations using idealized Gaussian beams predict over 1000 scattered photons per shot, and provide engineering requirements for co-timing and co-pointing. We present on the impact of non-ideal beams in an SPPS experimental design. Realistic details of the NSF-OPAL SPPS experiment, including polarization, a non-Gaussian near field, and possible spatiotemporal focal spot aberrations, are incorporated using an improved beam model, and the sensitivity of the scattering signal to these effects is evaluated. The implications for engineering requirements are discussed.