PREFACE

About a decade has passed since the writing of the book “Relativistic Nonlinear Electrodynamics.” On the one hand, this is a short time period for substantial advancements in a science like physics, on the other hand, the unprecedented development of laser technologies during the last decade, specifically, the implementation of ultrashort laser sources and subcycle pulses of relativistic intensities exceeding the intra-atomic fields, have become real. This radically changes the practical situation in high energy radiation-matter physics, related in particular to the creation of superpower X-ray–γ-ray coherent sources, new type—laser–plasma accelerators of enormous energies, laser-induced nuclear fusion, production of antimatter from vacuum, etc. It is noteworthy the realization of relativistic solid-plasma-targets/nanolayers under ultrashort superintense laser pulses, making available the implementation of high brightness electron and ion beams of solid densities and high energies. In turn, the emergence of such superstrong electromagnetic fields has rapidly initiated extensive fundamental investigations in the area of Relativistic Nonlinear Electrodynamics, revealing various new nonlinear phenomena in the fields approaching to Schwinger one for vacuum Quantum Electrodynamics (QED). Concerning the degree of nonlinearity in strong radiation–matter interaction processes, it has been revealed that exotic cases of condensed matter possessing huge electromagnetic nonlinearity at which nonlinear effects occur at rather small intensities of exciting field compare to ordinary free–free or bound–bound transitions. The best example of such type of matter is graphene. Thus, nonlinear excitation of the Dirac sea in graphene occurs at a billion time smaller intensities of external radiation field than it is necessary for excitation of the electron–positron vacuum and, in general, for revealing of nonlinear effects in ordinary materials. Therefore, the present book was completed with the new material regarding the unique nonlinear properties of graphene in strong laser fields. Besides, in this book we added new material concerning the relativistic quantum theory of scattering on the arbitrary potential field beyond the Born and ordinary eikonal approximations. Thus, we developed a new—Generalized Eikonal