{
  "abstract": "A photon can decay into an electron-positron pair in the presence of an intense laser pulse by a process known as nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production (NBWPP). For a sufficiently intense pulse, the probability of NBWPP for a high-energy gamma photon scales more favorably with the interaction time than with the field intensity. In contrast to typical stationary-focus Gaussian (SFG) laser pulses, a flying-focus (FF) pulse features a focal point that moves at a programmable velocity. Here, we show that a FF pulse counterpropagating with a high-energy photon beam while its focus copropagates with the beam at the speed of light enhances the NBWPP yield relative to an equal-energy SFG pulse. Numerical simulations show that a Joule-class tightly-focused FF pulse allows for an enhancement of the pair-production yield by 12\\%, 29\\% and 76\\% for a photon of 10, 20 and 50 GeV energy, respectively. Thus, in this regime, FF pulses are more efficient at producing electron-positron pairs than conventional SFG pulses.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2608.26313",
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Md Reshad Ur Rahman"
    },
    {
      "name": "Martin S. Formanek"
    },
    {
      "name": "Elias Gerstmayr"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dillon Ramsey"
    },
    {
      "name": "John P. Palastro"
    },
    {
      "name": "Antonino Di Piazza"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c646vsbxdfyv7.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2608.26313",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "c646vsbxdfyv7",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.26313",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7204539115",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.26313",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-08-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c646vsbxdfyv7.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
      "native_id": "2608.26313",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.26313"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Enhancement of nonlinear pair production in a flying-focus pulse",
  "title_text": "Enhancement of nonlinear pair production in a flying-focus pulse",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c646vsbxdfyv7",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}