33 research outputs found
Ensemble of ultra-high intensity attosecond pulses from laser-plasma interaction
The efficient generation of intense X-rays and -radiation is studied.
The scheme is based on the relativistic mirror concept, {\it i.e.}, a flying
thin plasma slab interacts with a counterpropagating laser pulse, reflecting
part of it in the form of an intense ultra-short electromagnetic pulse having
an up-shifted frequency. In the proposed scheme a series of relativistic
mirrors is generated in the interaction of the intense laser with a thin foil
target as the pulse tears off and accelerates thin electron layers. A
counterpropagating pulse is reflected by these flying layers in the form of an
ensemble of ultra-short pulses resulting in a significant energy gain of the
reflected radiation due to the momentum transfer from flying layers.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Phys. Lett. A, in pres
Relativistic Laser-Matter Interaction and Relativistic Laboratory Astrophysics
The paper is devoted to the prospects of using the laser radiation
interaction with plasmas in the laboratory relativistic astrophysics context.
We discuss the dimensionless parameters characterizing the processes in the
laser and astrophysical plasmas and emphasize a similarity between the laser
and astrophysical plasmas in the ultrarelativistic energy limit. In particular,
we address basic mechanisms of the charged particle acceleration, the
collisionless shock wave and magnetic reconnection and vortex dynamics
properties relevant to the problem of ultrarelativistic particle acceleration.Comment: 58 pages, 19 figure
New Strong-Field QED Effects at ELI: Nonperturbative Vacuum Pair Production
Since the work of Sauter, and Heisenberg, Euler and K\"ockel, it has been
understood that vacuum polarization effects in quantum electrodynamics (QED)
predict remarkable new phenomena such as light-light scattering and pair
production from vacuum. However, these fundamental effects are difficult to
probe experimentally because they are very weak, and they are difficult to
analyze theoretically because they are highly nonlinear and/or nonperturbative.
The Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) project offers the possibility of a new
window into this largely unexplored world. I review these ideas, along with
some new results, explaining why quantum field theorists are so interested in
this rapidly developing field of laser science. I concentrate on the
theoretical tools that have been developed to analyze nonperturbative vacuum
pair production.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures; Key Lecture at the ELI Workshop and School on
"Fundamental Physics with Ultra-High Fields", 29 Sept - 2 Oct. 2008,
Frauenworth Monastery, Germany; v2: refs updated, English translations of
reviews of Nikishov and Ritu
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Helium-3 and Helium-4 acceleration by high power laser pulses for hadron therapy:
The laser driven acceleration of ions is considered a promising candidate for an ion source for hadron therapy of oncological diseases. Though proton and carbon ion sources are conventionally used for therapy, other light ions can also be utilized. Whereas carbon ions require 400 MeV per nucleon to reach the same penetration depth as 250 MeV protons, helium ions require only 250 MeV per nucleon, which is the lowest energy per nucleon among the light ions. This fact along with the larger biological damage to cancer cells achieved by helium ions, than that by protons, makes this species an interesting candidate for the laser driven ion source. Two mechanisms (Magnetic Vortex Acceleration and hole-boring Radiation Pressure Acceleration) of PW-class laser driven ion acceleration from liquid and gaseous helium targets are studied with the goal of producing 250 MeV per nucleon helium ion beams that meet the hadron therapy requirements. We show that He3 ions, having almost the same penetration depth as He4 with the same energy per nucleon, require less laser power to be accelerated to the required energy for the hadron therapy
Enhancement of maximum attainable ion energy in the radiation pressure acceleration regime using a guiding structure:
Radiation Pressure Acceleration is a highly efficient mechanism of laser driven ion acceleration, with the laser energy almost totally transferrable to the ions in the relativistic regime. There is a fundamental limit on the maximum attainable ion energy, which is determined by the group velocity of the laser. In the case of a tightly focused laser pulses, which are utilized to get the highest intensity, another factor limiting the maximum ion energy comes into play, the transverse expansion of the target. Transverse expansion makes the target transparent for radiation, thus reducing the effectiveness of acceleration. Utilization of an external guiding structure for the accelerating laser
pulse may provide a way of compensating for the group velocity and transverse expansion effects
On the design of experiments for the study of extreme field limits in the interaction of laser with ultrarelativistic electron beam
We propose the experiments on the collision of laser light and high intensity
electromagnetic pulses generated by relativistic flying mirrors, with electron
bunches produced by a conventional accelerator and with laser wake field
accelerated electrons for studying extreme field limits in the nonlinear
interaction of electromagnetic waves. The regimes of dominant radiation
reaction, which completely changes the electromagnetic wave-matter interaction,
will be revealed in the laser plasma experiments. This will result in a new
powerful source of ultra short high brightness gamma-ray pulses. A possibility
of the demonstration of the electron-positron pair creation in vacuum in a
multi-photon processes can be realized. This will allow modeling under
terrestrial laboratory conditions neutron star magnetospheres, cosmological
gamma ray bursts and the Leptonic Era of the Universe.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl