1,523 research outputs found
On a zero speed sensitive cellular automaton
Using an unusual, yet natural invariant measure we show that there exists a
sensitive cellular automaton whose perturbations propagate at asymptotically
null speed for almost all configurations. More specifically, we prove that
Lyapunov Exponents measuring pointwise or average linear speeds of the faster
perturbations are equal to zero. We show that this implies the nullity of the
measurable entropy. The measure m we consider gives the m-expansiveness
property to the automaton. It is constructed with respect to a factor dynamical
system based on simple "counter dynamics". As a counterpart, we prove that in
the case of positively expansive automata, the perturbations move at positive
linear speed over all the configurations
“Glass is frozen beauty”-a memorial issue in honor of C. Austen Angell (1933–2021)
International audienc
Generation of broad XUV continuous high harmonic spectra and isolated attosecond pulses with intense mid-infrared lasers
We present experimental results showing the appearance of a near-continuum in
the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) spectra of atomic and molecular
species as the driving laser intensity of an infrared pulse increases. Detailed
macroscopic simulations reveal that these near-continuum spectra are capable of
producing IAPs in the far field if a proper spatial filter is applied. Further,
our simulations show that the near-continuum spectra and the IAPs are a product
of strong temporal and spatial reshaping (blue shift and defocusing) of the
driving field. This offers a possibility of producing IAPs with a broad range
of photon energy, including plateau harmonics, by mid-IR laser pulses even
without carrier-envelope phase stabilization.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J.Phys. B (Oct 2011
Softening of the insulating phase near Tc for the photo-induced insulator-to-metal phase transition in vanadium dioxide
We use optical-pump terahertz-probe spectroscopy to investigate the
near-threshold behavior of the photoinduced insulator-to-metal (IM) transition
in vanadium dioxide thin films. Upon approaching Tc a reduction in the fluence
required to drive the IM transition is observed, consistent with a softening of
the insulating state due to an increasing metallic volume fraction (below the
percolation limit). This phase coexistence facilitates the growth of a
homogeneous metallic conducting phase following superheating via
photoexcitation. A simple dynamic model using Bruggeman effective medium theory
describes the observed initial condition sensitivity.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
Demonstration of the synchrotron-type spectrum of laser-produced Betatron radiation
Betatron X-ray radiation in laser-plasma accelerators is produced when
electrons are accelerated and wiggled in the laser-wakefield cavity. This
femtosecond source, producing intense X-ray beams in the multi kiloelectronvolt
range has been observed at different interaction regime using high power laser
from 10 to 100 TW. However, none of the spectral measurement performed were at
sufficient resolution, bandwidth and signal to noise ratio to precisely
determine the shape of spectra with a single laser shot in order to avoid shot
to shot fluctuations. In this letter, the Betatron radiation produced using a
80 TW laser is characterized by using a single photon counting method. We
measure in single shot spectra from 8 to 21 keV with a resolution better than
350 eV. The results obtained are in excellent agreement with theoretical
predictions and demonstrate the synchrotron type nature of this radiation
mechanism. The critical energy is found to be Ec = 5.6 \pm 1 keV for our
experimental conditions. In addition, the features of the source at this energy
range open novel perspectives for applications in time-resolved X-ray science.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Bright betatron x-ray radiation from a laser-driven-clustering gas target
Hard X-ray sources from femtosecond (fs) laser-produced plasmas, including the betatron X-rays from laser wakefield-accelerated electrons, have compact sizes, fs pulse duration and fs pump-probe capability, making it promising for wide use in material and biological sciences. Currently the main problem with such betatron X-ray sources is the limited average flux even with ultra-intense laser pulses. Here, we report ultra-bright betatron X-rays can be generated using a clustering gas jet target irradiated with a small size laser, where a ten-fold enhancement of the X-ray yield is achieved compared to the results obtained using a gas target. We suggest the increased X-ray photon is due to the existence of clusters in the gas, which results in increased total electron charge trapped for acceleration and larger wiggling amplitudes during the acceleration. This observation opens a route to produce high betatron average flux using small but high repetition rate laser facilities for applications
Single shot phase contrast imaging using laser-produced Betatron x-ray beams
Development of x-ray phase contrast imaging applications with a laboratory
scale source have been limited by the long exposure time needed to obtain one
image. We demonstrate, using the Betatron x-ray radiation produced when
electrons are accelerated and wiggled in the laser-wakefield cavity, that a
high quality phase contrast image of a complex object (here, a bee), located in
air, can be obtained with a single laser shot. The Betatron x-ray source used
in this proof of principle experiment has a source diameter of 1.7 microns and
produces a synchrotron spectrum with critical energy E_c=12.3 +- 2.5 keV and
10^9 photons per shot in the whole spectrum.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Quasi-monoenergetic electron beams production in a sharp density transition
International audienceUsing a laser plasma accelerator, experiments with a 80 TW and 30 fs laser pulse demonstrated quasi-monoenergetic electron spectra with maximum energy over 0.4 GeV. This is achieved using a supersonic He gas jet and a sharp density ramp generated by a high intensity laser crossing pre-pulse focused 3 ns before the main laser pulse. By adjusting this crossing pre-pulse position inside the gas jet, among the laser shots with electron injection more than 40% can produce quasi-monoenergetic spectra. This could become a relatively straight forward technique to control laser wakefield electron beams parameters
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