Design, production and characterization of mirrors for ultra-broadband, high-finesse enhancement cavities

To enable the enhancement of few-cycle pulses in high-finesse passive optical resonators, a novel complementary-phase approach is considered for the resonator mirrors. The design challenges and first experimental results are presented.Comment: 3 page

Coherence of femtosecond single electrons exceeds biomolecular dimensions

Time-resolved diffraction and microscopy with femtosecond electron pulses provide four-dimensional recordings of atomic motion in space and time. However, the limited coherence of electron pulses, reported in the range of 2–3 nm, has so far prevented the study of complex organic molecules with relevance to chemistry and biology. Here we characterize the coherence of femtosecond single-electron pulses that are generated by laser photoemission. We show how the absence of space charge and the minimization of the source size allow the transverse coherence to be extended to 20 nm at the sample position while maintaining a useful beam diameter. The extraordinary coherence is experimentally demonstrated by recording singleelectron diffraction snapshots from a complex organic molecular crystal and identifying more than 80 sharp Bragg reflections. Further optimization affords promise for coherences of 100 nm. These advances will allow time-resolved imaging of functional dynamics in biological systems, uniting picometre and femtosecond resolutions in a compact, table-top instrumentation.publishe

Carrier-wave Rabi flopping signatures in high-order harmonic generation for alkali atoms

We present the first theoretical investigation of carrier-wave Rabi flopping in real atoms by employing numerical simulations of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in alkali species. Given the short HHG cutoff, related to the low saturation intensity, we concentrate on the features of the third harmonic of sodium (Na) and potassium (K) atoms. For pulse areas of 2$\pi$ and Na atoms, a characteristic unique peak appears, which, after analyzing the ground state population, we correlate with the conventional Rabi flopping. On the other hand, for larger pulse areas, carrier-wave Rabi flopping occurs, and is associated with a more complex structure in the third harmonic. These new characteristics observed in K atoms indicate the breakdown of the area theorem, as was already demonstrated under similar circumstances in narrow band gap semiconductors

On the recombination in high-order harmonic generation in molecules

We show that the dependence of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) on the molecular orientation can be understood within a theoretical treatment that does not involve the strong field of the laser. The results for H_2 show excellent agreement with time-dependent strong field calculations for model molecules, and this motivates a prediction for the orientation dependence of HHG from the N_2 3s_g valence orbital. For both molecules, we find that the polarization of recombination photons is influenced by the molecular orientation. The variations are particularly pronounced for the N_2 valence orbital, which can be explained by the presence of atomic p-orbitals.Comment: 6 pages 7 figure

Zero waste to landfill: An unacknowledged supermegaproject

Zero Waste is a global movement focused on replacing linear resource-to-waste systems with circular systems found elsewhere in nature, and Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWtL) is a specific interpretation implying the total elimination of residual disposal. Local governments worldwide have declared ZWtL goals with specific deadlines; however, to date none of these initiatives have proven successful. A grounded case study of ZWtL campaigns was conducted to investigate this chronic failure. The results indicate that ZWtL is an unacknowledged supermegaproject: requiring extremely deep and unprecedented change and sacrifice across all sectors, yet destined for failure because proponents fail to recognize the scope of the task and plan accordingly. Strategies for addressing waste upstream are critically absent, with insufficient downstream measures such as recycling the prevailing norm – reinforced by a consistent preference for technical solutions over fundamental behavior change

Picosecond imaging of low-density plasmas by electron deflectometry

We have imaged optical-field ionized plasmas with electron densities as low as 1013 cm−3 on a picosecond timescale using ultrashort electron pulses. Electric fields generated by the separation of charges are imprinted on a 20 keV probe electron pulse and reveal a cloud of electrons expanding away from a positively charged plasma core. Our method allows for a direct measurement of the electron energy required to escape the plasma and the total charge. Simulations reproduce the main features of the experiment and allow determination of the energy of the electrons

Exact Evolution Operator on Non-compact Group Manifolds

Free quantal motion on group manifolds is considered. The Hamiltonian is given by the Laplace -- Beltrami operator on the group manifold, and the purpose is to get the (Feynman's) evolution kernel. The spectral expansion, which produced a series of the representation characters for the evolution kernel in the compact case, does not exist for non-compact group, where the spectrum is not bounded. In this work real analytical groups are investigated, some of which are of interest for physics. An integral representation for the evolution operator is obtained in terms of the Green function, i.e. the solution to the Helmholz equation on the group manifold. The alternative series expressions for the evolution operator are reconstructed from the same integral representation, the spectral expansion (when exists) and the sum over classical paths. For non-compact groups, the latter can be interpreted as the (exact) semi-classical approximation, like in the compact case. The explicit form of the evolution operator is obtained for a number of non-compact groups.Comment: 32 pages, 5 postscript figures, LaTe

Relativistic Doppler effect: universal spectra and zeptosecond pulses

We report on a numerical observation of the train of zeptosecond pulses produced by reflection of a relativistically intense femtosecond laser pulse from the oscillating boundary of an overdense plasma because of the Doppler effect. These pulses promise to become a unique experimental and technological tool since their length is of the order of the Bohr radius and the intensity is extremely high $\propto 10^{19}$ W/cm$^2$. We present the physical mechanism, analytical theory, and direct particle-in-cell simulations. We show that the harmonic spectrum is universal: the intensity of $n$th harmonic scales as $1/n^{p}$ for $n < 4\gamma^2$, where $\gamma$ is the largest $\gamma$--factor of the electron fluid boundary, $p=3$ and $p=5/2$ for the broadband and quasimonochromatic laser pulses respectively.Comment: 4 figure