Events
Special Colloquium
Prof. Manuel Hegelich, Department of Physics, UT-Austin
"Quantum vacuum, relativistic plasmas, and new particle sources – an upgrade for UT's largest laser"
Abstract: Ultrahigh intensity lasers have become a key new technology over the last two decades. Growing from Terawatt to Petawatt peak powers and poised to grow further, they are potential drivers for both funda-mental physics research as well as applied science and technology. We have used ultraintense lasers to reach in to the regime of relativistic plasmas, emulate astrophysical situations in the laboratory and are poised to tackle non-perturbative quantum physics and even beyond standard model physics. Applications being investigated range from compact accelerators and light sources to material science, energy science and medical imaging and diagnostics.
We have embarked on an upgrade of our current Texas Petawatt Laser. We will install the Trident laser formerly at Los Alamos National Laboratory in addition to the current Petawatt beam, adding three laser beamlines and two experimental target areas to the facility. One of the planned beam lines is designed to reach 5PW and intensities beyond 1023 W/cm2 on target.
The new multi-beam capabilities will enable the move from proof-of-principle to application of relativistic laser driven particle and photon sources, enabling the development of advanced imaging concepts, the study of astrophysical processes and phenomena in fusion energy research.
With the 5PW beam line we aim at crossing a fundamental threshold into the radiation and quantum dom-inated regime of field-matter interactions. At intensities of I > 1022 W/cm2 the relativistic approximations are insufficient and quantum effects have to be taken into account. Currently, there are no successful non-perturbative, dynamic quantum field theories, which are necessary to calculate quantum effects in the presence of strong classical potentials. Important problems involving strong classical potentials are found in e.g. in Quantum Electrodynamics, Quantum Chromodynamics and Gravity. Example problems include: determining the Parton distribution function, modeling the transition of colliding hadrons to a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP), or describing particle creation in the vicinity of a black hole, electron dynamics in the magnetic field of a neutron star, and spontaneous pair creation from the quantum vacuum in the pres-ence of a strong electromagnetic field.
