Anuncia-se a realização de mais uma “IST Distinguished Lecture”, no próximo dia 10 de novembro, co-organizada pelo Grupo de Lasers e Plasmas, o Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear e a área científica de Física de Plasmas, Lasers e Fusão Nuclear do Departamento de Física do IST.
• 10 de novembro de 2022, 11h30m – Local: Anfiteatro Abreu Faro – Complexo Interdisciplinar.
• Orador: Prof. Sergei Bulanov*
• Título: “Extreme Light–Matter Interaction through the Lenses of the Relativistic Flying Mirror Concept”
• Resumo:
In his seminal paper published in 1905, A. Einstein used an example of the light reflection from the mirror moving with arbitrarily large velocity to illustrate basic principles of special theory of relativity. Nowadays the electromagnetic field intensification and the frequency upshift during the light reflection from the relativistic mirror are attractive for research on the development of sources of high-brightness radiation with tunable parameters required by various applications ranging from relatively moderate radiation intensity and ending with those devoted to quantum field theory. In this regard emerges a question on whether or not it is possible to prepare the relativistic mirror of high enough quality for efficient reflection of the light, which can move with the velocity large enough for increasing the light frequency up to the level corresponding to the photon energy in the x-ray range. We can find the answer on this question using the knowledge in the physics of nonlinear processes in relativistic laser plasmas. Relativistic flying mirrors in laser plasmas are thin, dense electron or electron-ion layers accelerated by high-intensity laser pulses to velocities close to the speed of light. In the head-on-collision configuration, the reflection of the electromagnetic wave from the relativistic mirror leads to the frequency of the reflected wave multiplied by the factor proportional to the square of the mirror Lorentz- factor. The expected radiation intensity will reach the level at which the effects predicted by nonlinear quantum electrodynamics start to play a key role. In the co-propagating configuration, the radiation pressure of the electromagnetic wave transfers the energy to the mirror, i.e. to the charged particles, providing a highly efficient acceleration mechanism. Here we overview theoretical and experimental results obtained recently in studying the relativistic mirrors emerging in intense laser-plasma interactions.
*Sobre Sergei Bulanov:
O Prof. Sergei Bulanov é um dos líderes mundiais em física dos plasmas, com contribuições teóricas seminais em muitos problemas fundamentais quer da interação laser-plasmas quer da astrofísica dos plasmas, tendo por isso recebido o maior prémio europeu da área (Hannes Alfven Prize da European Physical Society). Desenvolveu a maior parte da sua carreira no Japão, sendo atualmente Diretor do Grupo de Teoria da infraestrutura europeia Extreme Light Infrastructure – Beamlines na República Checa.
