1) Introduction to high
power lasers. Chirped pulse amplification.
2) Theory of laser plasma interaction: plasma description; linear waves;
non-linear effects; parametric interaction; plasma optics.
3) Laser-plasma wakefield accelerators: underdense plasma; ponderomotive force;
relativistic effects; laser self-guiding; laser depletion; plasma bubble
formation; electron injection and acceleration; electron dephasing.
4) Radiation sources based on laser-plasma accelerators: terahertz single cycle
pulses to brilliant gamma ray pulses; plasma as an optical amplifier.
5) High power laser pulse interactions with dense targets: Overview of
laser-solid interactions; energy absorption mechanism; ion acceleration; sheath
acceleration and radiation pressure acceleration; relativistic transparency;
laser-driven shock waves.
6) High field effects:
conservation of energy and the radiation reaction force; creation of
electron-positron pairs from strong fields and colliding photons; nonlinear
corrections to Maxwell’s equations and vacuum birefringence.
The course will cover the following topics: Introduction to fundamentals of QCD, why are models necessary when you’ve got QCD, quark model predictions of hadronic states, properties of the nucleon and its resonances, “missing” baryonic resonances, pentaquarks - salutory lesson or crucial discovery, experimental techniques, partial wave analysis, the search for exotic states: hybrid mesons, glueballs.
Assessment: Final exam, of approximately 2 hours
Coursework: Approximately 1 hour per week in addition to lectures Course Summary
Hours Equivalent Credit: 8
This course is cross listed with the Particle Physics theme.