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.
Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of topics listed in syllabus and to apply that knowledge to related problems.
Lecturer: Tom Davinson
Institution: Edinburgh
Hours Equivalent Credit: 6
Assessment: Continuous Assessment
Course Summary
The objective of this short course of lectures is to provide students with an insight into state of the art of nuclear instrumentation technology and techniques - particular emphasis will be given to topics either not found, or not well-covered, in the standard textbooks. Topics will include: noise, interference, grounding and other black arts, the origins of detector energy and time resolution, ASICS, data acquisition and analysis, and digital signal processing.
The course will provide an introductory look at topics which are fall under the remit of modern experimental hadron physics, generally considered under one of two broad categories: hadron structure and hadron spectroscopy. Lectures will introduce concepts which are studied in experiments today, from the probability distributions which can be used to 'image' protons and neutrons, to the searches for exotic states lying at the extremes of QCD.
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.
