RUI: Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Matter in Intense Laser Fields

Board Of Trustees Of Illinois State University, Normal IL

Investigators

Abstract

Laboratories across the world have begun to develop high-powered laser systems which can create electromagnetic radiation pulses that are so energetic that they open new avenues of exploration. This project will assist these exciting developments with ab initio computer simulations which have sufficient temporal and spatial resolution to provide microscopic insight into the relativistic interaction of photons with electrons and positrons. A better understanding of these fundamental processes might open new ways to control atomic, chemical and even biological processes on very short time scales. An important mission for the grant is also to give undergraduate students the opportunity to gain research experience. This educational experience provides them with important skills including working as a team, gaining the endurance, intellectual flexibility and experience to tackle serious research problems, and communicating results in conferences and publications. The computer simulations are obtained by solving the coupled set of Dirac-Maxwell equations of relativistic quantum electrodynamics on a numerical space-time grid. These non-perturbative large-scale calculations are very CPU time consuming but have become possible due to recent progress in the development of specialized numerical algorithms for massively parallel computers. The calculations are performed in Illinois. Some of the primary goals of the work include optimizing the pair creation yield by suitable laser field designs, developing more efficient approaches for general relativistic interactions, exploiting several physical mechanisms to lower the laser intensity required for pair-creation and providing a new diagnostic technique to monitor the creation dynamics inside the reaction zone. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.