Download Laser-electron Scattering at the Critical Force Limit

Physics Colloquium
John E. La Tourette Hall (FW) 200
Friday, March 22, 2013
Refreshments - 3:00 p.m.
Colloquium 3:30 p.m.
Dr. Johann Rafelski, Theoretical Physicist
Professor of Physics, University of Arizona (Tucson)
Laser-electron scattering at the critical force limit
Collisions of ultra-intense laser-pulses with relativistic electrons test forces akin, and way stronger
than those created in ultra relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC and at LHC. We show how it is
today possible to probe critical acceleration a=mc^3/hbar, an object related to Planck scales but not
burdened by gravity. The behavior of a particle undergoing critical acceleration challenges the limits
of the current understanding of basic interactions: little is known about this physics frontier; both
classical and quantum physics realms appear in need of further development in order to be able to
address this newly accessible domain of physics. In this lecture I will consider the foundations and
limits of current understanding of particles dynamics and inertia in presence of critical fields and
forces; and will relate to radiation reaction challenges, and describe strong field particle production
phenomena.
Johann Rafelski, a theoretical physicist, is Professor of Physics at the University of Arizona (Tucson)
and a Member of the Arizona Theoretical Astrophysics Program. He is a Visiting Scientist at CERN, a
senior visiting scientist at LULI-Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau in France and Adjunct Professor at the
International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Network (ICRANet) at the University of Rome and
Pescara Center. Rafelski contributes to the strong field physics for past 40 years, initially in the area of
heavy ion collisions and today focused on intense light. He is coauthor of more than 400 publications
in his main research area of strong field quantum electrodynamics and quark-gluon plasma.