50 Years of the Laser in the City of Light

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Ecole Polytechnique
y q
Palaiseau

High Field Science:

A Second Wave of Laser
G. Mourou,
G M
Toshiki Tajima
Blaise Pascal Chair,
Fondation Ecole Normale Supérieure
Institut de Lumière Extrême
and
LMU,MPQ, Q Garching
G
Acknowledgments for collaboration and advice: G. Mourou, F. Krausz, D. Habs. K. Homma, M.
Kando, A. Suzuki, F. Takasaki, M. Teshima, W. Leemans, E. Esarey, S. Karsch, F. Gruener, W.
Sandner R.
Sandner, R Heuer,
Heuer A.A Caldwell,
Caldwell E.
E Moses,
Moses T.
T Esirkepov,
Esirkepov S
S. Bulanov
Bulanov, C
C. Labaune
Labaune, M.
M Gross,
Gross JJ.
Urakawa, H. Gies, T. Heinzl, R. Schuetzhold, G. Dunne, K. Kondo, S. Iso, X. Yan, R. Assmann, C.
1
Barty, M. Nozaki, A. Chao, W. Chou, N. Naumova, J. Chambaret, C. Keitel, P. Chomaz, D.
Normand, P. Martin, P. Chen, M Downer, A. Caldwell
Laser probing nonlinearities in matter

vs
eE
x 2
m

x~
 
p
Rutherford’s (accelerator) approach vs Laser approach
discover particles (colliders) nonlinear optics, spectroscopy
EQ=mpc2

NL Optics
 Chirped Pulse Amplification did it!

100fs

D. Strickland and G. Mourou 1985

4
Nonlinearities in atom, plasma, and vacuum
Plasma electron
Atomic nonlinear Vacuum nonlinearity
nonlinear potential relativistic motion

vs.

Keldysh field for Schwinger field for

Laser wakefield
laser atomic vacuum breakdown
ionization

Compact high energy colliders Nonlinear QED fields

Compact accelerator applications General relativistic effects
PeV acceleration for quantum gravity → Vacuum probe (s (s.a.
a Dark energy)
Relativistic nonlinearity under intense laser

Plasma free of binding potential , but its electron responses:

a) Classical optics : v<<c, b) Relativistic optics: v~c

a0<<1: δx only a0>>1: δz >> δx

eA0 eE0 
a0  
mc 2
mc 2

nonlinear δz~ao2

linear δx~ao
Wakefield：Nonlinearity-driven, Collective
Collective phenomenon = all particles in medium participate

Kelvin wake

Nonlinearities of plasma and water waves

No wave breaks and wake peaks at v≈c Wave breaks at v＜c

(Wave-head hard to overtake trough. (Wave-head overtakes trough)

→ density cusp singularity)
 Thousand-fold Compactification
Laser Wakefield Acceleration (LWFA): 103-4 fold gradient
~0.03mm
0 03 Laser pulse

plasma -
- - - - - -
- - - -
-
- - - - -- - - - - - - - - -
- - -
- - -
- - + + + - - + + + + - - + + +
-- - - - - - -- - +
- - + ++ - - - + + + -- - + +
+
- - - - - - -
- - - -- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - - - -

(gas tube)
Superconducting
S d ti li linacrf-
f tube
t b
（Fermilab）

~40cm
Emax~32MV/m
Emax~100,000MV/m
GeV electrons from a centimeter LWFA
( a slide ggiven to me byy S. Karsch))

310-μm-diameter
channel capillary
p y

P = 40 TW

d
density 3 1018 cm−33.
4.3×10

Leemans et al., Nature Physics, september 2006 laser intensity 1018 W/cm2

(emphasis by S. Karsch)
Table-top Brilliant Undulator X-ray Radiation
o LWFA
from
( F. Gruener, S. Karsch, et al., Nature Phys., 2009)

Observed undulator
radiation spectrum

LWFA
Livingston Chart and Recent Saturation

→
→

(Suzu
uki,
20
09

)
(http://tesla.desy.de/~rasmus/media/Accelerator%20physics/slides/Livingston%20Plot%202.html)
 World Lab goal =
Put SLAC on a football field
Initiatives considered
considered, emerging: French; CERN; KEK; LBL

Laser acceleration =
・ no material breakdown (→ 3/4 orders
g
higher ggradient);
); however:
SLAC’s 2 mile linac ・ 3 orders finer accuracy, and
(50GeV) 2 orders more efficient laser needed
 Laser driven collider concept

a TeV collider

Leemans and Esarey (Phys. Today, 09)

ICFA-ICUIL Joint Task Force on Laser Acceleration(Darmstadt,10)
A. Suzuki (KEK)
1000 times 1 PeV=1015 eV
higher energy
“ New paradigm
paradigm”

Leptogenesis
p g

PeV Accelerator SUSY breaking Laser

Acceleration
Technology
Extra dimension
Dark matter
Supersymmetry

1 TeV=1012 eV
“Standard model”
Higgs
Quarks 14
Leptons
 Theory of wakefield toward extreme energy

 ncr 
E  2m0c a  ph
2 2
0
2
 2m0c a   ,
2 2
0
(when 1D theory applies)

10
7  ne 
6
In order to avoid wavebreak,
V)

10 1 TeV
nergy (MeV

a0 < γph1/2 ,
5
10
4

where
10
Electron en

103 1 GeV ←theoretical

102
γph = (ncr / ne )1/2
←experimental
1
E

10

100

Adopt:
17 18 19 20
10 10 10 10
-3
Plasma density (cm
()

 ncr
Ld   a 
2 2  1  ncr  NIF laser (3MJ)
, Lp  pa0   ,
  ne
p 0
 3  ne  → 0.7PeV
0 7P V
dephasing length pump depletion length (with Kando, Teshima)
 γ-ray signal from primordial GRB
(Abdo, et al,

Energy-dependent
20 photon speed ?
09 Observation of primordial
)

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB)

←low

(limit is pushed up
wer energ

close to Planck mass)

gy

Lab PeV γ (from e-)

can explore this
with control
highe
er→
 Feel vacuum texture: PeV energy γ

Laser acceleration → controlled laboratory test to see quantum gravity texture

on photon propagation (Special Theory of Relativity: c0)

Coarser,
lower energy
texture

c < c0
Finer,
higher
g energy
gy
texture

← (0.1PeV)
(0 1P V)
PeV γ (converted from e- )
1km ←(1PeV : fs behind)
 What is vacuum?

crystal
An observer (bug) in crystal St
Strong fi ld breaks
field b k vacuum
Phonon : excitation of vacuum
looks at vacuum ↓
↓
vacuum ↓ vacuum produces ee+e-
e pair
「真(true)空(nothing)」 Photon : distortion of vacuum 「空=(即是)⾊」
「⾊=(即是)空」

QED vacuum breakdown Compton length

Strong laser field

(Naumova
Laser wavelength Mourou)
Intense laser probes matter /vacuum nonlinearity

Crystal nonlinearity 
second harmonic generation (Franken et al)

Learn from Nonlinear Optics of matter for vacuum:

QED nonlinearity
Vacuum nonlinearity
V li it b
by lilight-
ht mass
field (dark energy, axion,..)
 second harmonic
QED vacuum probe by intense laser
Heisenberg-Euler Langrangian: tiny nonlinearity, never observed
intense laser needed; sensitive probe, avoid blinding laser
Phase contrast imaging(refractive index →diffraction, noise reduction)

(with Homma, Habs)

Learning from laser parametric scattering:
low energy
gy (meV
( - neV)) fields ((vacua))
Proposed scheme of co-parallel
(with Homma, Habs)
intense laser probe of vacuum
Many orders of magnitude gain
in resonant coupling and
sensitivity over long interaction:
Nonlinearity of vacuum
ω + ω → 2ω (SHG a la Franken)

cf. Brillouin forward scattering beat / optical

parametric excitation = phonon mediating
(Nambu-Goldston boson)

Mass of light fields(dark energy fields, axion-like fields) resonates

with specific crossing angle of co-propagating lasers
 Scope of High Field Science
vs traditional approaches

↓ telescope

↑colllider
(with Homma, Habs)
 Conclusions
• Laser: intensity sees no plateau/ceiling since 1990
• N li
Nonlinearities
iti off mattertt bby Laser:
L nonlinear
li optics
ti ((atomic
t i or solidlid
nonlinearity) : Rutherford method vs Laser method
• Nonlinearityy of relativistic p
plasma → laser wakefield
• Laser wakefield acceleration: experimentally well established; unique
properties getting known/applications spawn out
• GeV electrons;
electrons 10 GeV soon soon; 100GeV world
orld lab suggested;
s ggested
TeV laser collider contemplated; PeV frontier (primordial GRBs in the lab)
• Vacuum nonlinearities: Heisenberg QED vacuum probed by intense laser by
phase contrast imaging
• Vacuum nonlinearities with weakly coupling light energy fields (meV- neV):
co propagating intense lasers to find beat resonance ← axion-like
co-propagating axion like particles
particles,
dark energy fields
• High Fields Science: emerging, carves out new frontier, horizon yet to be
seen --------a second wave of laser revolution------------
23
 Centaurus A:

cosmic
wakefield
linac?

Merci Beaucoup!