Enlightened by lasers

Q. Charles Su

Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit
Illinois State University


CAS Lecture 2006 Illinois State University April 25, 2006
Support
National Science Foundation
US Department of Energy
Research Corporation
College of Arts & Sciences
Department of Physics
Light
Newton, Edison (1879) lights up Manhattan (1882)

Laser usages
CD writer, player, laser pointer, scanner,
light knife, cosmetic treatment, laser show

Whats in a laser
active medium, stimulated emission, resonator
Maiman, Townes, MIT echo off moon

Probing matter with lasers
Ionization process, world map
Medical imaging, patent
Matter creation, Klein

Research vs education
ILP approach
In the beginning there was no light
fire makes us happy
IN THE BEGINNING - (c 4.5 Billion BC)
THE SUN - (c 4 Billion BC)
THE EARTH - (c 4 Billion BC)
EARLY LIFE - (c 3 Billion BC)
PHOTOSYNTHESIS - (c 2 Billion BC)
FIRST MAN - (c 1 Million BC)
EARLY MAN - (c 500,000 BC)
FIRE, FLAME and TORCH - (c 400,000 BC)
PRIMITIVE LAMPS - (c 13,000 BC)
ANIMAL LAMPS - (c 5000 BC)
EARLY LIGHTING - (3000 BC)
SUNDIAL - (c 1500 BC)
OIL POTTERY LAMPS - GREEK - (600 BC)
OIL RESERVOIR LAMP - (500 BC)
ROMAN - LIFE & LIGHT - (400 BC - 80 AD)
COLOR AND MUSIC (SOUND) - (c 350 BC)
EARLY OPTICS & LENSES - (c 300 BC)
HORN LANTERN - (c 100 AD)
CANDLE - (c 400)
CAMERA OBSCURA - (c 1000)
COLORS OF THE SPECTRUM - (1666)
POLARIZATION/POLARIZED LIGHT - (1678)
PHOTOGRAPHY, EARLY - (1727)
ADDITIVE COLOR MIXING - (1769)
BETTY LAMP (& BETSY LAMP) - (1790)
FIRST - GAS LIGHTING - (1792)
INFRARED - (c 1800)

ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT (UV) - (1801)
ELECTRIC ARC LIGHT/ CARBON ARC LIGHT - (1809)
PHOTOGRAPHY, MODERN - (1826)
SPEED OF LIGHT - (1849)
SPECTROSCOPE - (c 1850)
KEROSENE LAMP - (1853)
FIRST - FOLLOWSPOT SPOTLIGHT - (c 1856)
PHOTOGRAPHY, MOTION PICTURES - EARLY - (1872)
FIRST - ELECTRIC FILAMENT (INCANDESCENT) LAMP - (1874)
EDISON LAMP - (1879)
SWAN LAMP - (1879)
FIRST - PHOTOCELL - (1880)
ELECTRICITY - (1899)
HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE (HID) LAMP - (1901)
MERCURY-VAPOR LAMP - (1901)
TUNGSTEN FILAMENT LAMP - (1907)
GAS FILLED LAMP - (1913)
FLASHBULB - (1930)
SODIUM LAMP - (LOW PRESSURE) - (1932)
FLUORESCENT LAMP - (1937)
PHOTOGRAPHY - POLAROID CAMERA - (1947)
FIBER OPTICS - (1955)
LASER - (1960)
HOLOGRAM/HOLOGRAPHY - (a 1960)
QUARTZ HALOGEN LAMP - (1960)
LIGHT EMITTING DIODE - (a 1965)
A very brief history of light
wave theory
corpuscular theory
Christiaan Huygens
16291695
James Clerk Maxwell
18311879
Sir Isaac Newton
1643 1727
Electromagnetic waves
Albert Einstein
18791955
photons
Theories of light
laying of the mains and installation of the world's first permanent, commercial central
power system in lower Manhattan, which became operative in September 1882.
Edison practically lit up the world
Light
Newton, Edison lights (1879) up Manhattan (1882)

Laser usages
CD writer, player, laser pointer, scanner,
light knife, cosmetic treatment, laser show

Whats in a laser
active medium, stimulated emission, resonator
Maiman, Townes, MIT echo off moon

Probing matter with lasers
Ionization process, world map
Medical imaging, patent
Matter creation, Klein

Research vs education
ILP approach
Laser usages
precision
CD player
scanner
printer
power
cutting, laser surgery
temporal precision
probe fast processes
high temperature
fusion
photodynamic therapy
cheaper / safer imaging
photo density waves

In the movies
Laser shows
Light
Newton, Edison lights (1879) up Manhattan (1882)

Laser usages
CD writer, player, laser pointer, scanner,
light knife, cosmetic treatment, laser show

Whats in a laser
active medium, stimulated emission, resonator
Maiman, Townes, MIT echo off moon

Probing matter with lasers
Ionization process, world map
Medical imaging, patent
Matter creation, Klein

Research vs education
ILP approach
Active medium (hurdles in a stadium)
Hurdles ~ Atoms

Hurdle in up position
~ population inversion

Hurdle reset after fall down
~ external pumping
A hurdle goes down, energy releases, a pigeon flies away
pigeon ~ photon
down randomly
~ spontaneous emission of light
After many hurdles are down
No laser
Now a pigeon with the right energy knocks down a hurdle
+ = hurdle is down +
2 pigeons fly off exactly the same way

~ stimulated emission of light (Einstein)
2 4 8 16 32
64 128 256 512 1024
2048 4096 8192 16384 32768

(after 29 rounds) 536,870,912 > US population
(after 33 rounds) 8,589,934,592 > world population
all in concert with each other
~ light amplification
Start with one pigeon
Let pigeons turn around in the stadium and work hard
Then open up the stadium gate from time to time
~ Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
Ingredients of a laser
(1) Active medium with population inversion
(2) Stimulated emission
(3) Light amplification with resonator
Light
Newton, Edison lights (1879) up Manhattan (1882)

Laser usages
CD writer, player, laser pointer, scanner,
light knife, cosmetic treatment, laser show

Whats in a laser
active medium, stimulated emission, resonator
Maiman, Townes, MIT echo off moon

Probing matter with lasers
Ionization process, world map
Medical imaging, patent
Matter creation, Klein

Research vs education
ILP approach
Laser laboratories and how they are related to my research
Lab for Laser Energetics (U. Rochester)
Laser fusion experiments
Diagnostics
temperature and density determinations
x-ray imaging
ISU-UR collaboration through the DOE NLUF grants

Intense laser facilities around the world
Saclay-France FOM-Holland MPQ-Germany Lund-Sweden
SIOFM-China U Tokyo-Japan QOLS-UK URC-Canada
ATT BrookHaven U Michigan LLL
ISU: Numerical/Gedanken experiments

Ultra relativistic laser experiments planed
DESY, Hamburg GSI-Darmstadt
SLAC-Stanford CUOS-Ann Arbor
ISU: Computer simulations, NSF grants

Bio-optical imaging research
Labs: U Penn, UC Irvine, U Mass, UI
ISU: light scattering lab and MC computations
Modeling laser action on computers
Physics and
equations
Computer
programming
Simulations of
experiments
Result visualization
Explanation More simulations
Great space for (undergraduate) student involvement

b
p
(t) =

b
p'
p U(t) p' +
p'

d
n'
+
p U(t) n'
n'

d
n
+
(t) =

b
p'
n U(t) p' +
p'

d
n'
+
n U(t) n'
n'

b
p
(t)W
p
(x) +
p

d
n
+
(t)W
n
(x)
n

(x,t) =

+
U(t)=T exp{i
0
t
dt [copoA(x,t)+|c
2
+V(x,t)]}
Laboratory experiments guide theory
Multiphoton ionization 1960s
Above threshold ionization 1979
Higher order harmonic generation 1980s
Computer experiments predict new physics?
Atomic stabilization 1990
Cycloatom 2000
Klein paradox 2004
Bioimaging 2005
Fishing or cleaning fish ?
Laser atom
+
+

+

Laser-atom interaction
A microscopic view
Outcome 1: bound Outcome 2: ionized
How does ionization vary with laser intensity ?
Qui ckTi me and a
TIFF (Uncompress ed) decompress or
are needed to see thi s pi cture.

V(x) = 1/ 1+ x
2
J. Javanainen, J.H. Eberly and Q. Su
Phys. Rev. A 38, 3430 (1988)
Computer simulation of atomic ionization







Pick a laser intensity I
Model atom (Rochester model)
Interaction with laser
Solve: Schrdinger
equation
Compute ionization for each state
Current QM state future state .
Gedanken experiment on computer:
Ionization beyond 10
16
W/cm
2
ionization
100%
0
laser intensity
?
I
N
weak
all ionized
strong
super
strong
10
6
10
4
L
A
S
E
R

I
N
T
E
N
S
I
T
Y
P(t)
P(t)
P(t)
P(t)
P(t)
P(t)
P(t)
P(t)
I
1

I
3

I
2

I
4

I
4

I
5

I
6

I
7

Su, Eberly, Javanainen PRL, 64, 862, 90
10
-1
10
0
10
-2
10
0
10
2
P
(
T
,

I
)
I (a.u.)
1st
recovery
2nd
3rd
I
o
n
i
z
a
t
i
o
n

P
(
T
)

Laser intensity, I
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Ionization
Suppression!
I > 10
16
W/cm
2

Electron spatial density

Su, Laser Phys. 3, 241 (1993)
Gavrila, Atoms in Intense Fields (1992)
L
a
s
e
r

i
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y

space
0
atom
Outcome 1:
bound
+

stabilization
+

Outcome 3:
stabilized
ionization
+

Outcome 2:
ionized
Computer prediction: Stabilization
Normally
Increased intensity increases ionization
more chance for electron to pick up energy around nucleus

At super-strong fields
Laser also distorts electron orbits
reduces the chance of interaction with nucleus



Other theoretical studies and experimental evidence
Kulander et al, Atoms in Intense Laser Fields Ed Gavrila, (1992)
Keitel and Knight, Phys. Rev. A 51,1420 (1995)
van Druten, et al Phys. Rev. A 55 622(1997)
Longhi, et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 073002 (2005)
+

+

10
-1
10
0
10
-2
10
0
10
2
P
(
T
,

I
)
I (a.u.)
1st
recovery
2nd
3rd
n = S
S
Stabilization and recoveries of ionization
Su, Irving*, Johnson*, Eberly, J. Phys. B 29, 5755 (1996)
Su, Irving*, Eberly, Laser Phys. 7, 568 (1997)
> 128 groups in 23 countries
Users of the Rochester model atom
Quic kTime a n d a
TIFF (U n co mp r e ss ed ) de c omp re s so r
a re n ee d ed to s ee this p ic tu re .
Light
Newton, Edison lights (1879) up Manhattan (1882)

Laser usages
CD writer, player, laser pointer, scanner,
light knife, cosmetic treatment, laser show

Whats in a laser
active medium, stimulated emission, resonator
Maiman, Townes, MIT echo off moon

Probing matter with lasers
Ionization process, world map
Medical imaging, patent
Matter creation, Klein

Research vs education
ILP approach
safer than x-ray CT
cheaper than MRI
better resolved than ultrasound
Dream: to build an imaging device
Possible solution: IR laser based imaging
Imaging schemes
shadow
x-ray
shadow-gram (like x-ray, CAT)
reflection-gram (like ultra-sound)
scatter-gram (infrared lasers)
ultra-
sound
laser
medium > scattered light
medium < scattered light
Forward problems (predict the future)

Inverse problems (predict the past)
Light-medium interaction computer simulations
Pane of glass Random medium
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Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
FFT on the grid method Wanare, Su and Grobe, PRE 62, 8705 (2000)
X-rays vs laser light
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are needed to see this picture.
Monte Carlo Simulation
S. L. Jacques and L.-H. Wang, in Optical Thermal Response of Laser Irradiated Tissue,
edited by A. J. Welch and M. J. C. van Gemert (Plenum Press, New York, 1995), pp. 73-100.
Complication of laser-based image reconstruction
X-ray




Laser
Modulation of light induces beam narrowing

e = 0



e =0
wide beam
narrow beam
Transverse light beam waist o
Pulse width o(e) shrinks with increasing frequency e
Distance from
optical axis
o(0)
e=0
e=0
Intensity I()
ISU filed patent application in 2005
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are needed to see thi s pi cture.
2o
o(e)

Beyond theory: experiment?
Input
Laser
Output
Fiber
z
Laboratory measurements for on axis light intensity
S. Campbell, A. OConnell, S. Menon, Q. Su and R. Grobe, PRE, submitted
0
4
8
0 10 20 30 40
z [cm]
L
o
g
(
N
)
experiment
simulation
theory I
theory II
-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6
2
4
6
8
y [cm]
z=0cm
z=10cm
z=5cm
Light
Newton, Edison lights (1879) up Manhattan (1882)

Laser usages
CD writer, player, laser pointer, scanner,
light knife, cosmetic treatment, laser show

Whats in a laser
active medium, stimulated emission, resonator
Maiman, Townes, MIT echo off moon

Probing matter with lasers
Ionization process, world map
Medical imaging, patent
Matter creation, Klein

Research vs education
ILP approach
Matter creation from light?
E = mc
2

Light = electron + positron
Mourou, Yanovsky
Opt. Ph. News 15, 40 (2004)
10
26
Laser intensity >
Conjuring matter from light
Science, Aug, 29, 1997
Real photons create matter
Physics News, Sept. 18, 1997
Light work
New Scientist, Sept. 27, 1997
Boom! From light comes matter
Photonics Spectra, Nov. 1997
Matter from light
CERN Courier, Nov. 1997
E=mc
2
, really
Scientific American, Dec. 1997
Let there be matter
Discover, Dec. 1997
Gamma rays create matter by plowing into laser light
Phys. Today, Feb 1998
Popular science articles on matter creation from light
Wave or particle description of matter ?
Traditional wave view
Dirac Equation (1928)
deals with physics after creation
(no creation)
Particle view
Quantum Field Theory (1940s)
deals with # of creation
(no wave nature)
Computational QFT
Phys. Rev. Lett. (2004)
wave nature during creation
(new framework)
?????????????
What are these nice graphs?
From quantum field theory to quantum mechanics
ic
t
(x,t)= [ c opoA+|c
2
+V ] (x,t)
u(x,y,t) = <0||
(+)
(x,t)
c
(+)
(y,t) || u(t=0)>
vacuum
state
positive
frequency
part
charge
conjugation
initial
state
S.S. Schweber, An introduction to relativistic quantum field theory

Krekora, Su, Grobe, PRL 92, 040406 (2004) ; PRL 93, 043004 (2004)
Braun, Su, Grobe, PRA 59, 604 (1999)
C.H. Keitel, Cont. Phys. 42, 353 (2001)
A.D. Bandrauk, H. Shen J. Phys. A, 7147 (1994)

Solution of the field operator for e

and e
+

b
p
(t) =

b
p'
p U(t) p' +
p'

d
n'
+
p U(t) n'
n'

d
n
+
(t) =

b
p'
n U(t) p' +
p'

d
n'
+
n U(t) n'
n'

Dirac equation for field

Solution
where

b
p
(t)W
p
(x) +
p

d
n
+
(t)W
n
(x)
n
(x,t) =
U(t)=T exp{i
0
t
dt [copoA(x,t)+|c
2
+V(x,t)]}


+


+


+


+


+
The space-time resolved pair creation
e

e
+
energy
Sample projects that employed the new CQFT method
(1) Space time resolved pair creation
(2) Klein paradox, 70 years old
Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 040406 (2004)
Phys. Rev. A 72, 064103 (2005)
(3) Localization and Zitterbewegung
Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 043004 (2004)
(4) Entanglement
J. Mod. Opt. 52, 489 (2005)
(5) Modified Schwinger formula
Las. Phys. 15, 282 (2005)
(6) Supercritical bound states
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 070403 (2005)
(7) Interpretational difficulty in QED
Phys. Rev. A, 73, 022114 (2006)
Experimental verification?
Time dependent colliding ions
(existing)

Static supercritical field









Experimental plans:
CUOS Ann Arbor, Michigan
DESY Hamburg, Germany
GSI Darmstadt, Germany
SLAC Stanford, California
Laser fields lead to new unions of
Particle
Gravitational
Atomic
Plasma
Astro-physics
Cosmology
Enlightened ?
Quic kTime a n d a
TIFF (U n co mp r es s ed ) de c ompr e ss o r
a re n ee de d to s ee this pic tur e .
Light
Newton, Edison lights (1879) up Manhattan (1882)

Laser usages
CD writer, player, laser pointer, scanner,
light knife, cosmetic treatment, laser show

Whats in a laser
active medium, stimulated emission, resonator
Maiman, Townes, MIT echo off moon

Probing matter with lasers
Ionization process, world map
Medical imaging, patent
Matter creation, Klein

Research vs education
ILP approach
Graduate or Undergraduate
US, best graduate school system in the world
> 50% Nobel in Science after WWII
good research-industry relation

What about our pre-graduate education
Cuts in education funding
Flat science funding
Math/Science not cool in school
Do we need to change the perception?
Large number of students
Large number faculty mentors
National awards
Show cased at conferences

Center or Research and Education on Nanostructures
Center for Research and Instruction in Space Physics
Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit
Surface Science Lab
Polarized Electron Lab
Atomic Structure
Statistical Mechanics
Nonlinear Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
Undergraduate physics research at ISU
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Undergraduate research at ILP
Our approach
Start early
Small group collaboration
Project design, execution, completion
Know physics, math, programming
Use intuition, catch misconception
Communicate result with others
Thanks to funding agencies
Big thanks to colleagues past and present
Support from CAS, RSP, Honors Program
Physics faculty colleagues
Postdoctoral fellows
All 35 undergraduate students
Especially Prof. Grobe for collaborations
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Thanks to Alex,
Christina, and Jean!
Thanks for attending
and
enjoy some refreshment !
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