Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics Seminars

Nonlinear dynamics of free electrons in Ultra intense laser fields- Laboratory study of classical electrodynamic and QED phnomena

by Dr. Sudeep Banerjee (University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA)

Wednesday, May 29, 2019 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at TIFR,Mumbai ( AG-66 )
Description
In this talk I will discuss my work on studying the interaction of free electrons with intense light fields. I will present results on the generation of keV-MeV energy photon beams by the process of inverse Compton scattering.  I will discuss some of the unique properties of these x-rays and their application to a new class of experiments in the area of table-top nuclear physics. By further increases in laser intensity, it was demonstrated that the electron motion becomes strongly nonlinear and this nonlinearity manifests itself in dramatic changes in the spatial and spectral characteristics of the scattered x-rays. Finally, I will discuss our latest results that show that orbital angular momentum imprinted on an optical pulse can be transferred to high-energy x-rays through high-energy electron beams. I will then discuss ideas on using the available and planned laser facilities at TIFR to pursue research in the study of QED effects that will be manifested during the scattering of high-energy electrons off intense light pulses. This research will pursue several parallel tracks including innovative methods to control the laser pulse, generation of GeV energy electron beams, focusing of laser light to intensities >1023 W cm-2 and precision spectroscopy of the electrons and scattered x-rays that will carry signatures of QED processes imprinted during the nonlinear interaction of electrons with light