Multi-Petawatt Physics and EP-OPAL: Planning for a Next-Generation Laser User Facility Dedicated to the Study of Ultrahigh-Intensity Laser–Matter Interactions

Professor Jon Zuegel, Distinguished Scientist and the Laser and Materials Technology Division Director at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Professor, Institute of Optics

Presented in-person in Goergen 101 and on Zoom

Zoom Information

Zoom:https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95276747247?pwd=WlBieEFIWUg2N0Y3bDFsa25KcFZCQT09
Meeting ID: 952 7674 7247
Passcode: 964579

Abstract

The Multi-Petawatt Physics Prioritization (MP3) Workshop [1] was a community-initiated workshop held at Sorbonne Université, Paris, France in April 2022. The MP3 workshop aimed to develop science questions that will guide research and future experiments using the new generation of multi-petawatt power laser systems. Multi-petawatt laser-plasma interactions enable unique high-energy particle and radiation sources that will facilitate new ways to address the range of science questions. The workshop identified three themes for the science questions: (1) Highest-energy phenomena in the universe; (2) The origin and nature of space-time and matter in the universe; and (3) Nuclear astrophysics and the age/course of the universe.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a midscale research infrastructure (RI-1) project to the University of Rochester to design and prototype critical technologies for OMEGA EP-coupled Optical Parametric Amplifier Lines (EP-OPAL), a user facility dedicated to the study of ultrahigh-intensity laser–matter interactions. A potential future implementation of EP-OPAL would enable high-impact science with broad community interest in fields that include relativistic plasma physics, ultrahigh field science, high-energy particle beams, x- and gamma-ray sources, matter under extreme conditions, and nuclear physics.

References:

[1] A. Di Piazza, L. Willingale, J. D. Zuegel, “Multi-Petawatt Physics Prioritization

Biography

Professor Jonathan D. Zuegel serves as a Distinguished Scientist and the Laser and Materials Technology Division Director at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, as well as a Professor of Optics at the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. Dr. Zuegel led the Laser Development and Engineering Division from 2014 to 2019, and the Laser Technology Development Group from 2001 to 2014.