Extreme Light : A new Paradigm for Science and Society Mardi 28 janvier 2014 14:30 - Duree : 1 heure Lieu : Amphithéâtre du LPSC - 53 rue des Martyrs - Grenoble

Orateur : Gérard MOUROU (IZEST Director Professor Haut College Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau)

In their pursuit of new particles, High Energy Particle physicists utilise large scale accelerators, such as the LHC at CERN, to produce high energy particles which they collide together to investigate their structure and also to give a glimpse into the nature of all matter. Data from these experiments are helping to place the jigsaw pieces of theories for a comprehensive understanding of our universe – and they drive the new revolutions in our understanding of it. Laser technology has developed to the point where we can now contemplate using lasers as tools of a new paradigm that is complementary to the current use of conventional high energy accelerators. Laser-driven particle accelerators utilise plasma (fully ionised gas) to accelerate particles to high energies in distances that are 10,000 times shorter than using conventional accelerator technology. This makes them very compact and, in principle, enables the maximum particle energy to be substantially increased. For instance it could be possible to accelerate particles to the PeV energies relevant to astrophysics. This possibility offers astrophysicists the prospect of producing and studying high energy particles on earth that are usually only found in space. The possibility of accelerating particles using ultra-compact accelerators also has important potential societal applications, notably in medicine with isotope production and particle radiotherapy, as well as in nuclear waste imaging and treatment where isotope longevity can be reduced from a few hundred thousand years to in some cases minutes.

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