Physics Colloquia: Relativistic optics and multi-GeV laser-driven particle accelerators

Title: Relativistic optics and multi-GeV laser-driven particle accelerators

Abstract: The remarkable increase in peak laser intensity over the past 30+ years –over 6 orders of magnitude--has spurred new and exciting advances in laser-driven sources of relativistic charged particles and light, along with the new field of indestructible plasma optics. I will start with our recent results demonstrating acceleration of electrons up to 10 GeV in just 30 cm—a distance 5,000 times smaller than required using conventional technology, and then highlight the physics building blocks that made such a result possible.

Bio: Howard Milchberg received his B. Eng. in engineering physics from McMaster University and a Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. He is the recipient of an NSERC Postgraduate Fellowship, National Research Council of Canada; NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award; and both the APS John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and its Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America. He is a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and Distinguished University Professor at Maryland.

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