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Relativistic plasma

About: Relativistic plasma is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2178 publications have been published within this topic receiving 49199 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
30 Sep 2004-Nature
TL;DR: High-resolution energy measurements of the electron beams produced from intense laser–plasma interactions are reported, showing that—under particular plasma conditions—it is possible to generate beams of relativistic electrons with low divergence and a small energy spread.
Abstract: High-power lasers that fit into a university-scale laboratory can now reach focused intensities of more than 10(19) W cm(-2) at high repetition rates. Such lasers are capable of producing beams of energetic electrons, protons and gamma-rays. Relativistic electrons are generated through the breaking of large-amplitude relativistic plasma waves created in the wake of the laser pulse as it propagates through a plasma, or through a direct interaction between the laser field and the electrons in the plasma. However, the electron beams produced from previous laser-plasma experiments have a large energy spread, limiting their use for potential applications. Here we report high-resolution energy measurements of the electron beams produced from intense laser-plasma interactions, showing that--under particular plasma conditions--it is possible to generate beams of relativistic electrons with low divergence and a small energy spread (less than three per cent). The monoenergetic features were observed in the electron energy spectrum for plasma densities just above a threshold required for breaking of the plasma wave. These features were observed consistently in the electron spectrum, although the energy of the beam was observed to vary from shot to shot. If the issue of energy reproducibility can be addressed, it should be possible to generate ultrashort monoenergetic electron bunches of tunable energy, holding great promise for the future development of 'table-top' particle accelerators.

1,739 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The physical conditions in the gamma-ray-emitting blazar 3C 279 are discussed in this article, where it is proposed that the gamma rays are produced in a relativistic jet via the synchrotron self-Compton mechanism.
Abstract: The physical conditions in the gamma-ray-emitting blazar 3C 279 are discussed. The requirement of transparency for gamma-rays, together with the observation of rapid variability, imply that the high-energy radiation is anisotropic. It is proposed that the gamma-rays are produced in a relativistic jet via the synchrotron self-Compton mechanism. The gamma-ray spectrum is the high-energy extension of the inverse Compton radiation responsible for the X-ray emission. It is softer than the X-ray spectrum, owing to upper cutoffs in the electron energy spectra along the jet. The same electrons are responsible for the low-frequency emission via synchrotron radiation. The expected correlation of variability at different frequencies is discussed. 38 refs.

946 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 1995-Nature
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report observations of relativistic plasma waves driven to breaking point by the Raman forward-scattering instability induced by short, high-intensity laser pulses.
Abstract: ELECTRONS in a plasma undergo collective wave-like oscillations near the plasma frequency. These plasma waves can have a range of wavelengths and hence a range of phase velocities1. Of particular note are relativistic plasma waves2,3, for which the phase velocity approaches the speed of light; the longitudinal electric field associated with such waves can be extremely large, and can be used to accelerate electrons (either injected externally or supplied by the plasma) to high energies over very short distances2a¤-4. The maximum electric field, and hence maximum acceleration rate, that can be obtained in this way is determined by the maximum amplitude of oscillation that can be supported by the plasma5a¤-8. When this limit is reached, the plasma wave is said to a¤˜breaka¤™. Here we report observations of relativistic plasma waves driven to breaking point by the Raman forward-scattering instability9,10 induced by short, high-intensity laser pulses. The onset of wave-breaking is indicated by a sudden increase in both the number and maximum energy (up to 44 MeV) of accelerated plasma electrons, as well as by the loss of coherence of laser light scattered from the plasma wave.

705 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
22 Nov 2002-Science
TL;DR: It is shown that a gain in maximum electron energy of up to 200 megaelectronvolts can be achieved, along with an improvement in the quality of the ultrashort electron beam in the forced laser wake field regime.
Abstract: Plasmas are an attractive medium for the next generation of particle accelerators because they can support electric fields greater than several hundred gigavolts per meter. These accelerating fields are generated by relativistic plasma waves-space-charge oscillations-that can be excited when a high-intensity laser propagates through a plasma. Large currents of background electrons can then be trapped and subsequently accelerated by these relativistic waves. In the forced laser wake field regime, where the laser pulse length is of the order of the plasma wavelength, we show that a gain in maximum electron energy of up to 200 megaelectronvolts can be achieved, along with an improvement in the quality of the ultrashort electron beam.

590 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the evidence for relativistic bulk motion of the emitting plasma in the nuclei of ∼100 radio sources, which include BL Lacertae objects, radio quasars, and radio galaxies, with published VBLI measurements of the core angular dimension and radio flux was discussed.
Abstract: We discuss the evidence for relativistic bulk motion of the emitting plasma in the nuclei of ∼100 radio sources, which include BL Lacertae objects, radio quasars, and radio galaxies, with published VBLI measurements of the core angular dimension and radio flux. Comparing the predicted and observed high-frequency (X-ray) flux, in the framework of the synchrotron self-Compton model, we derive the beaming or Doppler factor for all sources. This is compared with other beaming indicators, such as the value of the expansion velocity (mostly superluminal and available for ∼40% of the objects) and the ratio of the core to the extended radio flux (available for all but two sources)

513 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202317
202230
202145
202049
201936
201837