Laser Wakefield Accelerator

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Plasma-based wakefield acceleration represents a groundbreaking approach to particle acceleration, leveraging accelerating fields that are over three orders of magnitude stronger than those achieved with conventional radio-frequency accelerators. The acceleration is performed through plasma waves, which are driven by particle or laser beams traveling at nearly the speed of light. The delivered electron beams, characterized by energies reaching tens of GeV, charges in the range of nanocoulombs, and ultrashort femtosecond durations, are opening up transformative possibilities in scientific and technological domains.

Such beams hold immense potential for advancing strong-field physics, enabling compact free-electron laser (FEL) radiation sources, and designing next-generation electron-positron colliders for high-energy physics research. The rapid progress in this field is reshaping the scientific landscape, with near-term societal impacts anticipated in areas such as medicine, where novel imaging and treatment methods may emerge, and security, through advanced detection technologies with also secondary sources such as X ray, Gamma ray, neutron, positron, and muon beams.

The advent of laser-plasma acceleration has fostered the growth of a vibrant and interdisciplinary scientific community. This approach not only facilitates the exploration of fundamental physics but also drives innovation across various applied fields, ensuring its role as a cornerstone of future research and technological development.

Our PW and 10PW laser beams make ELI-NP an ideal place for exploring new ideas and contributing to the exciting topic of modern science with an ultimate goal of reaching world record acceleration.

Numerical simulation showing the relativistic plasma wave that is created by an intense laser

Strong Field Physics

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At the interface of quantum physics and relativity, Nonlinear Quantum Electrodynamics (NLQED) plays a pivotal role in modern physics. This field explores phenomena where quantum electrodynamics (QED) becomes nonlinear under ultra-intense electromagnetic fields, presenting a gateway to understanding extreme physical conditions.

The theoretical threshold for observing such effects, often associated with the Schwinger limit - the point at which vacuum pair production occurs—remains far beyond the reach of contemporary laser technology when considering direct laser-vacuum interactions. Achieving this requires intensities so extreme that conventional approaches appear unattainable in the coming decades. To circumvent this limitation, a promising alternative involves colliding ultra-intense laser pulses with relativistic electron beams. This approach leverages the Lorentz boost of the electrons to significantly enhance the effective field strength in their rest frame, making it feasible to probe nonlinear QED effects.

The Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) facility offers a unique opportunity to explore this frontier. Equipped with dual 10 petawatt (PW) laser beams, ELI-NP provides an unprecedented platform to investigate phenomena in strong-field QED (SFQED). The current aim is to generate electron beams with energies on the order of tens of GeV and collide them with one of the 10 PW laser arms at intensities reaching 10²³ W/cm². This configuration opens the door to exploring a previously inaccessible regime of fundamental physics, often referred to as terra incognita in SFQED.

Scheme of possible of SFQED experiment. The interplay of cutting-edge technology and theoretical advancements positions the ELI-NP facility as a cornerstone in the exploration of SFQED. By pushing the limits of high-intensity laser-matter interactions, it holds the potential to unlock new insights into the fundamental nature of the universe.

The χ_e and ξ parameter space accessible by various experiments. The red line corresponds to the value χ_e = 1, where χe is the ratio between the maximal laser electric field amplitude in the electron rest frame and the critical Schwinger field. Note the terra incognito area that ELI NP will allow to explore when consider here a 16.5 GeV electron beam.