https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00101-2
Vision of nuclear physics with photo-nuclear reactions
by laser-driven
beams
1
Faculty of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, 85748 Garching, Germany
2
Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, 85748 Garching, Germany
3
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Ignition Facility, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA
4
Research Center Nuclear Physics, Osaka University, Mihogaoka 10-1, Suita, Osaka, 567-0047, Japan
Corresponding author: a Peter.Thirolf@physik.uni-muenchen.de
Received:
22
November
2008
Revised:
13
February
2009
Published online:
3
April
2009
A laser-accelerated dense electron sheet with an energy
can be used as a relativistic mirror to
coherently reflect a second laser with photon energy ħω,
thus generating by the Doppler boost [A. Einstein, Annalen der Physik 17, 891 (1905); D. Habs et al., Appl. Phys. B 93, 349 (2008)] brilliant high-energy photon beams with
and
short duration for many new nuclear physics experiments.
While the shortest-lived atomic levels are
in the atto-second range, nuclear levels can have lifetimes
down to zeptoseconds. We discuss how the modulation of
electron energies in phase-locked laser fields
used for as-measurements [E. Goulielmakis et al., Science 317, 769 (2007)] can be carried over to the new direct measurement of fs–zs nuclear lifetimes by modulating the
energies of accompanying conversion electrons or emitted protons.
In the field of nuclear spectroscopy we discuss the new perspective
as a function of increasing photon energy.
In nuclear systems a much higher sensitivity is predicted to the time
variation of fundamental constants compared to atomic systems [V. Flambaum, arXiv:nucl-th/0801.1994v1 (2008)]. For energies up to 50 keV Mössbauer-like
recoilless absorption allows to produce nuclear bosonic ensembles
with many delocalized coherent polaritons [G.V. Smirnov et al., Phys. Rev. A 71, 023804 (2005)] for the first
time. Using the (γ,n) reaction to produce
cold, polarized neutrons with a focusing ellipsoidal device [P. Böni, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A 586, 1 (2008); Ch. Schanzer et al., Nucl. Instrum. Meth. 529, 63 (2004)], brilliant cold polarized micro-neutron
beams become available. The compact and relatively cheap
laser-generated γ beams may serve for
extended studies at university-based facilities.
PACS: 42.55.Vc – X- and gamma-ray lasers / 29.27.-a – Beams in particle accelerators / 41.75.Jv – Laser-driven acceleration / 41.75.Ht – Relativistic electron and positron beams
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2009