We will discuss the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) relaxation representation of the collision integral that accounts for the presence of internal degrees of freedom and yields the correct moment equations. We will explore the effect of velocity-dependent collision frequency on stimulated Brillouin scattering gain. Then we will employ the Boltzmann kinetic equation to two interacting gases, to highlight the influence of collisional relaxation for predicting and controlling SBS Gain in multi-species gaseous environments.

We are pleased to announce a Joint Quantum Science and Technology Workshop, a collaborative effort between Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. The workshop aims to bring together faculty members to foster dialogue, identify shared interests, and establish potential collaborations in key areas of quantum science and technology. This inaugural workshop will follow on the Physics of Quantum Electronics (PQE) colloquium held every winter for over fifty years.  The topics covered will focus on the overlap of those featured at this year’s PQE and topics of special interest to the members of the UT Quantum Institute.

The interaction of multiple intense laser pulses with plasma, a critical area of study in inertial confinement fusion (ICF), leads to phenomena such stimulated backscattering, energy deposition, plasma wave generation, and particle acceleration. In this talk I will talk about some of my recent research on such multi-beam laser–plasma interactions pertinent to ICF, including:
(1) extreme laser amplification by stimulated Raman backscattering, which is an undesired instability in ICF;
(2) new electron injection mechanism using laser interference induced plasma grating, which in ICF influences the energy transfer and deposition;
(3) compact Gamma Tomography and Gamma Lidar technology that has potential for the remote sensing of fusion target;
(4) analysis of cylindrically symmetric vapor-assisted compression techniques for targets, analogous to low-density foam-layer-assisted ICF targets, to achieve uniform implosion dynamics.
Additionally, the talk will cover a collaborative discovery with Texas A&M University on a waveguiding mechanism. This technique has been globally adopted as a key method for generating electron beams exceeding 10 GeV using laser wakefield accelerators, with implications for future TeV colliders.

In this talk I will discuss experiments performed at the PW laser facilities at Vega3 located in Salamanca-Spain, ELI-beamlines in Prague, SGII-Shanghai, the PW laser at the University of Texas in Austin and the ABC-ENEA laser in Frascati. First, I will show how we can measure fusion cross sections and temperatures (@UT) in plasmas at ‘air’ densities and temperatures of tens of KeV (CD2+3He targets). Using many lasers (@SGII) we can compress the targets to much higher densities than solid but very low temperatures (<1KeV). In the same facility, a ps laser system can used to produce energetic deuterium ions to ‘warm up’ the compressed target obtained with the 8 ns-lasers. Energetic ions maybe produced using short pulse lasers with the so-called Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA). The compression plus ignition method maybe a different route to fusion energy. To understand and better control the TNSA method we have performed experiments at Vega3 and ELI-beamlines using a PW laser for p+11B fusion reactions (third generation fusion power plant). We show that highly non equilibrated and non-neutral plasmas are responsible for the acceleration of ions to tens of MeV which may be directed on a (compressed) target.
These energetic ions can also be used for other applications such as radioisotope production for medicine or other purposes. Measuring the yield of produced ions give an insight to the plasma time evolution and its deviation from neutrality (Solitons?).

TBA

Ti:sapphire lasers offer the largest bandwidths and therefore the shortest pulses. The highest laser intensities have been achieved using Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) of large diameter solid state lasers. Single fiber laser amplifiers, will not reach the highest intensities offered by solid state lasers, but in this talk, I will discuss developing fiber laser amplifiers for nonlinear optical interactions such as mid-infrared generation and laser acceleration of electrons that require high intensity and benefit from high average power.

We will discuss the method of the Boltzmann transport equation particularly the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) relaxation representation of the collision integral that accounts for the presence of internal degrees of freedom and yields the correct moment equations. Then we will employ the Boltzmann kinetic equation to two interacting gases, with a focus on applications in stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The resulting kinetic model highlights the influence of collisional relaxation for predicting and controlling SBS Gain in multi-species gaseous environments. We may explore the impact of molecular rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom on the SBS process, which are typically neglected in simpler models. By including these additional degrees of freedom, we provide a more accurate representation of molecular interactions, which may play a critical role under varying temperature conditions.

Laser action in an excimer molecule occurs because it has a bound excited state, but a repulsive ground state. Noble gases such as xenon and krypton are highly inert and do not usually form chemical compounds. However, when in an excited state (induced by electrical discharge or high-energy electron beams), they can form temporarily bound molecules with themselves (excimer) or with halogens such as fluorine and chlorine. The excited compound can release its excess energy by emitting a photon, resulting in a strongly repulsive ground state molecule which very quickly (on the order of a picosecond) dissociates back into two unbound atoms. This creates a population inversion.

I will discuss excimer molecules from the perspective of Bohr molecular model. The latter can be obtained from Schrodinger equation in the limit of large spatial dimensions. This approach treats electrons as point particles whose positions are determined by optimizing an algebraic energy function. The calculations required are simple yet yield useful accuracy for molecular potential curves and bring out an appealing picture of multielectron atoms and chemical bonding.

TBA

Good research ideas abound at universities. Professors are skilled at securing research funding, sometimes in the millions of dollars, from federal agencies to pursue those ideas. But how does one secure large funding for a big idea with potential for significant, lasting impact? Often such efforts involve multiple entities including state, industrial, and philanthropic bodies. In this talk, the speaker provides examples of both successes and failures from his experiences, and breaks down the key elements that contribute to success.

The National Ignition Facility’s 2022 breakthrough is a real game-changer in one of the long-time goals of physics/engineering: fusion. This process is theoretically based on a well-known phenomenon in physics, namely stimulated Brillouin scattering. More fundamentally, the light-matter interaction is a non-equilibrium interaction and obeys the Boltzmann transport equation. However, the collision integral in the latter can be approximated by the relaxation method of Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK).
In this tutorial talk, we review the kinetic model of Sugawara-Yip [1], which is based on the BGK approximation.
[1] A. Sugawara and S. Yip, Kinetic Model Analysis of Light Scattering by Molecular Gases, Phys. Fluids 10, 1911{1921 (1967).

Speaker: Pravesh Patel, Focused Energy
Title: Inertial Fusion Energy with High Gain Proton Fast Ignition

Speaker: Siegfried Glenzer, SLAC/Stanford
Title: Exploring matter found inside planets, stars, and laser fusion implosions 

Speaker: Mike Campbell, MCM Consultants
Title: Perspectives on Inertial fusion energy – Opportunities and Challenges

Speaker: Arianna Gleason, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Title: High-fidelity characterization of nanofoams for inertial fusion energy targets

Speaker: J. Gary Eden, University of Illinois
Title: Stimulated Brillouin Scattering at 266 nm in the Rare Gases and N2

Speaker: Erhard Gaul, University of Texas at Austin
Title: N/A

Speaker: Gennady Shvets, Cornell University
Title: Laser-ion acceleration and its applications to inertial fusion: from fast ignition to heavy-ion drivers

Speaker: Conner Galloway, Xcimer Energy Corporation
Title: N/A

Speaker: Sophia Malko, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
Title: Proton transport and stopping power in warm dense matter