Seminars

Induced Compton scattering: Experimental study of a laser-plasma interaction around pulsars and fast radio bursts

by Shuta Tanaka (Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan)

Europe/Bucharest
Description

Astrophysical objects such as pulsars and also fast radio bursts emit coherent radiation and their observed brightness temperature has exceeded 10^{35} Kelvin for some cases. The radiation mechanism of such astrophysical phenomena is a long-standing problem. We do not even know the physical situation of the emission regions and ''induced Compton scattering'' is studied to constrain the environment of the emission region. We have tried to demonstrate this extreme phenomenon in the universe using ultra intense lasers in laboratories. In the presence of extremely high brightness temperature radiation such as pulsars and also intense lasers, induced Compton scattering can be dominant in the interactions between light and rarefied plasma particles. It is theoretically predicted that the spectra of the scattered light will be red-shifted and exhibit soliton-like features. We have performed the proof-of-principle experiment of the induced Compton scattering relevant to pulsars and fast radio bursts. Our results prove the existence of induced Compton scattering and will provide important information on the mechanism of pulsar emission and also for other high-energy astrophysical phenomena.