Welcome
Welcome at our homepage! The research group of Prof. Pukhov is active at theory and simulations of relativistic laser-plasmas. Our mission is to support cutting-edge experiments at the highest laser intensities available today. We always look for young talented researches to join our group. Please, check our open positions regularly!
Strong-field QED
Laser-plasmas are a promising environment to explore quantum electrodynamics. Cascades of electron-positron pairs can be produced by laser-matter and beam-beam collisions. Our research aims to probe the regime of non-perturbative QED that might be reached with the next generation of laser facilities.
AWAKE collaboration, CERN
Proton-driven plasma wakes may provide an option to accelerate leptons (electrons or positrons) to TeV energies in a plasma channel. The international AWAKE collaboration lead by CERN is established to explore this possibility. CERN is the unique place in the world that hosts a multi-TeV proton synchrotron LHC. Thus, a possibility exists to check the theory and simulation predictions in a real experiment!
Spin-polarized beams
Spin polarization is of interested for deep-inelastic scattering experiments to probe the nuclear structure of the proton or even fusion, where the cross section is increased if polarized reactants are utilized. In a collaboration with Forschungszentrum Jülich, we study feasible mechanisms for obtaining highly polarized beams from laser-plasma interactions.