Time Resolved Probing of Matter Under Extreme Conditions.

This project will use intense lasers to create and probe extreme conditions in the laboratory that are usually only found in astrophysical situations. Experiments, which will take place at various national and international facilities such as the Astra Gemini laser in the UK, will probe what happens to matter when it is subjected to high temperatures, high densities, strong electromagnetic fields and intense X-ray fluxes. One of the main probing techniques that will be used to probe these short-lived experiments (typically lasting just a few picoseconds) is X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The X-rays produced by a laser wakefield. Accelerator have a unique combination of properties: they are both femtosecond in duration and have a broadband synchrotron-like spectrum. Because they are driven by a laser pulse they can also readily be synchronized with experiments that create extreme conditions with an intense laser pulse. This makes them an ideal candidate for X-ray absorption studies which can probe the rapidly evolving dynamics of matter under extreme conditions.