Dynamics of Ultracold Neutral Plasmas in the First 100 NS

这项工作中将要做的实验将推动强耦合中立型系统的前沿。超冷中性等离子体为探索多体相互作用和粒子关联效应提供了一个理想化的系统。这些关联预计将改变高密度高能等离子体的集体行为。据预测，它们还将改变等离子体中的基本原子过程，如离子热化、三体复合和碰撞电离。超冷中性等离子体在相空间中占据着独特的位置，处于原子、等离子体和凝聚态物理的交汇处。我们通过激发激光冷却的原子到接近电离极限的状态来产生这些等离子体。初始密度、离子温度和电子温度独立控制，具有很高的精度。高分辨率的光谱工具被用来诊断等离子体状态。这些对超冷中性等离子体的研究直接有助于我们对其他强耦合系统的理解。这项工作的更广泛影响是对原子物理本科生和研究生的培训。PI在指导本科生和研究生方面有着良好的记录，帮助他们介绍自己的研究全国会议，并与他们共同撰写同行评议的出版物。这项工作也改善了杨百翰大学以外的科学教育。该项目将继续招聘高中教师作为暑期研究助理，并与杨百翰大学的REU/RET项目进行互动。其中一些激光设备将继续用于激光物理研究生课程。PI还偶尔举办小学参观活动，向年轻的和崭露头角的科学家展示激光的一些美丽和令人兴奋的特性。这项研究将对一些科学和技术领域具有重要意义。强耦合发生在某些天体物理环境、高能量密度等离子体、夸克-胶子等离子体、BEC/BCS交叉、Mott-绝缘体相变、非中性和尘埃等离子体等系统中。这些系统中的计算很困难，因为重要的时间尺度范围很广。这些基准测量可用于指导这些系统中的模拟。

The experiments to be done in this work will push the frontier of strongly coupled neutral systems. Ultracold neutral plasmas provide an idealized system in which to probe the effects of many-body interactions and particle correlations. These correlations are predicted to change the collective behavior of dense energetic plasmas. They are also predicted to alter fundamental atomic processes in plasmas such as ion thermalization, three-body recombination, and collisional ionization. Ultra-cold neutral plasmas occupy a unique place in phase space, at the confluence of atomic, plasma, and condensed matter physics. We create these plasmas by exciting laser-cooled atoms to states near the ionization limit. The initial density, ion temperature, and electron temperature are independently controlled with high precision. High-resolution spectroscopic tools are used to diagnose the plasma state. These studies of ultracold neutral plasmas directly contribute to our understanding other strongly coupled systems. The broader impacts of this work are the training of undergraduate and graduate students in atomic physics. The PI has a strong track record of mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, helping them present their own reseach national meetings, and co-authoring peer-reviewed publications with them. This work also improves science education outside of BYU. This project will continue to recruit high school teachers as summertime research assistants and to interact with BYU's REU/RET program. Some of the laser facilities will continue to be used in a graduate course in Laser Physics. The PI also hosts occasional elementary school tours, demonstrating some of the beautiful and exciting properties of lasers to young and budding scientists. The research will be important to a number of areas in science and technology. Strong coupling occurs in some astrophysical environments, high energy density plasmas, quark-gluon plasmas, the BEC/BCS crossover, the Mott-insulator transition, non-neutral and dusty plasmas, and other systems. Calculations in these systems are difficult because of the wide range of important time scales. These benchmark measurements can be used to guide simulations in these systems.