laser-plasma physics;astro and space plasma physics;nuclear fusion;laser-plasma
Lab Description
We study fundamental plasma physics by virtual experiment. The most recent research interest is the coherent radiation emission from a laser-driven plasma. We have developed a very unique idea of generating plasma dipole oscillations (PDO) using laser pulses, aiming to utilize it as a radiation source in terahertz regime. We also discovered that the PDO can be a strong candidate model of numerous cosmic radio bursts. Motivated by the similarity between our PDO idea and the characteristics of cosmic radio bursts, we are driving our research toward the lab-astrophysics and lab space physics, where we want to find a deep physical link between seemingly irrelevant phenomena. The general laser-plasma physics is in the scope of our research. Until very recently, we had produced many interesting results in laser-driven particle accelerator and advanced scheme of laser amplification using Raman backscatter in plasmas. A unique theory has been developed to explain the radiation reaction, which is an unsolved general physical issue in classical and quantum electrodynamics. Another major, and relatively new (to us) subject is the divertor physics in the magnetically confined nuclear fusion device, i.e. the Tokamak. From international collaboration, we have produced a stimulating design concept for the divertor to reduce the undesirable heat flux dramatically.