On Friday October 22nd 2010 CTMS  will present a lecture by Johann Rafelski, University of Arizona, Tucson.

Location: 128 Physics Building

Time: 2:00pm

Title: Critical Acceleration

Abstract: In Collisions of ultra-intense laser-pulse with relativistic electrons it is possible to experimentally probe critical acceleration a=mc³/h. The behavior of a particle undergoing critical acceleration challenges the limits of the current understanding of basic interactions: survey of diverse areas of physics, including radiation reaction, the structure and stability of the quantum vacuum, shows that little is known about that new physics frontier, and that both classical and quantum physics will need further development in order to be able to address this newly accessible area of physics. Connection to strong field particle production, Mach Principle, Unruh and Hawking radiation will be discussed.