Student: Lausti Niklas Vilhelm
Supervisor: Mgr. Michal Hejduk, Ph.D.
ConsultantRNDr. Štěpán Roučka, Ph.D.
Status: Assigned
Abstract:
How a strongly coupled plasma behaves dynamically as a whole is governed primarily by long-range interactions, not thermal fluctuations like in the classical plasma. The strongly coupled plasma can be found in cores of white dwarf stars and surfaces of neutron stars where it gains the stability from the effect that electron-ion recombination processes are suppressed due to delocalisation of the electrons over many ions.
Free electrons are one of the candidates for applications in quantum technologies because they have no inner structure, and they are light. However, it is technically challenging to make them “stand still” in the confinement region because there is no efficient method for cooling them. A method of sympathetic cooling in inelastic collisions with laser-cooled ions could be a solution.
The prospective student will contribute to realisation of a device that would demonstrate such a cooling method. He/she will construct a theoretical model and write a simulation code that will elucidate the influence of long-range interactions to the mixture of the electrons and laser-cooled ions, so that physical conditions when the mixture shifts from a classical to a quantum mechanical regime are found. He/she will find technical solutions to realise such a transition.
Recommended literature:
1 Dohnal, P., …, Hejduk, M. et al. Collisional-radiative recombination of Ar+ ions with electrons in ambient helium at temperatures from 50 K to 100 K. Phys. Rev. A 87, 052716 (2013).
2 Bergeson, S. D. et al. Exploring the crossover between high-energy-density plasma and ultracold neutral plasma physics. Phys. Plasmas 26, 100501 (2019).
3 Lesanovsky, I., Müller, M. & Zoller, P. Trap-assisted creation of giant molecules and Rydberg-mediated coherent charge transfer in a Penning trap. Phys. Rev. A 79, 010701 (2009).
4 Other scientific papers recommended by the supervisor.