A laser pulse fired into a gas can carve out a bubble of plasma that accelerates charged particles to extreme energies in a fraction of a millimetre. This project studies what happens inside and around those plasma bubbles when particles and radiation interact under extreme conditions—where quantum effects and radiation reaction become significant. Current theory cannot fully describe these regimes, and experiments have been limited. The team will develop new analytical models and experimental diagnostics to probe the bubble’s interior and the beams it produces. If successful, the work could lead to compact, coherent X-ray sources far smaller than current synchrotrons. That would matter for imaging, materials science, and medical diagnostics—anywhere that requires bright, short-wavelength radiation without a kilometre-long facility. The project also advances fundamental understanding of high-field physics, a domain where theory and experiment have rarely met. Much of the programme is curiosity-driven, but the potential for table-top X-ray sources gives it a clear applied horizon.
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The lab in a bubble project is a timely investigation of the interaction of charged particles with radiation inside and in the vicinity of relativistic plasma bubbles created by intense ultra-short laser pulses propagating in plasma. It builds on recent studies carried out by the ALPHA-X team of coherent X-ray radiation from the laser-plasma wakefield accelerator and high field effects where radiation reaction becomes important. The experimental programme will be carried out using high power lasers and investigate new areas of physics where single-particle and collective radiation reaction and quantum effects become important, and where non-linear coupling and instabilities between beams, laser, plasma and induced fields develop, which result in radiation and particle beams with unique properties. Laser-plasma interactions are central to all problems studied and understanding their complex and often highly non-linear interactions gives a way of controlling the bubble and beams therein. To investigate the rich range of physical processes, advanced theoretical and experimental methods will be applied and advantage will be taken of know-how and techniques developed by the teams. New analytical and numerical methods will be developed to enable planning and interpreting results from experiments. Advanced experimental methods and diagnostics will be developed to probe the bubble and characterise the beams and radiation. An important objective will be to apply the radiation and beams in selected proof-of-concept applications to the benefit of society. The project is involves a large group of Collaborators and Partners, who will contribute to both theoretical and experimental work. The diverse programme is managed through a synergistic approach where there is strong linkage between work-packages, and both theoretical and experiential methodologies are applied bilaterally: experiments are informed by theory at planning and data interpretation stages, and theory is steered by the outcome of experimental studies, which results in a virtuous circle that advances understanding of the physics inside and outside the lab in a bubble. We also expect to make major advances in high field physics and the development of a new generation of compact coherent X-ray sources.
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