Principles and capabilities of synchrotrons as “light” sources - Atomic-physicist perspective

Somewhat surprisingly, the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 triggered searches for novel applications of existing high-energy-physics infrastructure. One possibility is to use synchrotrons as radiation sources. In particular, application of LHC as such a source offers the ability to emit high-intensity radiation tunable within a range between several keV to hundreds of MeV.

Since operation of such “exotic” sources is based on experiments performed in atomic physics for decades, atomic physicists are in a unique position of investigating/exploring the systems. Additionally, the capabilities of the “devices” would offer unprecedented research opportunities to atomic physics.

Both, the principles and research opportunities, will be discussed during the seminar.