Ultrashort laser pulse dynamics in moving media

Ultrashort laser pulse dynamics are typically studied in non-moving, stationary media. A new and emerging field, tightly related to transformation optics, is that of optics in moving media.
The moving medium may be created using the standard tools of nonlinear optics, i.e. by using intense laser pulses to create a traveling refractive index perturbation. We may then study the interaction of light with this relativistically changing medium. This leads to a variety of novel and unexpected effects that will be studied within the framework of this project.
In particular, wave propagation in a moving medium may be described using the same space-time geometries usually found in general relativity. It is even possible to show that we may recreate, in the laboratory, analogues for black hole event horizons and study how waves interact with these horizons. Our group has recently demonstrated for the first time the analogue of Hawking radiation, i.e. black hole evaporation, using intense laser pulses focused into glass samples.
These are just some examples of the physics that will be studied both numerically and experimentally in our state-of-the-art ultrashort laser pulse laboratory. You will be working with high-energy, femtosecond laser pulses performing experiments in the fields of both classical and quantum nonlinear optics.
The Extreme Light Group at Heriot-Watt University has a number of ongoing research projects in:
1) Black hole and relativistic effects in the laboratory
2) energy transfer and quantum coherence in photosynthetic molecules
3) light-matter interaction at high intensities - laser assisted plasma generation and cavitation
4) ultrashort laser pulse filamentation
5) diffusive photonics - transformation optics in random media
More information can be found on the group website or by directly contacting D. Faccio, [Email Address Removed].