Speaker: Louis F. DiMauro, The Ohio State University
Abstract: The genesis of light pulses with attosecond (10-18 seconds) durations signifies a new frontier in time-domain physics. This achievement was recognized by the 2023 Nobel prize in Physics for Agostini, Krausz and L’Huillier. The scientific importance is obvious: the time-scale necessary for probing the motion of an electron(s) in the ground state is attoseconds (atomic unit of time 24 as). The availability of attosecond pulses has allowed, for the first time, the study of the time-dependent dynamics of correlated electron systems by freezing the electronic motion, in essence exploring the structure with ultra-fast snapshots, then following the subsequent evolution using interferometry techniques. This talk will examine the fundamental principles, the underlying physics and the prescription for forming and measuring attosecond light pulses in the laboratory.